Brand Name: Calciferol
Generic Name: Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. A fat-soluble vitamin dissolves and remains in the fatty tissues of the body, reducing the need to ingest large quantities. As such symptoms from a defiency in fat-soluble vitamins may not be apparent for years. They should not be consumed in excess unless under strict medical supervision since toxic reactions from fat-soluble vitamins occur at a smaller percentage of the RDA than water-soluble vitamins.

Vitamin D is also known as the "sunshine vitamin," since it is manufactured by the body after being exposed to sunshine. Ten to fifteen minutes of sunshine three times per week is sufficient to produce the body's requirement of vitamin D. The liver and kidneys convert vitamin D from food sources or sunlight to its active form, calcitriol.

Vitamin D is essential for building and maintaining healthy bones because it helps maintain healthy levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D and calcium are involved in many body functions, including keeping the immune and nervous systems healthy. Calcium is also the principal element in bone, and can only be absorbed by the body when vitamin D is present. Rickets, a vitamin D deficiency disease responsible for softening and weakening bones in children, used to be quite common but is now quite rare in countries that have adopted the practice of fortifying milk products.