The following information is a small collection of informative articles related to Vitamin D, and the extreme health benefits that Vitamin D offer. Feel free to scroll down the page and read all information or use the quick links below to view specific articles.

3) "Vitamin D Deficit" (from News of the World of Medicine, October 1999 - AP)

4) An excerpt from "The Vitamin D Toxicity Myth" (by Robert Barefoot)

5) An excerpt from The Weston A. Price Foundation's "The Miracle of Vitamin D" (by Krispin Sullivan, CN)

6) "The Battle of the Bulge " (an excerpt from the article "The Miracle of Vitamin D" by Krispin Sullivan, CN)

"Vitamin D Deficiency Common In Older People, Study Finds." (from The Arizona Republic, Thursday, March 19, 1998. Article by Lee Bowman, Associate Press)

A new study suggests that more than half of older Americans might not be getting enough bone-building vitamin D.

Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found more than half of the patients admitted to a Boston hospital were deficient in the vitamin, and nearly a quarter of them had blood serum concentrations less than half the amount thought necessary to preserve bone mass.

Earlier studies of homebound seniors and nursing home residents had found between a quarter and half of elderly people to be low on the vitamin, depending on the yardstick used.

But Dr. Joel Finkelstein of Massachusetts General Hospital and colleagues looked at a more diverse group, 290 patients ages 18 to 95 admitted in March and September 1994.

"Although we expected to see significant levels of vitamin D deficiency in the patients, we were
surprised that the results were so dramatic," Finkelstein said. "This suggests vitamin D deficiency is more common than currently appreciated in the general population as well."

In particular, among a subgroup of 77 patients in the study who were under 65 and had none of the other risk factors linked with deficiency, 41 percent still had low D levels.

"This suggests that the standard clinical indicators may not adequately predict who is at risk for vitamin D deficiency," said Dr Melissa Thomas, a study co-author.

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus, two major components of bone. and helps bones harden. The body makes the vitamin when exposed to sunlight, but most people living anywhere but the tropics need to get at least some vitamin D from their diets, and this need increases as people age because older skin also produces less of the vitamin.

Not getting enough vitamin D can contribute to reduced bone mass and increased risk of fractures, and
may weaken other organs and the immune system.

Few foods have much vitamin D, although fortified milk and some
fatty fish, like salmon and mackerel, are good sources, as are many fortified cereals. But unless they drink more than a quart of milk a day, most people need to take a vitamin supplement, particularly if they're older or during seasons they're getting little or no sun.

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"Vitamin D Is For Cancer Defense" (an excerpt from an article in the Nutrition Science News, March 2000. Article by Bill Sardi)

Cancer Prevention-Evidence of vitamin D's protective effect against cancer is compelling. For more than 50 years, documentation in the medical literature suggests regular sun exposure is associated with substantial decreases in death rates from certain cancers and a decrease in overall cancer death rates. Recent research suggests this is a causal relationship that acts through the body's vitamin D metabolic pathways. For instance, some evidence points to a prostate, breast and colon cancer belt in the United States, which lies in northern latitudes under more cloud cover than other regions during the year Rates for these cancers are two to three times higher than in sunnier areas.

Dark-skinned people require more sun exposure co make vitamin D. The thickness of the skin layer called the stratum corneum affects the absorption of UV radiation. Black human skin is thicker than white skin and thus transmits only about 40 percent of the UV rays for vitamin D production. Darkly pigmented individuals who live in sunny equatorial climates experience s higher mortality rate (not incidence) from breast and prostate cancer when they move to geographic areas that are deprived of sunlight exposure in winter months. The rate of increase varies, and researchers hesitate to quote figures because many migrant black populations also have poor nutrition and deficient health care thai confound statistics somewhat.

Although excessive sun exposure may give rise to skin cancer, researchers as early as 1936 were aware that skin cancer patients have reduced rates of other cancers. One researcher estimates moderate sunning would prevent 30.000 annual cancer deaths in the United States.

Vitamin D may also go beyond cancer prevention and provide tumor therapy. Much ado has been made of pharmaceutical angio-genesis inhibitors — agents that help inhibit the growth of new, undesirable blood vessels that tumors require for nutrient supply and growth. Laboratory tests have shown vitamin D to be a potent angiogenesis inhibitor.

