VITAMIN D CRITICAL TO BONE HEALTH

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1 VITAMIN D CRITICAL TO BONE HEALTH Vitamin D supplementation is now all the rage, as physicians are finally realizing that many diseases are caused by Vitamin D deficiencies. It will be helpful to know something about Vitamin D if you are going to take supplements. VITAMIN D AND SUNLIGHT Sunlight is the most inexpensive and readily available source of Vitamin D! Vitamin D is produced by your skin in response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. In fact, you cannot get the amounts of Vitamin D that you need for health from food sources alone. Sunlight is critical to good health! The farther you live from the equator, the more time you need exposure to the sun in order to generate vitamin D. In latitudes (such as Boston and Alberta, Canada) synthesis of vitamin D on the skin during winter months is impossible. Skin pigmentation can reduce the rate of vitamin D synthesis by a factor of 50. Black people living in American and Europe are therefore at an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency compared to black people living in Africa, where the UVB availability is greater. Clothing, sunscreen and sun block interfere with Vitamin D production. Even the simple use of SPF 8 reduces UVB penetration of your skin by 95% and essentially halts vitamin D production. Always using sunscreen products on your skin can create a critical vitamin deficiency in your body. For best vitamin D production, expose as much skin as possible to the sun without any sunscreen for 20 minutes each day, and wait at least an hour before showering, swimming, bathing. (Start with just a few minutes to avoid burning.) Glass blocks ultraviolet radiation from the sun, so you do not generate vitamin D on your skin when sitting in your car or home. The ability to synthesize vitamin D in the skin decreases dramatically with age. The elderly should increase dietary sources of vitamin D. It is impossible to generate too much vitamin D in your body from sunlight exposure; your body will self-regulate and only generate what it needs. The latest Nebraska research shows us that sunlight and calcium supplements can reduce cancer risks by 77% in women. R Garden Newsletter February 2009

2 Nutrition experts are now saying that we need 4,000 IU of Vitamin D a day just to prevent deficiency and some say even more is needed. This is why getting sun exposure every day and supplementing with a top quality cod liver oil is essential! Chronic vitamin D deficiency cannot be reversed overnight. It takes months of sunlight exposure and vitamin D supplementation to rebuild your body s bones and nervous system. Vitamin D helps regulate calcium and phosphorus absorption through the intestines, reduces kidney excretion of calcium, and regulates the amount of calcium in bones. Supplementation with vitamin D 3 at dosages of IU daily or higher has been associated with a 23 26% improvement in bone health, especially for older adults. Absorption of dietary vitamin D occurs in the small intestine and is dependent upon an adequate supply of bile salts in other words, you have to have a healthy liver and a healthy digestive tract to get vitamin D into your body. Saturated fats protect your liver from damage, while polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils (transfats) cause liver damage. Avoiding vegetable oils, excessive alcohol, and drugs that are toxic to the liver will help your body absorb vitamin D. Without adequate vitamin D in your small intestine, your body cannot absorb calcium, rendering calcium supplements useless. VITAMIN D 2 and VITAMIN D 3 Vitamin D 2 (ergocalciferol) is synthesized industrially by irradiating yeast. It is not produced in the body! Vitamin D 3 (cholecalciferol) is synthesized by humans (from sunlight on skin), and by animals in their skin and the oils of their fur, and vitamin D 3 is provided by animal foods in the diet (egg yolks, cod liver oil, etc.) Clinical trials have noted the Vitamin D 3 raises serum levels of vitamin D 2-3 times higher than equivalent doses of vitamin D 2. Orese Fahey (505) )

3 DON T TAKE MASSIVE DOSES OF VITAMIN D ALONE!! Massive doses of all forms of vitamin D, when combined with low doses of Vitamin A, decreases bone mineralization and increases the calcification of the lungs, heart and kidneys. High doses of Vitamin D without Vitamin A create a Vitamin A deficiency High doses of Vitamin A without Vitamin D create a Vitamin D deficiency TAKE VITAMIN A with VITAMIN D 3 and VITAMIN K 2 None of these three nutrients can contribute to bone health without the presence of the other two in your body! FOODS RICH IN VITAMINS D 3 High-Vitamin Cod Liver Oil 3,450 IU in 1 T. Standard Cod Liver Oil 1,200 IU in 1 T. Egg yolk 24 IU in one fresh yolk AMOUNTS OF VITAMIN D 3 in 100 grams of food (100 grams is approximately 3 ½ ounces of food) Lard (pork fat, organic, fresh) Herring Atlantic Herring (pickled) Rainbow Trout Skinless sardines (water packed) Mackerel (canned, drained) Salmon Butter Beef Liver Pork Chicken livers 2,800 IU 1,100 IU 680 IU 600 IU 480 IU 450 IU 360 IU 56 IU 30 IU 28 IU 12 IU From The Miracle of Vitamin D by Krispin Sullivan (The Daily Value that has been established for Vitamin D is 400 IU ) Nutrition experts are now saying that we need 4,000 IU of Vitamin D a day just to prevent deficiency and some say even more is needed. This is why getting sun exposure every day and supplementing with a top quality cod liver oil is essential!

4 VITAMIN D BENEFITS Maintains normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus Prevents osteoporosis; builds healthy bones Prevents depression Prevents prostate cancer Prevents breast cancer Helps prevent colon cancer Research conducted at the Creighton University School of Medicine revealed that supplementing with vitamin D and calcium can reduce your risk of cancer by 60% Improves the control of blood sugar in diabetics Activates your immune system defends against invading microorganisms including seasonal flu and H1N1 (swine flu)! People who are deficient in Vitamin D get frequent colds. Prevents your immune system from over reacting to an initial virus, infection etc. so you won t die from inflammation (which typically gets expressed as bacterial pneumonia) Reverses inflammatory changes associated with age-related memory Prevents Parkinson s disease Relieves chronic pain Swiss researchers treated chronic pain patients with vitamin D and reported that the pain disappeared within 1 3 months. Supplementation with a sufficient amount of vitamin D can prevent the onset of a flu or cold. An analysis of a randomized controlled trial showed that post-menopausal African American women taking 800 IU a day of vitamin D were three times less likely to come down with the flu or cold than those receiving placebo IU a day of vitamin D essentially eliminated cold and flu cases altogether. R Garden newsletter February 2009 WHAT IS A HEALTHY LEVEL OF VITAMIN D IN THE BODY? Experts in the field now believe that 25 (OH) D blood concentrations should at least be 50 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter), the level normally reached by sun exposure during the summer months. In the flu season, when there simply isn t enough sunlight, supplementation with at least 2,000 IU a day is needed to get to that level. Orese Fahey (505)

5 VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY IS ASSOCIATED WITH: Adrenals not healthy Alzheimer s Allergies Autoimmune disorders Multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis Cancers of the colon, breast, skin and prostate Colds and flu Depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) Diabetes, Type 1 and 2 Gluten intolerance, lectin intolerance Heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure) Insulin resistance, Syndrome X (fat gain around the middle) Infertility, sexual dysfunction Learning and behavior disorders Misaligned teeth, cavities Obesity Osteopenia, osteoporosis Parkinson s PMS (reverse by taking calcium, magnesium, boron, vitamin D) Psoriasis Steroids, which are used to decrease inflammation, decrease calcium absorption and they may impair vitamin D metabolism.

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