Striving4Zen

Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to play a role in almost every major disease, including:

• Osteoporosis and Osteopenia
• 17 varieties of Cancer (including breast, prostate and colon)
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes
• Autoimmune diseases
• Multiple sclerosis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Osteoarthritis
• Bursitis
• Gout
• Infertility and PMS
• Parkinson's Disease
• Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Alzheimer's Disease
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic Pain
• Periodontal disease
• Psoriasis

Read more....

Labels: disease, eating healthy, Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps the digestive system absorb and regulate calcium and phosphorous. Naturally present in fatty fish (such as sardines and mackerel), egg yolk, lanolin, and liver, it's also produced by your skin as a result of direct exposure to UVB rays in sunlight. Vitamin D comes in two forms: D2 (ergocalciferol), often derived from yeast, and D3 (cholecalciferol), the type the skin makes as a result of sunlight exposure.

Benefits

Strengthens bones and prevents osteoporosis. Recently, research has suggested it may prevent high blood pressure, as well as colon, prostate, and breast cancers. It also is highly effective in boosting immunity.

News

A 2008 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that low levels of vitamin D could lead to a substantially increased risk of death. Researchers analyzed vitamin D levels in 13,331 healthy men and women over the course of seven years. Low levels of vitamin D were linked to an increased risk of mortality from all causes by 26%.

How to take it

The current recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D is 200-600 IU. However, the National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that adults age 50 and older consume 800-1,000 IU per day for bone health. The Institute of Medicine is expected to release new, significantly higher daily requirements for vitamin D next year. Ask your health care practitioner if you should take supplements, especially if you spend little time in the sunshine, live in a cloudy climate, have dark skin, are lactose intolerant, over age 50, overweight, or a strict vegetarian.

Side effects

Experts disagree on an upper limit of vitamin D, but the Institute of Medicine suggests that anyone over age 14 can safely consume up to 2,000 IU per day.

Source

Labels: calcium, eggs, healthy diet, immunity, sardines, skin, study, sunshine, Vitamin D, Vitamins

Although the evidence is strong that dairy-product consumption doesn't prevent osteoporosis, simply eliminating dairy products does not ensure strong bones.

It pays to put some thought into keeping your bones healthy. Studies have shown that the following factors are helpful in building and maintaining strong bones:

• Getting plenty of exercise. Studies have concluded that physical exercise is the key to building strong bones (it's more important than any other factor). For example, a study published in the British Medical Journal that followed 1,400 men and women over a 15-year period found that exercise may be the best protection against hip fractures and that "reduced intake of dietary calcium does not seem to be a risk factor." And Penn State University researchers found that bone density is significantly affected by how much exercise girls get during their teen years, when 40 to 50 percent of their skeletal mass is formed.

• Getting enough vitamin D. If you don't spend any time in the sun (about 15 minutes on the face and arms each day is enough), be sure to take a supplement or eat fortified foods.

• Eliminating animal protein. For a variety of reasons, animal protein causes severe bone deterioration.

• Limiting salt intake. Sodium leaches calcium out of the bones.

• Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. They contain vitamin C, which is essential for building collagen, the underlying bonematrix.

• Not smoking. Studies have shown that women who smoke one pack of cigarettes a day have 5 to 10 percent less bone density at menopause than nonsmokers.

Source

Labels: bones, Dairy, exercise, fruits and veggies, healthy diet, milk, osteoporosis, strong bones, Vitamin D

Vitamin D

This fat-soluble vitamin is clutch--your bones can't absorb calcium as well without it.

Great sources:
3.5 oz salmon = 360 IU
1.75 oz sardines = 250 IU
4 oz shrimp = 172 IU
8 oz D-fortified milk or orange juice = 100 IU

Vitamin K

You don't hear much about vitamin K, though vitamin K isn't a direct bone-builder, it does enable certain bone forming proteins to do their job, says Sarah Booth, Ph.D., director of the Vitamin K Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston.