Vitamin D also works at another stage of cancer development. Tumor cells are young, immortal cells that never grow up, mature and die off. Because vitamin D derivatives have been shown to promote normal cell growth and maturation, drug companies today are attempting to engineer patentable forms of vitamin D for anti-cancer therapy.

D Is for Strong Bones
Up until now, vitamin D has been better known for its ability to promote bone strength by increasing calcium absorption. Supplemental vitamin D has been shown to reduce hip fracture risk among elderly women when combined with supplemental calcium. In one study of 3.270 healthy women, mean age 34, 1,634 received 1.2g calcium and 800 international units (IU) vitamin D3, while the other 1,636 received placebo. During the 18-month study, the supplemented group experienced 43 percent fewer hip fractures, 32 percent fewer non-vertebral fractures, and a 2.7 percent increase in bone density of the proximal femur vs. the 4.6 percent bone density decrease seen in the placebo group.

Other studies bear out vitamin D's importance to bone health, to the point where it's now widely known that vitamin D deficiency is associated with hip fractures, and supplementation helps. Unfortunately, not everyone is getting enough vitamin D. A recent study reveals that about 10 percent of retirees in Boston social clubs are vitamin D deficient (< 15ng/mL serum vitamin D) compared with 21 percent of hip-fracture patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital. So experts now suggest people take 600 IU vitamin D daily, and up to 800 !U a day for elderly patients who do not produce vitamin D from sun exposure as easily as they did when younger. A recent study showed that 37 percent of adult hospital patients were deficient in vitamin D upon admission. Two-thirds of these patients did not consume enough vitamin D from dietary sources. Surprisingly, 46 percent of those who took daily multivitamins (most of which provide 400 IU) were also in a state of deficiency.

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"Vitamin D Deficit" (from News of the World of Medicine, October 1999 - AP)

Vitamin Deficit
ACCORDING TO A STUDY published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, many postmenopausal women are still unaware of the critical role vitamin D plays in preventing fractures. This nutrient helps the body use calcium to maintain strong bones, but more public awareness is necessary to emphasize D's importance, says Dr. Meryl S. LeBoff, lead study author and director of the osteoporosis program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Loading up on calcium without adequate vitamin D could still leave bones at risk. In their study, researchers compared 30 women with hip fractures with 68 women who didn't have fractures. Half the broken-hip group had vitamin-D deficiencies.

Common sources of vitamin D include eggs and fortified milk and cereal. Experts advise asking your doctor about supplements. — AP

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"The Vitamin D Toxicity Myth" (by Robert Barefoot) The following is an excerpt from an article written by Robert Barefoot.

....Typical of articles attempting to perpetuate the myth that God's nutrient, vitamin-D, is toxic, the article not only provides misinformation, it also uses arguments that are not true. For example it states that "there have been no systematic studies to determine vitamin-D toxicity for humans". This is simply not true. In my book, The Calcium Factor, I provide 10 such studies, all of which "conclude that vitamin-D is not toxic." Many of these were ten year studies done on hundreds of animals and humans. Studies that were carried out by our best scientists and doctors at our best scientific research establishments. For example, the Streck Report of 1937, "Further Studies on Intoxification With Vitamin-D", which was done at the University of Chicago Medical Facility and took dozens of doctors and scientists nine years to complete, concluded that they found large doses of vitamin D to be non toxic and, because of the correlation of their animal studies to their human studies, they concluded that "the burden of proof rests with those who claim the undesirability of vitamin D therapy." This study was followed up by other massive studies which all concluded the non toxicity of vitamin D.

Finally, this article did provide information that proved that vitamin D, in the amounts such as 1200 IU and 2000 IU which they claimed were toxic, just simply could not possibly be toxic. It is simple because all one has to do is apply grade 8 math to the numbers provided in the article. The article refers to a paper "Cholecalciferol Production", P.C. Beadle, where Beadle measured the vitamin-D production in the epidermis (skin) to be 163 IU per square centimeter in light skin per day and 69 IU per square centimeter in dark skin per day.

