Vitamin D has received a considerable amount of attention lately. Numerous studies have connected it to significant health benefits, and maintaining high levels may be important to overall health. Unfortunately, many people have dangerously low levels.

Michael Holick, a professor at Boston University who has studied vitamin D extensively, says in a recent study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings that up to 36 percent of the population has unacceptably low levels of the nutrient. There are a variety of causes for this, but he primarily blames unhealthy diets that contain little if any of the nutrient.

Another Harvard Medical School researcher recently told the Detroit Free Press that those living at higher latitudes are more prone to vitamin D deficiency. Less ultraviolet light from the sun reaches people the farther they live away from the equator. This diminishes an important source of the nutrient, which can be produced directly in the skin.

While there are many causes of vitamin D deficiency, there are fewer solutions. Since there are relatively few food sources of the nutrient, spending more time in the sun and taking nutritional supplements are among the only options.