Archive for the ‘Vitamin D’ Category
BET Spreads the word on Vitamin D
Filed under: Health Disparities, Vitamin D | Tags: Health Disparities, Vitamin D
Comments (4) Imagine my delight and surprise that today’s BET.com Daily News Blast prominently noted the importance of Vitamin D.
They cited the alarming statistic I wrote a post on back in January of 2010 that 97% of African-Americans are deficient in Vitamin D.
To read this article The 411 on Vitamin D, please visit the BET site and let them know you’re interested in raising awareness of this issue.
It’s Fall – time to think about vitamin D
Filed under: Hormones, Supplements, Vitamin D | Tags: Hormones, Supplements, Vitamin D
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Well, it’s always a good time to think about vitamin D, but since we’re heading into November fast, its now that those great vitamin D levels of the summer (that is, if you actually got out into the sun this summer) start waning. Vitamin D is used in a myriad of mechanisms throughout the body. Since you’re been paying attention to this blog, you know how important it is.
The ‘new’ things in this post aren’t all that different than what you’ve been hearing me harp on for months now, but I did come across a few things I hadn’t seen:
- University of California San Diego and Grassroots health have teamed up again to present an updated set of video seminars on the latest vitamin D research:
http://uctv.ucsd.edu/vitamind/
Here are a few teasers:
Vitamin D: Nutrient, Not A DrugVitamin D: Role in Preventing Cancer
Vitamin D: Pregnancy and Lactation – Preventing Complications, Growing Healthy Babies - Our favorite ‘just outside the mainstream’ doctor – Joseph Mercola – has a great Vitamin D resource center on his website. He keep it all fresh and is always on the lookout for the new evidence:
http://www.mercola.com/article/vitamin-d-resources.htm
Keep that 25 (OH) Vitamin D level above 60. You can thank me later.
Another take on Autism
In a previous post, I referenced a great interview by Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness. While I learned a lot from the podcast and think the work Julie Matthews is doing is vital, I was surprised there was no mention of my favorite topic – Vitamin D – and it’s correlation with the incidence of Autism and the severity of its effects.
To round out this topic, from my perspective, it would be worthwhile to consider the work of the Vitamin D council who have a section of their web site specific to issues related to the Autism spectrum. Their most recent update on the connection between Autism and Vitamin D cites three Swedish papers that provide further evidence of the connection. There’s also an audio interview (links directly to the .mp3 file) from the healthychild.com site.
Also, search for “Vitamin D” and “autism” together in your favorite search engine and you’ll find many more references to this correlation.
… and many more …
Blackhawks Win! Credit Vitamin D?
Filed under: Supplements, Vitamin D | Tags: Supplements, Vitamin D
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Well, they hockey team I grew up rooting for growing up in Chicago (I was joking that I was a fan so long ago, it was before the Espositos went to the Bruins) has won the Stanley Cup for the first time in almost 50 years.
Fitting now that I post about their being the first ‘Vitamin D’ team to win a championship.
Check out this article from the Vitamin D council ont he subject.
Wonder if Dr. Joseph Mercola had anything to do with this (having his practice in Chicago, and all).
No doubt will inspire others.
By the way, if you want to see the clinical evidence, take a look:
Athletic performance and vitamin D
CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D may improve athletic performance in vitamin D-deficient athletes. Peak athletic performance may occur when 25(OH)D levels approach those obtained by natural, full-body, summer sun exposure, which is at least 50 ng x mL
Racial Opportunities – Vitamin D (again!)
Filed under: Nutrition, PublicHealth, Supplements, Vitamin D | Tags: Nutrition, PublicHealth, Supplements, Vitamin D
Comments (2) At the risk of changing my ‘Health Man’ blog into the ‘Vitamin D’ blog, I come to you – once again – with more vital information about Vitamin D.
In a previous post, I make reference to mindboggling degree of Vitamin D deficiency among African-Americans – 97% are deficient. While we focus on African-Americans due to the relatively large population of Americans of African descent, these issues should be of concern for all people living in temperate climates with melanin-rich skin pigment.
Little did I know that in February of 2005, the Vitamin D council offered a publication titled: Racial Opportunities. In a very brief six pages, it wallops you with fact after fact, study after study that strongly correlates the much higher incidence of mortality and morbidity among African-Americans with their relatively poor Vitamin D status.
In the hopes of piquing your interest in reading this, here area a few stunners:
- Blacks are about ten times more likely to be vitamin D deficient than are whites.
- Vitamin D deficiency in African American mothers may explain the fact that black babies are more than twice as likely as whites to have low-birth-weights.
- Breast milk of black women often has undetectable levels of vitamin D.
- Fourteen diseases/conditions that have a higher incidence among African-Americans (eg, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity) also correlate with Vitamin D deficiency
This will take so little of your time to read. I hope it leads you to take ACTION.
