Vitamin D reduces asthma severity

Although the committee charged with determining the recommended daily amount of nutrients cannot currently agree on how much vitamin D we need (New York Times), there is now plenty of research supporting its many health advantages. Dr. Mercola, author of the mercola.com site, states that some of the newest reports are indicating that low vitamin D levels in children can increase the severity of asthma.

Studies have shown that children who were hospitalized with asthma-related problems typically had low levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream. This data seems to corroborate an Australian study from 2006 which showed that exposure to sunlight reduced the severity of asthma in mice.

And, according to the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, mothers who have adequate vitamin D supplementation while pregnant can actually reduce the risk that their children will later develop asthma between the ages of 3 and 5.

Jane Brody, who refers to vitamin D as the “sunshine vitamin,” reported in a recent column that since the powers that be are still in a quandary over optimal levels of the vitamin, it’s up to the consumer to look at the some of the research and decide how much to take.

These new associations between asthma severity and vitamin D are simply verification that the “sunshine vitamin” could be coming into its own. Brody writes that vitamin D has been shown to regulate balance in older people, and has been linked to a reduction in cancers of the breast, ovary, rectum, prostate and stomach.

Currently, the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D is 400 IUs, which, according to Dr. Mercola, is ten times less than the amount necessary for optimal health.



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Try Vitamin D If You Want To Live Longer

Writing in the journal Clinical Endocrinology, scientists from the Netherlands, Austria, and the U.S. report that low blood levels of the sunshine vitamin are associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, and mortality from heart disease, in the elderly.

The research follows hot on the heels of similar findings published in Nutrition Research and in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The new study used data from 614 people participating in the Hoorn Study, a prospective population-based study with men and women with an average age of 69.8. Blood levels of 25(OH)D were measured at the start of the study. After an average of six years of follow-up, 51 deaths had been documented, 20 of which were due to cardiovascular health.

People with the lowest average vitamin D levels were found to be at a 124 and 378 percent increased risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality, respectively.

Commenting on the potential mechanism, the researchers note:

“Apart from the maintenance of muscular and skeletal health, vitamin D may also protect against cancer, infections, autoimmune and vascular diseases, suggesting that vitamin D deficiency might contribute to a reduced life expectancy.”

Adults with lower blood levels of vitamin D may also be more likely to die from heart disease or stroke. Scientists in Finland compared blood levels of vitamin D, and deaths from heart disease or stroke over time in more than 6,000 people. Those with the lowest vitamin D levels had a 25 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease or stroke.

In addition, in a study of 166 women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, nearly 70 percent had low levels of vitamin D in their blood, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Breast Cancer Symposium. The analysis showed women with late-stage disease and non-Caucasian women had even lower levels.

Said Luke Peppone, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Radiation Oncology, at Rochester’s James P. Wilmot Cancer Center:

“Vitamin D is essential to maintaining bone health and women with breast cancer have accelerated bone loss due to the nature of hormone therapy and chemotherapy. It’s important for women and their doctors to work together to boost their vitamin D intake."



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Vitamin D helps Kids improve Bone Density

Calcium and vitamin D supplements can improve bone density during a crucial growth period for young girls.

A six-month study looked at identical twin girls aged between nine and 12, who were randomly assigned to receive either the calcium and vitamin D tablets, or a matched placebo.

David Greene, lecturer in exercise science at Australian Catholic University (ACU), said results showed that the supplements improved measures of bone mineral density, bone mineral content and bone strength in these girls.

These results are particularly important as young women accumulate bone mass most rapidly during adolescence, he said.

Therefore, ideal skeletal development can only be achieved when adequate dietary intakes of calcium and vitamin D supplement physical activity during this period, according to an ANU release.

Maximising bone strength during the growing years is also essential in order to offset the effects of osteoporosis in later life.

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Twenty reasons why vitamin D is better than a swine flu vaccine

The news is out: Vitamin D is better than the swine flu vaccine at halting H1N1 infections. In fact, without vitamin D, chances are that a vaccine won't generate much of an immune response in the first place.

That's because vitamin D is essential for healthy, active immune function. That's just one of the reasons smart people are choosing vitamin D instead of the swine flu vaccine. Here are nineteen more reasons:

#1 Vitamin D activates your immune system to respond to any viral exposure (not just one virus).

#2 Vitamin D naturally belongs in your body.

#3 Vitamin D has been functioning as medicine in the human body since the beginning of the human species.

#4 Vitamin D is available right now and there's no shortage of it.

#5 Vitamin D won't cause your brain to swell and put you into a coma.

#6 Vitamin D doesn't require an injection with a scary needle.

#7 Vitamin D is found naturally in many foods such as sardines or salmon.

#8 Vitamin D has a perfect safety record. No one ever died from consuming it.

#9 Vitamin D is affordable. You can even get it for free (from sunlight).

#10 Vitamin D doesn't contain viral fragments from diseased animals (like vaccines often do).

#11 Vitamin D doesn't contain thimerosal or other chemical preservatives.

#12 Vitamin D doesn't need a warning sheet describing possible side effects.

#13 Vitamin D doesn't hurt your arm when you take it.

#14 Vitamin D also improves sugar metabolism, bone density and healthy moods.

#15 Vitamin D is safe for the environment.

