Allina doctor wants to put vitamin D to work in the workplace

[Star Tribune, February 12, 2012] Dr. Greg Plotnikoff has spent more than a decade evangelizing about the health benefits of vitamin D to his medical colleagues across the globe.

Now the Allina Health doctor at Abbott Northwestern Hospital's Penney George Institute for Health and Healing is turning to corporate America, hoping his message will have new resonance amid soaring medical costs and a fragile economic recovery.

Because vitamin D is believed to be effective at treating or preventing such conditions as low-back pain, allergies, migraines, high blood pressure and depression, Plotnikoff argues that the inexpensive pills can play a key role in reducing "presenteeism," where employees show up for work but don't get much done. Read more at the Star Tribune online.