There’s one simple thing you can do to dramatically reduce your risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome all at once.

Get outside a little more.

Researchers examined data on 100,000 middle-aged and elderly people from 28 studies that looked at vitamin D levels along with these all-too-common conditions.

They found that people with the highest levels of vitamin D had a 33 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease, 55 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, and 51 percent lower risk of metabolic syndrome, according to the study published in the journal Maturitas.

Most of us are badly deficient in this essential nutrient… largely because we’ve simply stopped getting the necessary sunlight that allows our bodies to manufacture it. So if you’re making the changes needed for a healthier lifestyle, add some more time in the great outdoors to the list–your body needs the sun.

The researchers in this study recommend 30 minutes of sunshine twice a week–with no sunblock.

Let’s take a moment to applaud these researchers–because that’s a pretty gutsy recommendation in a time when everyone’s being taught to shrink from the sun.

Of course, there are other ways to boost vitamin D. And one of the tastiest ones is to eat more fatty fish. One serving of wild, fresh salmon can give you up to 1,000 IU of the sunshine vitamin–in addition to plenty of omega-3 fatty acids. If you don’t like seafood, get your fins on a fish oil supplement instead.

And just about everyone should be taking a vitamin D3 supplement. They’re inexpensive and easy to find.

Is it possible for a single vitamin to do everything?

Maybe not – but if I had to pick one all-purpose must-have nutrient, I’d go with that dazzling D. It’s about as close to perfect as a single letter can be.

And now, two new studies add to the already impressive body of evidence for this wonder vitamin: It may help you control your blood pressure, and even lower your risk of dying from heart disease.

The first study, published in Nature Reviews Cardiology, finds that the sunshine vitamin is especially good at helping people who already have hypertension to lower their blood pressure levels.

The second one, carried out by researchers at the University of Colorado, Denver and Massachusetts General Hospital, found that patients who don’t get enough D are three times more likely to die from heart disease and 2.5 times more likely to die from any cause.

That fits in with other studies that have shown that vitamin D can help reduce your overall risk of death. And that’s in addition to research showing how D can help keep your bones healthy and lower your risk of fracture, reduce your risk of cancer, increase muscle strength, improve your immune system, and so much more.

The best source of D is the sun. Our bodies can make it naturally if we get enough of the right kind of sunlight.

But most of our bodies aren’t doing a very good job of it these days.

No, they’re not protesting the sweaty working conditions. We’re simply not getting enough sun – and when we do, it’s often not the right kind.

Your clothes, sunblock, cloud cover, and the seasonal angle of the Earth are all factors in the quality of your sunlight, and whether or not your body is able to turn it into that all- important D.

In most cases, it can’t… and as a result, we’re D-ficient. That means a high-quality supplement is your best chance of ensuring that you get enough of your daily D. Forget the U.S. RDA, which badly understates how much you need of so many nutrients. Follow that pointless chart, and you’ll end up with 400 IUs daily. In reality, we need much more than that.

Even Harvard University – not exactly known for its acts of nutritional rebellion – places the optimal intake at around 2,000 IUs for most of us, and suggests that many people – including folks with darker skin and people who get little direct sunlight – can use up to 4,000 IUs daily.

That’s up to 10 times the U.S. government’s recommendation!

So if you’re not taking a D vitamin, check your multivitamin closely. If it says you’re getting “100 percent” of what you need, you’re simply not getting enough, and you probably want to add a separate D supplement to your regimen.

A lot of companies will try to sell you a miracle pill – but D is the real deal.