#16 Vitamin D doesn't contain squalene or other inflammatory adjuvant chemicals.

#17 Vitamin D works on everyone and is safe for everyone, including infants and children.

#18 Vitamin D is made in nature, not a laboratory.

#19 Vitamin D is found naturally in breast milk.

#20 You can walk, and chew gum, and generate vitamin D from sunshine all at the same time!

Skip the vaccine. Get more Vitamin D!



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The Hottest Vitamin Under the Sun ( Part 3 )

New products fortified with vitamin D may help the many who are deficient. Recent studies have shown pregnant women who lived at a latitude of 54 to 55 degrees north (about as north as Central Canada) had insufficient levels, even among those who use supplements.² Mothers-to-be who have lower levels of vitamin D are more likely to give birth via cesarean section.³ And Turkish researchers encouraged pregnant women to supplement their diets with vitamin D in order to reduce the risk of their children contracting acute lower respiratory infections.⁴

Once the children are out of the womb, they may still not be getting all of their vitamin D needs. In the United States, 61 percent of children aged 1 to 21 years who completed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2004 had insufficient levels of vitamin D.⁵ Only 4 percent had taken a 400 IU/d supplement of vitamin D for the past 30 days. That same study found deficiency was associated with elevated parathyroid hormone levels, higher systolic blood pressure, lower serum calcium and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels.

The heart-health benefits of vitamin D don’t stop with the youth. A University of Colorado study found an inverse relationship between vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease (CVD), as well as all-cause mortality.⁶ A review in The American Journal of the Medical Sciences states cross-sectional studies found vitamin D deficiency was associated with increased risk of CVD, including hypertension, heart failure and ischemic heart disease.⁷ And Reuters reported at a September 2009 meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago, researchers presented study that found younger white women with vitamin D deficiencies are about three times more likely to have high blood pressure in middle age than those with normal vitamin levels.

Because vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption into the body, vitamin D is closely associated with bone health. In fact, one Swiss study found among men and women, vitamin D status seems to be the dominant predictor of bone mineral density (BMD) relative to calcium intake.⁸ In the study, only women with vitamin D concentrations less than 50 nm seem to benefit from a higher calcium intake alone. In a later review of eight randomized controlled trials, those same researchers found supplemental vitamin D in a dose of 700 to 1,000 IU/d reduced the risk of falling among older adults by 19 percent.⁹ However, doses of supplemental vitamin D of less than 700 IU or serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of less than 60 nmol/l did not reduce the risk of falling.

McBurney added supplementing with vitamin D is good for bone health throughout life. “Bones are remodeled every day, all our life,” he said. “So it is important to build bones when one is young, and to maintain adequate vitamin D status to maintain strong bones for life.”

The benefits of vitamin D go well beyond the heart and bones. Keeping vitamin D levels high may also protect against colon cancer,¹⁰ cold and flu,¹¹ Alzheimer’s disease,¹² multiple sclerosis,¹³ ovarian cancer¹⁴ and weight gain.¹⁵

With all the new studies finding vitamin D’s health benefits (every study referenced in this article is from 2009), the sunshine vitamin’s future is, well, sunny. “Scientists are discovering new insights into the role of vitamin D,” McBurney said. “With the unraveling of the human genome, we are living in a period of discovery unprecedented in history. The future is very exciting.”



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The Hottest Vitamin Under the Sun ( Part 2 )

U.S. dietary reference intake (DRI) guidelines established in 1997 by IOM recommend 200 IU/d of vitamin D through age 50, 400 IU/d for people ages 51 to 70 and 600 IU/d for those 71 and older. But many experts now say everyone likely needs more. For instance, in 2008, The American Academy of Pediatrics the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended breastfed infants receive supplements of 400 IU/d of vitamin D until they are weaned and consume more than 1,000 mL/d of vitamin D-fortified formula or whole milk.¹ All non-breastfed infants ingesting less than 1,000 mL/d of vitamin D-fortified formula or milk should receive a vitamin D supplement of 400 IU/d, they said. AAP also recommends older children and adolescents should take a 400 IU vitamin D supplement daily. In response, a new IOM panel is reviewing the recommendations on vitamin D and calcium and a report is expected in spring 2010.

Huang believes FDA will follow suit. “In 2010, we believe FDA will probably increase dramatically the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin D,” he said. “This will push further growth of vitamin D sales in functional foods and nutritional products.”

Those sought-after products will include dairy items as well as new innovations, said Diane Hnat, senior technical marketing manager DSM Nutritional Products.“Historically milk, margarine and ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal have been the most popular food delivery vehicles for vitamin D,” she said. “It is also allowed under the enrichment guidelines for grain products, and has picked up momentum with its additional approval in juice drinks with calcium.”

Those who formulate with vitamin D may want to invest in tests to ensure quality. “Product stability is very important in vitamin D products,” Huang said. “We have excellent stability test results to offer our customers. Also the impurities in the vitamin D are a concern, so we have utilized HPLC testing methods to assure the purity of our vitamin D products.”

The fat-soluble nature of the vitamin can also pose a challenge. “Vitamin D is fat-soluble so water-dispersible forms are required for many applications,” Hnat said. “The encapsulants’ capability to hold up during processing of foods like RTD meal replacements or processed cheese is important.”

