The best things in life are free and one of these is Vitamin D that you need to absorb calcium and promote bone growth -- especially in young kids.

Surprisingly, a new study has now found a link between low Vitamin D levels during childhood and an increased risk of heart disease later in life. What's surprising at this finding is the main source of Vitamin D is free and doesn't cost a thing.

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Vitamin D comes mainly from sunlight. Yes, sunlight. That's why they call Vitamin D the "Sunshine Vitamin".

Researchers at the University of Turku in Finland followed over 2,100 children (ages 3 to 18) from 1980 until the children reached the age of 45. The team tracked vitamin D levels, diet, smoking, and exercise habits in the subjects. They also used ultrasounds to view neck arteries for blockages and thickening.

They found the subjects that had the lowest vitamin D levels as children had a higher risk of hardened arteries as adults, independent of age, gender, and other factors.

"There's a lot of data showing that vitamin D insufficiency is bad for health. We found evidence that it is connected to artery health as well," said study lead author, Dr. Markus Juonala,

Lower vitamin D levels couldn't be entirely linked to overall cardiovascular health, however. Dr. Markus said further studies will be needed for researchers to understand how exactly lower vitamin D levels could contribute to artery hardening.

These findings provide sufficient information to make the case for Vitamin D as extremely crucial for overall health and not just skeletal and bone health.

Vitamin D is responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphate and zinc. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol).