Cholecalciferol by Calvero, from WikipediaI could have sworn I saw this news about vitamin D somewhere months ago…
Radiological health expert Daniel Hayes, Ph.D., of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene suggests that a form of vitamin D could be one of our body’s main protections against damage from low levels of radiation. Writing in the International Journal of Low Radiation, Hayes explains that calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, may protect us from background radiation and could be used as a safe protective agent before or after a low-level nuclear incident.
…but perhaps I’m just having deja vu. Autumn does that to me. We’ve had two days of drifting rain here. The world looks rather dreamy. Another few days of this and perhaps it will become dreary, but at the moment it feels otherworldly. Which fits my needs: I’m about to buckle down to an introductory essay for a new edition of Leigh Brackett’s Sword of Rhiannon, a fab planetary romance set on a future (and past) Mars.
Nicola Griffith 
I love autumn too. It’s my favorite season, because of the tang in the air and the clear sharp quality of the light. Vitamin D is a bonus.
I think I read this somewhere not so long ago myself – probably not deja vu.I’ve never read that book, so I ordered it.
How timely putting up the Vitamin D comment. I have been fairly ill for the past few months and struggle to keep managing the demands of my days. I just did not know why I felt like Soylent Green fodder and kept pushing through.My physical and emotional reserves are truly depleted. I even had to place my loving but high powered Border Collie pup into foster care because I no longer have the energy to care for her. (I have cried for hours over this)My labs came back with my Internist saying my Vitamin D level is “almost non existent” as well as iron and B-12 counts. I have had a CAT scan,more,labs and have a myriad of other test and consults in the days ahead. I have had Pernicious Anemia since ’85 but under good control until now. Living where I do and working in my yard, or just walking out the door in my world during the summer, one would think D would be EZ PZ. So I guess if we have that “low level event” anytime soon I am up a crappy creek without a sunshine vitamin paddle…
barbara, the smell today, oh, it was wonderful: tree bark. The whole world seemed to smell of it. Delicious.jennifer, let me know what you think.linda, I’m sorry to hear about your illness. I recommend 6,000 iu daily. Every single day, rain or shine–they’re tiny little gelcaps, or it’s no hassle. Just take one with every meal, every day. It will take quite a few weeks for your blood levels to reach optimum, though, so the sooner you start the better.