Garner added it is less difficult to formulate vitamin D in supplements than in liquid forms. “While vitamin D is easy to process for supplements such as tablets, it is very demanding to make it part of any liquid formulation and/or clear and stable supplements,” he said. He noted NovaSOL D from Marco Hi-Tech is a water-soluble nutrient and therefore can be used in transparent liquids.

to be continued..................

The Hottest Vitamin Under the Sun ( Part 1 )

Vitamin D may just be considered the “it” vitamin of 2009. This year, it seemed stories on the sunshine vitamin were published daily. Studies on its role in bone health, heart health, immune health, weight management, cancer prevention and other health conditions poured from scientific journals. With the outbreak of H1N1 influenza, the Public Health Agency of Canada plans to test vitamin D levels of people who contract the virus in order to find new ways to fight it; and the U.S. Institutes of Medicine (IOM) announced it will review the recommended daily values of vitamin D intake.

Yes, vitamin D was hot this year, and not just because it comes to us from sun exposure. With all the news reports and studies, it’s no wonder awareness of vitamin D is up among consumers. The International Food Information Council’s (IFIC) Functional Foods/Foods for Health consumer survey, released in August 2009, found 90 percent of Americans recognized vitamin D offers bone-health benefits compared to 81 percent in 2007. For responders who had children, 19 percent said they look for their children’s foods and beverages to be fortified with vitamin D. Michael McBurney, Ph.D., FACN, head of scientific affairs, DSM Nutritional Products Inc. added, “Fifty-six percent of those surveyed were already choosing foods with vitamin D to promote bone health, and another 38 percent were very or somewhat likely to do so.”

But consumers beyond those looking for bone benefits for the old and the young are also seeking vitamin D fortification and dietary supplements. “Traditionally, consumers were interested in calcium supplements with vitamin D; however, because of the scientific studies in the last a few years, they are now more interested in trying vitamin D for boosting the immune system, helping to fight the flu, etc.,” said Steve Huang, manager, PAT Vitamins.

Vitamin D comes in two biologically inactive precursors. D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is produced by the skin when it’s exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation; D2, also known as ergocalciferol, comes from plants exposed to UV light. The liver and kidneys synthesize both forms of vitamin D into 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D), to make it active in the body. However, David Garner, partner, Marco Hi-Tech JV LLC, argued the body prefers consumption of D3, adding, “D3 is said to be the best form of vitamin D (cholecalciferol) as it is the natural type that also is created whenever skin is exposed to sunlight.”

Humans may not be able to get all of their vitamin D from the sun due to amount of skin that is exposed, the length of exposure, UV wavelength, latitude, season, skin melanin content and age. Therefore, people are more interested in increasing their vitamin D by consuming the nutrient, but most unfortified foods do not provide adequate amounts. The few foods that do contain a significant amount of vitamin D—butter, cream, egg yolks and fatty fish, such as herring, catfish and salmon—are not, and in some cases shouldn’t be, prevalent in today’s diets.

“The reality is that the average U.S. diet does not provide the required amount of vitamin D,” said Dinesh Venkateswaran, technical marketing manager, DSM Nutritional Products Inc. “Therefore, dietary supplements may be useful sources for these nutrients that otherwise might be consumed in less than recommended amounts.”

to be continued.........

Beating the common cold, naturally

With all the H1N1 discourse and debate, the nation's focus is definitely on flu season. With so much attention given to the prevention and treatment of the flu, it seems that the other big winter illness - the common cold - is getting less attention. While the common cold is typically the gentler sickness of the two - it still allows many to go to work and school, for example, while the flu usually lays people up for a week or more - it is still a drain on us, both as individuals, and as a wider population.

To protect ourselves from getting a cold or the flu, physical barriers usually rule the day: hand-washing, not sharing cups or water bottles, or staying out of busy public places altogether are strategies that we hear about over and over again.

But what about your diet? Is there anything you can take that will make you less likely to get the cold? And once you're in the clutches of one, is there anything that can make a cold's duration shorter or its symptoms less severe? While there are numerous purported cold remedies on the market, here are the highlights of a few popular nutritional supplements and their possible benefits - or lack thereof - in preventing the common cold.

VITAMIN C

When it comes to cold prevention, who doesn't think about popping some vitamin C? After decades of recommendations based largely around the prevention of scurvy, vitamin C made its way into our collective consciousness with two-time Nobel laureate Linus Pauling's assertions that mega-dosing was a pathway to good health. Now, many of us don't think twice about popping several thousand milligrams at a time, and there is a widely held belief that taking vitamin C at the onset of a cold will hold it at bay.

But what does the research say? In 2007, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - basically, the granddaddy of evidence-based reviews on medical research - published an updated review of vitamin C and the common cold, and found that, in a nutshell, yes, vitamin C regularly can reduce the length one suffers from a cold - by 8% in adults and 14% in children, as long as it is taken regularly. But when taken after the onset of symptoms, there was no effect on the length or severity. In other words, megadosing on vitamin C after you feel your first sniffle doesn't seem to do much.

Although the general population may not benefit from taking vitamin C for a cold, there is some evidence that athletes training at a high level (marathon runners, for example), and those exposed to extreme cold temperatures can benefit from popping a few pills.