Great sources
1 cup kale = 547 mcg
1 cup broccoli = 420 mcg
1 cup Swiss chard = 299 mcg
1 cup spinach = 120 mcg

Potassium

It's already linked to lower blood pressure, and now, a recent study has found, potassium may also neutralize acids that suck calcium out of the body, making it a skeleton saver, too.

Great sources
1 sweet potato = 694 mg
1 white potato with skin = 610 mg
8 oz plain nonfat yogurt = 579 mg
1 medium-size banana = 422 mg

Labels: bones, healthy diet, potassium, strong bones, Vitamin D, Vitamin K

Labels: healthy diet, lycopene, skin cancer, skincare, sunscreen, sunshine, tomatoes, Vitamin D

Labels: natural health, nutrition, sunshine, Vitamin D

Vitamin D supplements may lower your risk of dying from any cause, according to a new European study. Researchers from the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, reviewed 18 trials of more than 57,000 people. The trials involved doses of vitamin D ranging from 300 international units (IUs) to 2,000 IUs. The average dose was 528 IUs.After a period of six years, the data showed that people who took vitamin D supplements had a 7 percent lower risk of death compared to people who did not take the supplements.
Further, according to the nine trials that collected blood samples, people who took vitamin D supplements had a 1.4- to 5.2-fold higher level of vitamin D in their blood than those who did not.Because vitamin D can reduce the proliferation of cells, which occurs in cancer, the researchers believe their finding could lead to new drugs to fight cancer and other illnesses. Vitamin D also helps your body to uptake calcium for bone health.
The researchers recommend taking between 400 IUs and 600 IUs of vitamin D daily. Your skin can also produce its own vitamin D by getting moderate sun exposure each day.
Archives of Internal Medicine September 10, 2007;167:1730-1737
Forbes.com September 10, 2007

Mercola adds:
If you decide to supplement your diet with vitamin D, there are two crucial things to know:

*It IS possible to overdose on oral vitamin D supplements (there’s very little risk of overdosing on vitamin D from the sun, however), so you need to have your blood levels of vitamin D measured regularly.
*Only vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), the type of vitamin D found naturally in foods like eggs, organ meats, animal fat, cod liver oil, and fish, is appropriate for supplementation. Do NOT use the highly inferior vitamin D2.

Labels: cure all, Mercola, supplements, Vitamin D

How many people know that not getting enough sun KILLS 50,000 people from cancer deaths every year in the US alone?
The myth that the sun is detrimental to your health, and that sunscreen is a necessity to guard against cancer is one of the most pervasive hoaxes in our society today. As this article points out, this myth can be traced back to the two industries that benefit the most: the cancer industry and the sunscreen manufacturers. These two giant profit-makers tag-team efforts which keep the unsuspecting public in a trance.
Not only do sunscreens promote cancer by blocking your vitamin D production, they are also likely carcinogens all by themselves. A study in the April 2004 Journal of Chromatography found that there is significant penetration of all sunscreen agents they studied into the skin.
So when you use most sunscreens, your body is absorbing synthetic chemicals, and with experts' recommendations to apply generous amounts of the product every few hours, you will likely be absorbing a fair amount. Some of these chemicals are quite dangerous. Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), which is present in 90 percent of sunscreen brands, was found to kill mouse cells even at low doses.
Sunburn should always be avoided, but there are many all-natural ways to protect yourself from sunburn that you can use instead of resorting to the toxic infusions of commercial sunscreens.
Boosting your skin's "internal sunscreen" from within with effective antoxidants from whole fresh vegetables and fruits like goji berries (not the juice), raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, are far healthier options. Additionally, slathering on some aloe vera gel can also be helpful.If you're still hooked on the idea of a cream, there are safer natural sunscreen products that contain no petrochemicals, such as Aubrey's Active and Green Tea sunblocks. Just remember, although these products are non-toxic, they still prevent you from metabolizing vitamin D, so use them with caution.
I recommend testing your vitamin D levels to make sure you're not deficient before resorting to sunscreen of any kind.
For more information about the vital importance of vitamin D from sunlight, please review my article Reduce Your Risk of Cancer With Sunlight Exposure, if you haven't already seen it. You might also want to keep an eye out for my forthcoming book, Dark Deception, which is due to be published in 2008. It will take an in-depth look at all of the various issues relating to sunscreen, cancer, vitamin D, and sunlight.