Vitamin D Council Newsletter, February 12, 2005, "Racial Opportunities”
Pregnancy and Vitamin D
Filed under: Health Disparities, HealthCitizen, Hormones, Nutrition, Supplements, Vitamin D | Tags: Health Disparities, HealthCitizen, Hormones, Nutrition, Supplements, Vitamin D
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Who needs to see yet another vitamin D post from me? Seems like I covered it all before. You may be saying ‘I get it already.’ Well, this time, the focus is a little more specific – it’s about giving our mothers and children their best shot at a healthy delivery.
In the April journal of the Obstetrics and Gynecological Survey, there was an alert put out to all Obstetricians, Gynecologists and Family Physicians regarding the mounting evidence of a a strong association between some common complications related to pregnancy and child birth (preeclampsia, spontaneous preterm birth, gestational diabetes, and fetal growth restriction) and the mother’s vitamin D levels.
In fact, they highlight the “significant, intractable disparities” that exist in rates of major pregnancy outcomes between black and white women. Given, as I have noted before, that only THREE PERCENT (3%) of black people in the US have sufficient levels of circulating Vitamin D, it should not be surprising that these scientists believe there may be a connection. You may recall that this ‘sufficiently’ level is 30 ng/mL which is still not optimal (50 ng/mL). While we do not have broadly-collected data on this statistic, one would expect the percentage of black people in the optimal range to be very close to –0-.
There is a summary of this report available on PubMed. Also, our just slightly offbeat, but always on point Dr. Joseph Mercola has a very comprehensive write up on the topic entitled "How Sunshine Can Prevent Birth Defects". Here’s just a sample of the things Dr. Mercola covers in this eye-opening article:
- Birth Defects
- Vitamin D Deficiency and Brain Damage
- Maternal Vitamin d Deficiency Causes Learning Disabilities
- Dyslexia, Poor School Attendance, Low Apgar Scores And Low Birth Weight
- African-Americans Are at a Much Higher Risk
- Severe Vitamin D Deficiency More Than 20 Times More Common in Young Black Women
You don’t have to wait for all the studies to come in. Hopefully I’ve convinced you to alert all those who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant need to get their Vitamin D in to the optimal range (remember, 50ng/mL).
Grassroots Health – crowdsourcing clinical research funding
Filed under: Hormones, Longevity, Supplements, Vitamin D | Tags: Hormones, Longevity, Supplements, Vitamin D
Leave a Comment Here’s an innovative idea: let’s say you have one of those myriad ideas about how to keep people healthy that does not involve a new molecule (pharma) or zapping a patient with neutron gamma rays (medical devices). The oft-repeated lament is “Nobody’s gonna fund that, there’s no money in it!”
But if it’s dirt cheap and so helpful, you ought to be able to convince some large number of people (how presumably have been helped) to chip in to fund the research, huh?
Well, that’s the big idea at Grassroots Health (http://grassrootshealth.net). As far as I can tell, their only (first?) area of interest is in Vitamin D sufficiency (http://grassrootshealth.net/daction). They essentially have people sign up for $60/year. By signing up, members agree to participate in an observational study tracking circulating Vitamin D concentrations (25(OH)D) against a bunch of health conditions. The long-term plan is to build up enough cash to do a clinical trial of a to-be-determined design.
Could be the start of a new model – and give the disaffected throngs a way to push their priorities and note be dictated to by the medical-industrial complex.
Vitamin D on the brain
Filed under: Hormones, PublicHealth, Supplements, Vitamin D | Tags: Hormones, PublicHealth, Supplements, Vitamin D
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The drumbeat regarding the essential role circulating vitamin D plays in human health is getting louder and louder by the day. I personally find this especially gratifying because I’ve been alerting friends and family to the importance of vitamin D for years. My latest find on this topic, however, could be cause for concern for many who make a good living off of the negative health effects that closely correlate with rampant vitamin D deficiency.
University of California Television (uctv.tv) has an entire video series on the topic: Vitamin D Deficiency: Treatment and Diagnosis. You may watch it streamed directly from the site, or download the individual audio or video files for playback locally. I find that even though there are often presentations that go along with the talk, the audio by itself is quite useful in most cases.
There are two talks that bear particular note:
Vitamin D Prevents Cancer: Is It True?
First Aired: 09/28/2009
In a new study, researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center used a complex computer prediction model to determine that intake of vitamin D3 and calcium would prevent 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer annually in the US and Canada. The researchers’ model also predicted that 75% of deaths from these cancers could be prevented with adequate intake of vitamin D3 and calcium. Join Carole Baggerly with GrassrootsHealth as she discusses this new research.
D-Lightful Vitamin D: Bone and Muscle Health and Prevention of Autoimmune and Chronic Diseases
First Aired: 03/11/2009
Can vitamin D help prevent certain cancers and other diseases such as type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain autoimmune and chronic diseases? To answer these questions and more, UCSD School of Medicine and GrassrootsHealth bring you this innovative series on vitamin D deficiency. Join nationally recognized experts as they discuss the latest research and its implications. In this program, Michael Holick, MD, discusses vitamin D relating to bone and muscle health and the prevention of autoimmune and chronic diseases.
There are also a raft of resources at the GrassrootsHealth site.