VITAMIN D

The sunshine vitamin plays a role in immune system function, and at least according to early evidence, it might help to prevent respiratory tract infections. In fact, a study published in the February edition of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine found that individuals with a lower circulating level of vitamin D had a higher likelihood of developing a respiratory tract infection.

On the other hand, a more recent study, published in the October issue of Epidemiology and Infection, found that subjects given 2000 IU of vitamin D over a 12 week period were no less likely to develop a respiratory tract infection. Since there is very limited research on the role vitamin D plays in the development of the common cold, the bottom line is that we simply don't yet know enough to be able to do anything but speculate. Having said that, since so many Canadians are vitamin D deficient by late fall or early winter - the time when cold and flu season hits full stride - taking a vitamin D supplement probably isn't a bad idea, even if it is for other health benefits than cold prevention.

GARLIC

Long used by numerous cultures for taste and health, garlic's antimicrobial and antiviral properties has earned it a reputation as a classic cold-fighter. But does the evidence agree? According to a Cochrane review published earlier this year, researchers found that there is insufficient evidence to suggest that garlic should be used to either prevent or treat the common cold. Bear in mind, however, that the issue was not so much that garlic isn't useful, but rather that there haven't been enough well-controlled trials to allow a clear conclusion to be drawn, one way or the other.

In fact, in one double-blinded trial, subjects given garlic pills containing 180 mg of allicin (the active compound in garlic) for 12 weeks developed only a third as many colds as those given a placebo (dummy pill) for the same amount of time. Since double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials are considered the gold standard for proof, the results would certainly suggest that garlic has a role to play, at least in cold prevention, but more good trials are needed.

ZINC

A known immune system modulator, there is some research to suggest that zinc can be used to manage respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, and the common cold. While there is some indication that zinc supplements might be most beneficial for children and the elderly - in other words, those with weakened or compromised immune systems - the data is inconsistent.

As for the benefits of using zinc lozenges to treat the common cold, the reviewers at Cochrane deemed the data inconclusive. Yes, there are several well-controlled trials, and some have demonstrated that zinc lozenges can, in fact, reduce the duration or the severity of the common cold, others have shown no effect. The difference could be the result of the type of zinc used and its bioavailability (the ability of the body to uptake and use a particular form of a nutrient), but the possibility of bias was also raised.

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How to eat yourself out of depression

FOOD has a direct effect on the levels of certain brain chemical. For example, eating regular portions of tryptophan – containing proteins such as lean meat, cheese and eggs-can improve your mood. It’s because tryptophan is converted by the body into serotonin – the brain chemical that triggers the feel good effect.

The absorption of tryptophan is helped by eating carbohydrates. That’s why people crave cakes and goodies when they’re feeling down. But simple carbohydrate like cakes can give you an energy dip a few hours after you’ve scoffed then- and that makes you feel worse than before you ate it. The solution? Go for complex carbohydrates such as oats and whole grain which release energy slowly, but still help the absorption of tryptophan.

Avoid sugar: We crave different foods when the weather gets cooler. You want comfort food, but doughnuts and cakes are not the answer. Some scientists believe that sugar and other simple starches actually bring on depression, by lowering levels of serotonin. A recent study found that countries that ate the most sugar also had the highest rate of depression. Other studies have shown that depression improves when people eat less sugar.

Drink water: When the weather is cold, we drink less which can result in dehydration- one of the worst culprits when it comes to making you feel low. According to mental- health charity, MIND, drinking water came top as the best self- help strategy to boost your mood. This is because dehydration is a form of stress. It causes similar changes to the body as when you’re stressed by other means- resulting in depression.

The brain is 85 percent water. It’s the movement of this water through the nerve cells that generates electrical activity. A shortage mild dehydration triggers an increase in histamine, which can block the message – carrying neurotransmitters in the brain- making you feel miserable. So if you’re feeling low, try drinking three glasses of water. It will combat the signs of dehydration and you should feel happier just 10 minutes later. Over the course of an average day, you should drink at least eight glasses of water.

Boost your Vitamin D: Another reason to get outside, is to boost your levels of Vitamin D. Vitamin D is vital for healthy bones and skin, and also increases happiness by raising levels of the feel good chemical, serotonin, and this nutrient is made in your body when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Boost your intake further by using margarine every morning.

Other good dietary sources include breakfast cereal, oily fish and eggs.

Walk back to happiness: Exercise makes you feel happier, but pounding the streets in bad weather can be a struggle. Even a brisk walk will cheer you up though. Activity has the same effect on the brain as antidepressants. It stimulates neurotransrnitters (which carry messages around the brain) to produce serotinin – the endorphin which makes us feel good. In fact, walking has been found to be more effective than drugs in treating mild to moderate depression. Also, exercise, unlike antidepressants, works immediately and has no negative side effects, just 10 minutes of brisk walking will boost your mood. 20 minutes will cheer you up a treat and 30 minutes will put in an even better mood. After that, the effect of exercise on the mood remains the same.

You need help to make your relationship last

EVEN the happiest couples sometimes drift apart and to help your relationship stay the course, experts believe you really have to work with the tools you have. You know he’s the one, and he’s crazy about you. You’re in love – for now. But what about a few years down the line? By then you’re fed up with the way he leaves his dirty socks on the floor. He hates the way you always hog the bathroom. Is it time to break up?

