More women may want to put on their shades and get out in the sun in an effort to maintain optimum health.

That’s the finding from a new study that links vitamin D deficiencies in women to an increased risk of high blood pressure.

The American Heart Association study followed a group of 559 Caucasian women with an average age of 38 from 1992 through 2007. It found that the premenopausal women who had a vitamin D deficiency in the beginning of the study had three times the risk of developing systolic hypertension 15 years later.

The study’s author says the findings are significant because it followed the participants longer than previous studies.

Vitamin D is well-known to be important for bone health. Previous studies have linked a deficiency of the vitamin to decreased immunity and increased risk for some cancers.

Health experts believe that inadequate levels of vitamin D are widespread among women.

Vitamin D is found in foods like milk, fish and eggs as well as cod liver oil and nutritional supplements. It is also produced in the body after exposure to the sun. It is believed that as little as 10 minutes of daily sun exposure is enough to prevent deficiencies.