Labels: Anti-oxidant, Mercola, sunscreen, Vitamin D

The Institute of Medicine recommends 200 international units (IU) for children and adults younger than 50. For men and women over 50, the RDI is 400 IU.
Which Foods Have Vitamin D?
Many foods are fortified with vitamin D, most notably milk. One cup of milk provides 98 IU, almost half the recommended amount for adults under 50. Many breakfast cereals are also fortified with vitamin D, but many only provide 10 percent of the RDI. Cold water fish such as salmon, tuna and sardines, are excellent sources of vitamin D. Just 3 1/2 ounces of salmon, half of an average restaurant portion, provides 360 IU of vitamin D.
There are also a variety of vitamin D vitamin supplements. The NIH estimates 30 to 40 percent of older adults are vitamin D deficient and could benefit from a supplement. Also, people living in northern latitudes and people with a high amount of melanin in the skin (darker skin) are prone to vitamin D deficiency.

Labels: nutrition, Vitamin D

As D's benefits become clearer, we're urged to get more -- much more -- of it.

Even the most brazen snake-oil salesman might blush at trying to sell the public on a pill to ease aches and pains, strengthen bones, slow down cancer and prevent diseases as varied as Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia.But these claims aren't the frothy hyperbole of a sideshow huckster. A growing number of serious scientists are quite willing to speculate that a single compound may be able to accomplish all of these feats — and possibly more. They're not talking about a new miracle drug, but a common nutrient: vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin."

Once seen as merely a defense against rickets, vitamin D has in recent years gained recognition as a major force that acts throughout the body. It improves absorption of calcium, controls the growth of cells (both healthy and cancerous), strengthens the immune system and seems to rein in overzealous immune system cells that cause diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.Much of vitamin D's potential is still just that: potential. But at this moment, to some scientists the potential looks huge.

"Even if two-thirds of these things don't pan out, it's still a blockbuster," says Dr. Robert Heaney, a professor of medicine at Creighton University in Omaha, who specializes in osteoporosis.As excitement about vitamin D grows, so does the concern that many people may not be getting enough. In March, an article in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings called vitamin D deficiency "a largely unrecognized epidemic in many populations worldwide."Heaney and many other researchers believe the Food and Drug Administration should consider radically increasing the suggested daily dietary intake of the vitamin, which is currently set at 200 international units (IU) for anyone younger than 51, 400 IU for people 51 to 70, and 600 IU for those 71 and older. They cite studies such as one published earlier this year that found that cancer deaths were especially common in men with low levels of vitamin D, and a series of studies showing that high levels of vitamin D improved strength and prevented falls in elderly people."

The daily allowances for vitamin D are outdated," says Anthony Norman, a professor of biochemistry at UC Riverside. "I would recommend 1,000 IU per day for all ages, with a maximum of 2,000 IU. I'm considering taking 2,000 IU myself." And, he adds, current evidence suggests that even 10,000 IU — overkill by anyone's standards — would probably be safe."I'm 99% sure that vitamin D deficiency is becoming more common," says Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard University who has conducted several studies on the health effects of vitamin D. In one of them, he and his colleagues estimated that an extra 1,500 IU of vitamin D each day could reduce the risk of deadly cancers of the digestive system by 45%.Willett believes that more than 1 billion people on the planet — including about two-thirds of whites and almost all blacks in America — don't have enough for optimal health. In recent years, shortages of the compound have even led to a resurgence of rickets, a childhood bone deformity, especially among dark-skinned babies who are exclusively breast-fed.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-vitamind12jun12,0,7815295,print.story

Labels: supplements, Vitamin D