Your Vitamin D Level
may be the most
important lab test
you do this year.
They used to tell those of us in the Southwest that we could never be deficient in Vitamin D because of our sun exposure. Well, both my two kids and I tested very deficient, even by mainstream medicine lab testing covered by our HMO insurance. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I will continue to bring you important info regarding this vitamin (that is really a neurohormone).
"Because vitamin D is so cheap and so clearly reduces all-cause mortality, I can say this with great certainty: Vitamin D represents the single most cost-effective medical intervention in the United States." ~ Dr. Greg Plotnikoff, Medical Director, Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.
Important Vitamin D Link:
Vitamin D Council
The active type of Vitamin D is D3 cholecalciferol, and you want to take it in the "dry" form, as the oil in the gelatin cap type will oxidize the vitamin over time - so by the time you swallow it the potency may be greatly reduced, and not what you paid for! Life Extension makes a high potency dry form. Vitacost.com is the best source for supplements I have found, with extremely cheap and fast shipping.
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Vitamin D Key to Cancer Survival
the following excerpted from
The Blaylock Wellness Report by Dr. Russell Blaylock
Vitamin D-3’s Impact on the Brain
One of the most exciting findings is that
vitamin D-3 is a neurohormone, and like other
neurohormones in the brain, it plays a number of
roles in brain function.
Recent research has shown that all cells in the
brain have receptors for vitamin D-3, both in the
nucleus and on their membranes.
A number of recent studies have found that
these vitamin D-3 receptors play a major role in
brain development, both while the baby is in the
uterus and after it is born.
Low vitamin D intake or low exposure to
the sun by moms-to-be can result in behavioral
problems when the child is older. With acute
vitamin D-3 deficiencies, the brain’s growth can
suffer severe abnormal development, because this
critical vitamin controls how the brain develops.
Food, even fortified milk, is a poor source
of vitamin D-3. This leaves sun exposure and
vitamin D-3 supplements as the two most
important sources.
In the past, mothers made their children
take cod liver oil, a concoction that contained
substantial amounts of vitamin D.
As medical practice became oriented more
towards pharmaceuticals, this ritual seemed
archaic.
Modern medicine has a bad habit of promoting
the abandonment of healthful folk treatments —
such as B-12 shots for the elderly and cod liver oil.
Vitamin D-3 plays a major role in a number
of mechanisms that protect the brain, such as
increasing neuron glutathione level. It is also a
powerful antioxidant.
In addition, it also reduces harmful levels of
nitric oxide, which can form a brain-destroying
free radical called peroxynitrite.
This radical is found in high concentrations
in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease
as well as a number of other neurodegenerative
diseases of aging.
the following excerpted from
Natural Healing
with Dr. Mark Stengler
Low Vitamin D Linked to Heart Disease. Analysed: National Center for Health Statistics data on more than 15,000 adults. Results: Compared with participants who had the highest blood levels of vitamin D, those with the lowest levels were significantly more likely to have heart disease risk factors - hypertension, diabetes and/or obesity.
My view: Vitamin D lowers blood pressure, perhaps by lessening the heart's need to pump too forcefully...reduces inflammation by decreasing inflammatory chemicals....and improves insulin sensitivity (cells' ability to use the hormone insulin), aiding blood sugar control. This reduces the risk for arteriosclerosis (hardeing of the arteries) and impaired blood flow to the heart. Adults: Supplement with 1,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily. Do not take vitamin D if you have hyperparathyroidism, a condition that results in an imbalance of calcium and phosphorus. We also get vitamin D from sunlight, so spend 15 minutes outdoors without suncsreen three times weekly.
the following excerpted from
Reuter News Service:
Low vitamin D raises blood pressure in women: study
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 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, according to a study released on Thursday.
The study, presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago, adds younger women to a growing list of people including men who may develop high blood pressure at least in part because of low vitamin D.
Researchers in Michigan, who examined data on 559 women beginning in 1992, found that those with low levels of vitamin D were more likely to have high blood pressure 15 years later in 2007.
"Our results indicate that early vitamin D deficiency may increase the long-term risk of high blood pressure in women at mid-life," said Flojaune Griffin, who worked on the study for the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Vitamin D, which the human body can make from sunlight and which is found in fatty fish, fortified milk products and dietary supplements, has long been known to contribute to healthy bones and teeth.
But deficiencies, which are widespread in women, are linked to cancer, immune system problems and inflammatory diseases.
High blood pressure raises the likelihood of stroke, heart disease and other cardiovascular problems.
The women in the blood pressure study lived in Tecumseh, Michigan, and were 24 to 44 years old with an average age of 38, when the research began.
Researchers measured vitamin D blood levels at the outset and took blood pressure readings once a year. In 2007, they compared systolic readings -- the top number in blood pressure results that indicates the pressure within blood vessels when the heart beats.
More than 10 percent of women with vitamin D deficiencies had high blood pressure in 2007, versus 3.7 percent of those with sufficient levels. When the study began, 5.5 percent with deficiencies also had high blood pressure, compared to 2.8 percent with normal vitamin D.
The study was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
Almost half the population worldwide has lower-than-optimal levels of vitamin D and researchers say the problem is worsening as people spend more time indoors. African-Americans seem at especially high risk as dark skin can make it harder for the body to absorb ultraviolet light.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and Eric Walsh)
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