It has been known for decades that those who live closer to the equator have a lower risk of multiple sclerosis (MS).[1] In various pieces of research, Vitamin D produced by sunlight, has been suggested as the factor responsible for the decreasing risk o

 The Institute of Medicine (IOM), in 2010, put forth its recommendations for daily supplementation of vitamin D. They suggested that  infants under a year old ingest 400 IU per day, that adults ingest  600 IU per day and that those over 70 years of age take 800 IU per day. Since the sunlight can stimulate the production of up to 20,000 IU per day, it can easily be seen that such recommendations are abysmally low for those addults who are not receiving any sunlight, or where winter conditions prevent any vitamin D production by the sun.

A recent research paper published in the journal Annals of Rheumatic Diseases[1] showed that older women, who lived in areas where the most sunlight was available, were at about a 20% reduced