While high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a common condition across the U.S., black adults are more like to suffer from it or even to die from it, compared to their Caucasian peers. Now, a new study has suggested that vitamin D might lie at the heart of this disparity.

Research published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine appears to confirm the notion that darker skin synthesizes during direct exposure to sunlight, as well as the hypothesis that vitamin D insufficiency may contribute to high blood pressure.

Scientists at the Universities of California, Davis, and Rochester determined that 61 percent of black adults fell in the lowest quintile of of vitamin D blood levels, compared to 11 percent of white Americans.

Conversely, while 25 percent of Caucasians were classified within the highest fifth of measured levels of the nutrient, just 2 percent of black adults fell in the same quintile.

The team concluded that it is especially important that individuals with darker skin, as well as those who get little sun exposure, ensure they get adequate dietary levels of vitamin D.

Since there are few readily available food sources of the nutrient, people who want to maintain a moderate blood pressure and a healthy body may consider looking into dietary supplements that contain vitamin D and other essential compounds.