Psychologist Susan Jeffers says that this sounds familiar, you need lessons in love. In her book: Feel the Fear Guide to Lasting Love, she explains that falling in love can be easy but couples need to learn how to keep their love alive. She says: “I believe that when many of us enter a relationship, we don’t really know how to love. It’s when the original feeling of bliss is over that the learning begins. Too many of us don’t understand what love really means. We say we love people in our lives, yet often we don’t act very lovingly.” She says that acting lovingly is the key; so how do you do this? Get rid of those negative vibes: If you think and act unlovingly, your partner will pick up on negative energy and it will lead to conflict. But she also advises us to look beyond our immediate relationship. “If your friends are always moaning, it’s time to find new ones. The complainers in life are not working on becoming more loving people.

Work out your own issues: When you’re trying to patch things up after an argument, the hardest thing is often admitting your own faults. But this doesn’t mean you have to blame yourself for everything that’s gone wrong either. See it as a chance to become self-aware. It’s hard to be loving toward someone else if, for example, you have body hangups and don’t really love yourself.

Don’t use your feelings to punish your mate: The same feelings come up in a good relationship as in a bad one. But Jeffers points out: “The difference is, in .a good relationship we use the feelings as tools of self-discovery in a bad one, we use the feelings to punish our mate.” The next time your other half does something that annoys you, don’t automatically go on the attack. Think about how you can change your reaction to what’s happened. If he wants a night out without you and, you’re angry about it, ask yourself why.

Is your life so limited that you can’t cope without him for a few hours? If your answer is yes, it’s not a reason to be cross with him. It’s something only you can change. And if you give him time with his friends, he should be happy for you to take time out with yours.

Become what you want your mate to be: We can’t ask another person to be something that we can’t or won’t be ourselves. So make a list of all the qualities you want your man to have, and start trying to develop them yourself. If you want him to appreciate you more, then remember to thank him for the little things he does for you. You’ll soon start to get back what you give.

Remember it only takes one: Insisting that both of you have to work on the relationship is often a cop-out, says Jeffers. “It can be so much easier to blame our mate and stay miserable than take responsibility for looking inside and pushing through the fears of changing ourselves.” If you stay positive, work out your own issues and avoid blaming the other person for everything, your partner will pick up on it and become more loving towards you.

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Vitamin D Deficiency: Children Need Vitamin D

This nation has many costly health care problems, but vitamin D deficiency shouldn't be one of them.

A new analysis focusing on U.S. children ages 1 through 11 says about a fifth of youngsters that age aren't getting the minimally required level of vitamin D. Many more may fall short of the optimal dose.

The deficiency puts those children - disproportionately African-American - at risk of ailments such as rickets, a disease that can cause a weakening of growing bones and cartilage.

Rickets was thought to have been conquered in this country shortly after the turn of the 20th century, when it was discovered that sunlight and food supplements could both prevent and treat the disease. But pediatricians have seen a reappearance of rickets in the United States in recent decades.

Sunshine and vitamin D-fortified milk are two key sources of vitamin D. But as an Associated Press article published Monday noted, many children don't drink the multiple glasses of milk a day that would be needed to get the recommended dose of vitamin D.

Sunshine, with its ultraviolet light that the human body turns into vitamin D, is readily available in Florida, but not in the North.

SUPPLEMENT FOR SAFETY

The potential for damage from vitamin-D deficiency in young children is so clear that the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that youngsters get a 400-unit, daily supplement.

The new research supports that recommendation, said Dr. Jonathan Mansbach, lead author on the study, which was reported in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Some evidence indicates that teens and adults may need much more vitamin D, well beyond what would be consumed in a good diet. This too suggests that daily supplements would be helpful.

Many questions about vitamin D levels remain unanswered. Health experts should accelerate research into the causes of deficiencies, particularly the prevalence among people of color.

No one should overlook the benefits of fresh air, sunlight and adequate milk intake. But when these are not enough, the growing sentiment among health experts is to recommend a daily supplement.

This solution - accessible, relatively cheap and easy to administer - is far preferable to the possible consequences of vitamin D deficiency.

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Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis

Research has come up with new developments regarding Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis. Let’s reduce the incidence of MS by making sure Vitamin D levels are supplemented vigorously.

You don’t hear much about multiple sclerosis — mostly because it’s a disease that continues to stump doctors and researchers. While there are a handful of treatments that can alleviate some of the symptoms, there’s no cure for it. But last month, researchers from the UK and Canada did even better. They made a discovery that may prevent it from occurring in the first place.

And the missing link is none other than vitamin D.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of British Columbia examined genetic factors involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. They found that one of the genes known to have the strongest effect on MS risk interacts closely with DNA and proteins that rely on vitamin D to activate them.

If your body doesn’t have enough of this essential nutrient to activate those proteins, the nearby gene may be altered. And your risk of developing MS may increase as a result.

The researchers actually believe that this vitamin D deficiency-MS risk relationship begins before we’re even born. According to the article I read about this study “They believe that vitamin D deficiency in mothers or even in a previous generation may lead to altered expression of the gene in their offspring.”

In theory, this could mean that if women get ample vitamin D throughout their lives — and during pregnancy — it could potentially wipe out MS altogether.