One picture says many, many volumes on this topic. It’s entitled Disease Incidence Prevention by Serum 25(OH)D Level. The story it tells is that there are clinically-verified correlations between the incidence of specific conditions and levels of circulating Vitamin D. Based on this large (and growing) body of evidence, it is reasonable to infer that by increasing our serum Vitamin D levels into the optimal range of 50 ng/ml, the following conditions could be reduced at the indicated rates:
- Breast Cancer: down by 83%
- Ovarian Cancer: down by 17%
- Colon Cancer: down by 60%
- Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma: down by 18%
- Type-1 Diabetes: down by 66%
- Fractures (all combined): down by 50%
- Falls (women): down by 72%
- Multiple Sclerosis: down by 54%
- Heart Attack (men): down by 30%
- Kidney Cancer: down by 49%
- Endometrial Cancer: down by 37%
This topic is especially relevant to me and my family. As an African-American who lived his entire life above the 38th parallel (Chicago, Minneapolis, Washington, DC and Seattle, to be precise), the absence of adequate sun exposure during most months of the year had a profound effect on my health (primarily in the very early onset of severe periodontal disorders, seasonal allergies, lower bone density). This is a message that literally needs to be trumpeted from the rooftops for everyone – especially anyone who skin has a lot of melanin (like mine).
The optimal range (50 ng/ml) must be put into context: In A recent NHANES study (2001-2004), only 3% of black folks were in the ‘sufficiency’ range of >30 ng/ml. That is not a typo: three percent – and remember, the optimal range begins at 50 nl/ml. Of even greater concern is that prevalence of deficiency (<10 ng/ml) is at 29%.
This is the real pandemic.
The kicker here is that vitamin D is about the least expensive dietary supplement available. At about $.05 (that’s FIVE CENTS) a day, most of us can, over time, get our levels in the optimal range.
So, what is a person to do? Obviously, I am not your physician, so I cannot give you medical advice. However, I have it on extremely good authority that it is safe practically everyone to take 1,000 IU (international units) of oral vitamin D daily (you want the D3 form, not the D2 form). If you do not know your vitamin D levels, make a beeline to your doctor’s office to get tested. Please do not simply accept the ‘normal/not normal’ pronouncement from your doctor. Obtain the actual test results and read it for yourself to determine your levels. Ideally, you will want to test at least twice a year (once at the end of the winter, and again at the end of summer) to make sure you’re staying in range. Just so your expectations are appropriately set, it took me about two years to get my levels stabilized in the optimal range.
Please, please, PLEASE, do what you can to raise awareness of this inexpensive and powerful way to improve our health.
p.s. I have been alerted by one of my readers – who is also a physician – that I should take care to warn people who have kidney problems (renal disease, renal failure) or elevated creatinine levels (which is an indicator of diminished kidney function)that they should always check with their physician before taking any dietary supplements.
EFAs, Vitamin D, Vitamin C
Filed under: Nutrition, Supplements, Vitamin D | Tags: Nutrition, Supplements, Vitamin D
Leave a Comment When we last discussed supplements, I gave you just two examples of important nutrients that are required for optimal health that most of us must supplement in order to receive an optimal amount in our diet. To recap:
- Essential Fatty Acids (also referred to as Omega-3s)
There are good sources in fish, some nuts. However, given the significant level of toxins in any larger fish (even wild) consuming large quantities of fish gives one pause. However, you can achieve the same ends if you supplement and take care to only get the purest available fish oil sources. EFAs will get a post of their very own shortly, but if you want to know more right now, visit International Fish Oil Standards. They have emerged as the authority on independent, 3rd party testing of fish oil products. - Vitamin D
You no doubt have been hearing lots in the news about the growing understanding of the importance of circulating Vitamin D. It seems like a study a month comes out noting another chronic condition that correlates to low vitamin D. In most of these reports, however, the fact that the need to supplement your diet with vitamin D is glossed over. You should assume that your Vitamin D levels are not in an optimal range if you do not live year-long in a tropical latitude and spend a good portion of the day outdoors without sunscreen. If you do not live in the tropics – especially if your skin is pigmented like mine (my guess is I’m in the 98th percentile of melanin content) you are likely deficient in Vitamin D. I know I was very surprised to find out that I was back in 2006 and it has taken me about 2 years to get it in the optimal range. It’s hard to single out individual factors given that I’m always experimenting, but I have to believe this change has played a major role in the improvement in my health. - Vitamin C
This vitamin’s benefits have been well-known for many years (not, though, that the ‘official’ allowances have not responded to our greater knowledge). It is also common knowledge that there are many fine dietary sources of vitamin C. What is not that well understood, though, is that by the time broccoli, peppers, cauliflower, etc. get to most of us, the ascorbic acid in those foods has been destroyed by exposure to air, light and heat. Further, as Vitamin C is secreted from the body at a comparatively rapid rate, so you’ll want to spread out your intake throughout the day.
Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not arguing that one must get all their nutrients from supplements. What I am arguing is that in order to ensure that you keep optimal levels of these nutrients circulating in your body, it is best to supplement to ensure that your body gets what it needs to stay in an optimal state.