The human body has about 20 square feet of skin or 18,600 square centimeters. This means that the human body can produce over 3,000,000 IU of non toxic vitamin D per day. Also, the article suggests that 30 minutes of sunshine per week produces enough vitamin D for the human body. Assuming this to be true, and also assuming 12 hours of sunlight per day, the amount of vitamin D produced in 30 minutes is 128,000 IU which calculates to 18,300 IU per day. This means that they are advising that 18.300 IU of vitamin D are required by the human body per day (which this author wholeheartedly supports), while saying that 1200 IU "may be toxic". This is ludicrous as the healthiest people in the world, the Hunzas in Pakistan, the Bamas in China, the Georgians in Russia, the Titi Cacas in Peru and the Okinawans in Japan, all of whom have virtually no diseases, all get about 7 hours of sunshine each day and therefore produce about 500,000 IU of Vitamin-D each day (their skin is dark). Thus the logic of the Ph.D.'s lies in the ruins of grade eight math.

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"The Miracle of Vitamin D" - an excerpt from a published article by Krispin Sullivan, CN

Receptors for vitamin D are found in most of the cells in the body and research during the 1980's suggested that vitamin D contributed to a healthy immune system, promoted muscle strength, regulated the maturation process and contributed to hormone production.

During the last ten years, researchers have made a number of exciting discoveries about vitamin D. They have ascertained, for example, that vitamin D is an antioxidant that is a more effective antioxidant than vitamin E in reducing lipid peroxidation and increasing enzymes that protect against oxidation.

Vitamin D deficiency decreases biosynthesis and release of insulin. Glucose intolerance has been inversely associated with the concentration of vitamin D in the blood. Thus, vitamin D may protect against both Type I and Type II diabetes.

The risk of senile cataract is reduced in persons with optimal levels of D and carotenoids.

PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) has been corrected by supplementation of D and calcium.

Vitamin D plays a role in regulation of both the "infectious" immune system and the "inflammatory" immune system.

Low vitamin D is associated with several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis, Sjogren's Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis and Crohn's disease.

Osteoporosis is strongly associated with low vitamin D. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis respond favorably (and rapidly) to higher levels of D plus calcium and magnesium.

D deficiency has been mistaken for fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or periphereal neuropathy.

Infertility is associated with low vitamin D. Vitamin D supports production of estrogen in men and women. PMS has been completely reversed by addition of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D. Menstrual migraine is associated with low levels of vitamin D and calcium.

Breast, prostate, skin, and colon cancer have a strong association with low levels of D and lack of sunlight.

Activated vitamin D in the adrenal gland regulates tyrosine hydoxylase, the rate limiting enzyme necessary for the production of dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine. Low D may contribute to chronic fatigue and depression.

High stress may increase the need for vitamin D or UV-B sunlight and calcium.

People with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's have been found to have lower levels of vitamin D.

Low levels of D, and perhaps calcium, in a pregnant mother and later into he child may be the contributing cause of "crooked teeth" and myopia. When these conditions are found in succeeding generations it means the genetics require higher levels of one or both nutrients to optimize health.

Behavior and learning disorders respond well to D and/or calcium combined with an adequate diet and trace minerals.

....

Administration of dietary vitamin D or UV-B has been shown to lower blood pressure, restore insulin sensitivity and lower cholesterol.

....

The Battle of the Bulge
Did you ever wonder why some people can eat all they want and not get fat, while others are constantly battling extra pounds? The answer may have to do with vitamin D and calcium status. SUnlight, UV-B, and vitamin D normalize food intake and normalize blood sugar. Weight normalization is associated with higher levels of vitamin D and adequate calcium. Obesity is associated with vitamin D deficiency. In fact, obese persons have impaired production of UV-B-stimulated D and impaired absorption of food source and supplemental D.

When the diet lacks calcium, whether from D or calcium deficiency, there is an increase in fatty acid syntheses, an enzyme that converts calories into fat. Higher levels of calcium with adequate vitamin D inhibit fatty acid syntheses while diets low in calcium increase fatty acid syntheses by as much as five-fold. In one study, genetically obese rats lost 60 percent of their body fat in 6 weeks on a diet that had moderate calorie reduction but was high in calcium. All rats supplemented with calcium showed increased body temperature indication a shift from calorie storage to calorie burning (thermogenesis).

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