Granted, it is still theoretical at this point. But it certainly can’t HURT. And while vitamin D may or may not be the MS savior, it does play a critical role in many, many other aspects of your health.

Dr. Wright recommends 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily for adults and teenagers, 1,000 IU for infants and small children, and 2,000 IU for everyone in between.

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Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Increased Risk of Death

Supplementing with the sunshine vitamin could save your life.

If you’ve been keeping up with your nutritional news, you know that you should be supplementing with vitamin D. The benefits associated with the "sunshine vitamin" are many and include reduced risk for a number of diseases. But that isn’t all: getting ample amounts of vitamin D could extend your life, according to two new studies which prove that vitamin is nothing short of a nutritional miracle.

Researchers reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that people with low vitamin D levels were three times more likely to die from heart disease and two and a half times more likely to die from any cause than those with optimal vitamin D levels. The scientists wrote: “Current dosage recommendations for vitamin D supplementation appear to be inadequate in most older adults to support [the] higher levels that are associated with optimal general health and reduced mortality.”

In addition, a multi-center study published in the August 2009 issue of Nutrition Research found that vitamin D deficiency placed women at an increased risk of death. While recent study out of China found that 94% of people between the ages of 50 and 70 were vitamin D deficient, which increased their risk of metabolic syndrome — a group of symptoms that occur together and promote the development of coronary artery disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Other research has linked the lack of vitamin D to osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious disease and cardiovascular disease.


The Anti-Aging Bottom Line:

These are just two of many studies highlighting the dangers of low D intake. While the RDA for the vitamin is currently just 400 IU, many experts recommend that 1,000 to 5,000 IU is what's needed to achieve optimum levels. Don't let a vitamin D deficiency put you at risk for health problems as you age. Ask your doctor to check your vitamin D levels so you can be sure you are taking enough supplemental vitamin D to keep your blood levels within a safe range.



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Vitamin D Supplements Improve Risk Factors for Diabet

Many health benefits are credited to vitamin D, and a new study from New Zealand has added another one to the list. Researchers found that supplements of the vitamin may improve insulin resistance and sensitivity, which are risk factors for diabetes.

Insulin resistance is a condition in which a person’s tissues have a reduced response to insulin, a hormone that is secreted by the pancreas to help regulate glucose levels in the body. This resistance causes the body to produce larger quantities of insulin in an attempt to maintain normal levels of glucose in the blood.

In the randomized, controlled, double-blind trial, the results of which were published in the British Journal of Nutrition, the investigators studied 81 South Asian women, ages 23 to 68 years, who had insulin resistance. Half of the women were given 100 micrograms (4,000 IU) of vitamin D3 daily; the other half were given a placebo. The treatment period lasted six months.

At the end of six months, the women who had taken vitamin D showed significant improvement in both insulin resistance and sensitivity compared with those who took placebo. The best results were seen in women who had blood levels of vitamin D in the range of 80 to 119 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L). The Vitamin D Council states that the optimal blood level of vitamin D is at least 125 nmol/L (50 ng/mL), yet most Americans have levels less than 30 ng/mL.

This study follows a recent meta-analysis that showed an association between low intakes of vitamin D, calcium, or dairy products and type 2 diabetes. The authors in the current study note that along with improving insulin resistance and sensitivity, their results indicate the importance of increasing the daily recommended intake of vitamin D. The findings of this study and others highlight the concern that the dietary recommended daily intake values (DRIs) in the United States are too low. Currently the DRIs are 200 IU for adults 19 to 50 years, 400 IU for people 51 to 70, and 600 IU for people older than 70.



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Vitamin D: How to Determine Your Optimal Dose

In the wide world of supplements, vitamin D is the superstar. For the last few years, this humble nutrient has been featured prominently in allopathic and alternative circles alike. It has basked in the rays of media publicity, and has survived an onslaught of scientific scrutiny. And while such widespread publicity is often good cause for skepticism in the realm of health and medicine, vitamin D appears to be the real deal. Whether we`re talking about heart disease, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or Alzheimer`s disease, the "sunshine vitamin" delivers benefits unseen before our time (1).

Given the remarkably powerful benefits of vitamin D, many find themselves wondering how to actually go about obtaining it. We know that vitamin D is good for us, but how much do we need, and where do we get it? Most people know that sunlight is somehow involved in vitamin D production, but is sunlight alone sufficient to produce the incredible results demonstrated by recent vitamin D research? What about supplements? There are so many different preparations - with doses ranging from 400 IU to 50,000 IU - that it can get a little confusing. Are such supplements necessary, and if so, how much should we be taking?

Everyone is Different

One might suppose that this question is as easily answered as saying, "Everyone needs to spend 15 minutes in the sun every day." Or, "Everyone needs to take x amount of vitamin D per day." But it`s not like that. Not at all. There are a multitude of variables unique to you that determine how much vitamin D is required on a daily basis (2). And because there are so many individual variables, it really is impossible to recommend a single amount for everyone. Fortunately, however, there are many circumstantial clues to look for that will suggest whether you need to be paying better attention to your vitamin D status. Furthermore, personally optimizing your vitamin D level is fairly easy and inexpensive.

Are you at risk for vitamin D deficiency?
-How much sun exposure do you get every day?
-Where do you live? Above or below the 35 N latitude line? (3)
-What is your age? Over 40?
-Is your skin light, dark, very dark?
-Are you overweight?
-Do you have a chronic illness?

