My doctor was sure Fosamax was just what I needed, but I was pretty sure it wasn't.

3:33 minutes (835.55 KB)
In this podcast Dr. Andrew Weil discusses the many benefits of vitamin D as revealed in recent medical journals and studies. Learn the safest way to get this underrated vitamin, the daily recommended dosage and whether or not kids need this vitamin, too.

Suddenly, vitamin D is being hailed as a powerful way to maintain health. But since we get it from the sun, how much is too much?

It's easy to pop a vitamin every day. It's one of the less labor intensive steps in taking care of your health. But do you know what's going on inside that pill? All vitamins are definitely not created equal. This means that there's a decent chance that the $4 bottle I bought from Trader Joe's might not stand up to a $30 bottle from a health food store, but it may also mean that the more expensive brand is all hype and no substance.

Vitamin D has long been linked to the prevention of bone diseases like osteoporosis and osteopenia, but D doesn't stop there. In an overdue spotlight of vitamin D, Andrew Weil has partnered with Walter Willett, M.D. chairman of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, to highlight the vitamin's other attributes.