How do each of these factors affect vitamin D status?

Sun Exposure: Catching some rays each day is definitely desirable, and healthy young people can usually get the vitamin D they need from around 10 to 30 minutes of sun exposure per day - depending on their location and the time of year. Most adults in today`s modern world, however, do not even attempt to get this much sun exposure - much less achieve it. But even if they did, would it matter, or are there other variables standing in the way?

Location: Vitamin D is produced in the skin from a cholesterol derivative when we are exposed to UVB radiation from the sun. However, because of the axial tilt of the earth, the further north one lives, the less the sun`s UVB rays will be able to activate vitamin D in the skin. So sun exposure does not necessarily equal optimal vitamin D status if you`re living in the wrong location. Living down south is better, of course (south of the 35 N latitude line seems to be the best), but there is still more to consider.

Age: Say you do live close to the equator, or are significantly below the 35 N latitude line. That`s a good thing, and it probably helps. If you`re around 35-40 years old or above, however, you`re likely losing the ability to activate sufficient levels of vitamin D in your skin, even in the unlikely event that you`re getting adequate UVB sun exposure (4).

Dark Skin: What if you have dark skin? If you have a lot of pigment in your skin, this is going to shield you from the UVB radiation you need, and you`re probably deficient in vitamin D.

Weight: Vitamin D requirements are also relative to body weight. If you`re overweight, your body requires more vitamin D than if you are not overweight. If you get a lot of sun, but are on the heavy side, you`re probably still not getting enough vitamin D.

Chronic Illness: Chronically ill? Have cancer? The body demands more vitamin D when you`re sick, and is probably using it up faster than you can get it from the sun.

When one considers that many Americans are victims of not just one but many of the above drawbacks, it becomes readily obvious as to why there is such a widespread vitamin D deficiency epidemic. Not getting enough sun is bad enough, but lack of sun exposure combined with being middle-aged, overweight, and chronically ill is an absolute disaster - and it is the devastating situation that many (most?) Americans find themselves in today.

Is Sun Exposure Really Not Enough?

Yes, sun exposure is a good thing, but too often, it`s simply not sufficient to achieve the kind of levels necessary for disease prevention and treatment. This applies even in places like Hawaii, where individuals get plenty of sun exposure, and the latitude is around 21 (5, 6). The role of sunlight should not be downplayed too much, however. If you`re healthy, young, and live in a subtropical region, then you might have sufficient vitamin D levels. In fact, some young people in the subtropics who get sun exposure all day long have levels between 80-100 ng/ml. This is incredible, and it means that sun exposure really does work provided the conditions are right.*

The point being made in this article is simply that not everyone is young, not everyone is healthy, not everyone lives in Houston, and not everyone gets enough sun exposure every day. It is those people who need to supplement with vitamin D. This also happens to be most people.

Blood Testing is Crucial

How do you know if you`re getting enough vitamin D, and how much is enough? The only way to know is by testing your blood. Fortunately, testing vitamin D, as far as blood testing goes, is pretty cheap. You can set this up with your doctor, order tests online and get blood drawn at a local lab, or order a vitamin D home test kit, whereby you simply order the test, prick your finger, send in the blood, and wait for the results to come back to you.

Here are some basic guidelines:

-Make sure you are getting the right test. You must test for 25(OH)D, not 1,25(OH)D. They look similar, but 1,25(OH)D is a measure of kidney function, and is not the test you want for measuring vitamin D levels.

-Ideally, your blood level should be around 60-80 ng/ml, as this allows the body to have some vitamin D in reserve, and it duplicates the higher levels found in young, healthy individuals who spend a decent amount of time in a sun-rich environment.

-Begin taking vitamin D at least eight weeks prior to being tested. This will help you customize your dose once you receive your test results. To determine a basic, starting dose, it has been suggested, as per Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council (7), that you take 1,000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight. A person who weighs 150 pounds, for instance, would take 6,000 IU per day as a starting dose (150/25 = 6. 1,000 x 6 = 6,000). Do this for at least eight weeks, and then test. Perhaps this dose will put you in the ideal range, but there`s no guarantee since we are all so different, and have unique vitamin D receptor genotypes. The idea is to hopefully get somewhere in the ballpark with this method and then tweak your daily dose once the test results come back. If your results are still suboptimal, Dr. Cannell has estimated that each 1,000 IU increase in supplemental vitamin D will generally produce a 10 ng/ml increase in the vitamin D blood level (8). For example, if you have been taking 5,000 IU per day for 8+ weeks, and your results come back at 40 ng/ml, you would want to increase your dose to at least 7,000 IU (2,000 IU = ~20 ng/ml rise in blood level) to achieve a minimum of 60 ng/ml. Again, keep in mind that this is necessarily generalized, and additional blood testing every several months is recommended to further customize the dose appropriate to you.

What Kind of Supplements Should I Use?

In order to achieve consistent and predictable results, it is important to use the proper carrier form of vitamin D supplements. The absolute best form is an oil-based vitamin D preparation. Dry preparations, like tablets and capsules, should be avoided. Vitamin D is fat soluble, and needs to be taken with fat in order to be properly absorbed - hence the oil-based recommendation.

Oil-based versus dry preparations aside, there are two common types of vitamin D: Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol). You will need to avoid supplementing with vitamin D2 (9), which is a synthetic product made by exposing certain plants to ultraviolet radiation. D2 is not what the human body naturally uses, and compared to D3 it falls far short in terms of efficacy (of course, D2 happens to be what many vitamin D prescriptions are made of). D3 is what your body uses and prefers. No prescription necessary.

You can buy D3 in oil-based softgels, or, if you don`t like taking pills or have trouble doing so, you can get it in liquid drops.

Summary

Vitamin D status is important year around, but whenever fall and winter are upon us, the importance of evaluating this vital nutrient is even more urgent. In summary, here are the steps you should take if you are wanting to optimize your vitamin D level:

1) Start taking oil-based vitamin D3 according to your body weight, as explained above.

2) After at least 8 weeks, have your blood tested by a good lab. There are home finger-prick test kits that are also very good.

3) Remembering that the goal should be blood levels of 60-80 ng/ml of 25(OH)D, adjust your vitamin D3 dose to achieve this level. Each 1,000 IU increase will generally lead to a 10 ng/ml increase in blood levels.

4) Recheck blood levels every several months to make sure you are still in the optimal range and taking the proper dose.

It is beyond ironic that for quite some time now, everyone has been encouraged by the "authorities" to avoid the sun in order to keep from getting cancer, yet it is that very sun exposure that would help in avoiding cancer in the first place! "Avoid midday sun, or you`ll get melanoma!" we`re told. But melanoma is mostly triggered by UVA rays from the sun - not UVB. When is cancer-causing UVA exposure the lowest? Right around midday. When is UVB exposure the highest? Also right around midday. A high UVB:UVA ratio (high UVB and low UVA) is the best for creating vitamin D in the body, and this occurs when the sun is highest in the sky - exactly the time (ironically) that is often suggested to be avoided.

Supplementation is not recommended for everyone. Certain conditions, such as sarcoidosis and some lymphomas, can produce excessive amounts of vitamin D, and in these instances, one should move forward cautiously under the supervision of a healthcare professional.



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Information about Vitamin D

One should have information that vitmain d belongs to the group of fat-soluble prohormones having two categories like vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Its very common that vitamin d is abstracted from sun exposure, food , and supplements . In this way vitamin d act as biologically inert undergoing two hydroxylation reactions which must get activated in the body. Also calcitriol is another active form of vitamin d showing its prescence in the body. One should alos know that vitamin d also meaning metabolites. Vitamin d is important for human body as it plays several functioning like inhibition of calcitonin which is released from the thyroid gland. The vitamin d stops the emergence of calcitonin as it lead to bone resorption and degrading the cartilage.

One should also know that vitamin D helps in stopping the parathyroid hormone secretion which occurs from the parathyroid gland along with modulating neuromuscular and immunity functions and inflammation reduction. Generally it is seen that lack of vitamin d leads to make the bone thinner, brittle and misshapen in one’s body bones. The lackness of vitamin d exists in not having proper intake of those foods who is having vitamin d along with lackof sun exposure, disorders who stops in absorbing the sunlight, situations which stops the vitamin d converting into metabolites like liver adn kidney disorders and certain reasons of hereditary disorders etc. Not only this vitamin d deficiency eradicates bone mineralization resulting into bone softening diseases, appearance of rickets among children, osteomalacia among adults and biggest negativity is playing role in osteoporosis.

The important work of vitamin d is maintaining the different organs of the system of the body. The main function is to supply calcium in the blood stream by allowing the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the diet from the intestinal part of the body. One should have information that reabsorption of calcium from the kidneys helps in mineralization of bones which aovids the chances of hypocalcemic tetany. Vitamin d shows its prescence in bone growth along with bone remodeling with the help of osteoblasts adn osteoclasts. So users of vitamin d and its supplements must gather important information about vitamin d before opting for its usage on one’s body.



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Vitamin D Deficiency found in 6 million U.S. Kids

A new study has revealed that over 6 million American children are getting too little of vitamin D which is an essential nutrient. The optimal amount of vitamin D is still a subject of debate but its deficiency could lead to a number of health problems.

Dr. Jonathan Mansbach, lead author of the new analysis and a researcher at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital in Boston said, “Almost 90 percent of black children between the ages 1-11 years and 80 percent of Hispanic kids could be vitamin D deficient- “astounding numbers” that should serve as a call to action.”

This recent study has just added to the already existing evidence regarding the vitamin D deficiency in children, teens and adults. There is more concern because of the recent studies which suggest that vitamin D might help prevent serious diseases, including infections, diabetes and even some cancers.

Despite all these studies there is still no solid evidence that the lack of vitamin D leads to diseases or that high levels of it prevent them.

Doctors have not yet reached a consensus on the optimal levels of vitamin D. They are waiting for guidance expected in an Institute of Medicine report on vitamin D due next year. It is a advisory group of the government which sets dietary standards.

The study is the first of its kind to analyze the varying vitamin D levels in children aged 1 through 11.

Some previous studies had found low levels of vitamin D in teens and also kids with low levels having high blood pressure and cholesterol levels that were also likely to be overweight.

The new analysis uses data from 2001-06 government health survey involving almost 3,000 children. Vitamin D levels were measured by blood tests.



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