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Health See other Health Articles Title: Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D3? For those of you who are regular readers of this newsletter, you know how I feel about vitamin D3. For those of you who are reading the newsletter for the first time, I have to simply state, "I love vitamin D3". I just can't say enough about it. I just did a Medline (National Library of Medicine) search on vitamin D and came up with over 44,000 articles/studies. Just to review some of the latest data: There was an article1 published in the December 2008 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looking at vitamin D levels in the U.S. population, comparing it from 1988 – 1994 to 2000 – 2004. The information was gleaned from periodic surveys that have been done on nutrition in this country called National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). Approximately 18,000 to 20,000 people were evaluated in these surveys. After adjusting for age and other factors, it was found that overall mean vitamin D levels in the blood were actually lower in the 2000 – 2004 time frame compared to the 1988 – 1994 time frame. The reason for this is uncertain, but may be related to changes in milk intake and increased BMI (body mass index). Increasing use of sun protection lotions also appeared to contribute to a real decline in vitamin D status. While sunscreen lotion may protect your skin from DNA damage, it also prevents the body from making vitamin D. Very bad news indeed. An article2 appearing in the December 2008 edition of the journal Breast Feeding Medicine talks about how vitamin D has emerged from obscurity. It was once thought to be a simple hormone involved in only bone and calcium metabolism. But now it appears to be a complex hormone that is not only involved in controlling calcium metabolism, it is also intimately involved in immune function, inflammation and many health concerns associated with aging such as poor immune health, elevated blood sugar, poor neurological health, abnormal cellular growth and others. In the December 2008 edition of The Journal of Internal Medicine, a study3 was conducted involving 441 subjects who were overweight and had poor mood. The study involved both men and women between the ages of 21 to 70 years old. It was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Participants received either 20,000 or 40,000 IUs of vitamin D weekly or placebo for one year. It was found that those individuals who had lower vitamin D levels in their blood were much more likely to have poor mood compared to those with more normal blood levels. In the two groups given the vitamin D, there was a significant improvement in some measurements of poor mood. The authors of this study indicated that there appears to be a relationship between serum levels of vitamin D and symptoms of poor mood. Furthermore, supplementation with high doses of vitamin D seems to promote healthy mood, indicating a possible causal relationship. A particularly great study4 was just published in the December 15, 2008 edition of the American Journal of Therapeutics. There is a test that looks for abnormalities in coronary blood vessels done with a CAT scan measuring the amount of calcium in these blood vessels. The more calcium found, the greater the likelihood of an abnormality in that blood vessel. The article indicates that a reduction in bad LDL cholesterol with statin therapy has not been shown to reduce or slow the progression of this calcium build up in coronary arteries. This study involved 45 men and women who had elevated calcium levels on this special CT scan. None of these individuals had symptoms of poor heart health. They were given a combination of statin therapy, niacin, omega-3 essential fatty acids (EPA and DHA) and vitamin D supplementation along with dietary advice. After an average of about 1½ years, twenty of these subjects actually experienced decreased calcium scores in their coronary arteries; 22 of these subjects experienced no change or a slow annual rate of increase of calcium build up. Only three of the 45 individuals experienced progression of build-up of coronary calcium. The authors of the study noted that a substantial reduction of coronary calcium occurred in 44% of the subjects and slowed growth of plaques in 49% of subjects who were given this broad treatment program. This is quite remarkable. I highly recommend that everyone take 2,000 mg per day of EPA and DHA from fish oil along with 2,000 – 4,000 IU per day of vitamin D3. If you want to promote cardiovascular health beyond these two nutrients, I also recommend red yeast rice, niacin and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). I love vitamin D3. It is far and away my favorite nutrient. My next favorite nutrient is NSI's Mega EFA® fish oil with double the EPA and DHA when compared to other fish oil products. Nutraceutical Sciences Institute® (NSI®) offers excellent doses of vitamin D3 in our Synergy line of multi-nutrient nutraceuticals. We long ago recognized the incredible value and importance of vitamin D3 and started adding larger doses to our products compared to what you see in your typical multi-vitamin. Also beyond the ineffective 400 IU of vitamin D most multi-vitamins contain, many also use the less effective non D3 form of vitamin D. If your vitamin D does not say "D3" it is probably the cheaper and less effective form. 100% of NSI vitamin D products and products with vitamin D include 100% of the most effective D3 form. NSI also has a great red yeast rice product with CoQ10 and niacin. I highly recommend that you read the reviews on this product and other NSI products, tens of thousands of customers have written reviews on NSI products with the vast majority being quite happy. In fact, NSI is the #1 selling brand at Vitacost – it outsells the next closest brand by over ten to one and hundreds of thousands of Vitacost.com customers choose the NSI brand every year. To review and shop over 800 NSI products click here. As 2008 comes to a close, I wish all of you a healthy and happy holiday season. 1. Looker AC, Pfeiffer CM, Lacher DA, et al., Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status of the US population: 1988–1994 compared with 2000–2004, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2008, Vol. 88, No. 6, 1519-1527. 2. Wagner CL, Taylor SN and Hollis BW, Does Vitamin D Make the World Go ‘Round? Breastfeeding Medicine, December 2008, Volume 3, Number 4, Pp. 239-250. 3. Jorde R, Sneve M, Figenschau Y, et al., Effects of vitamin D supplementation on symptoms of depression in overweight and obese subjects: randomized double blind trial, Journal of Internal Medicine, December 2008, 264(6):599-609. 4. Davis W, Rockway S, Kwasny M, Effect of a Combined Therapeutic Approach of Intensive Lipid Management, Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation, and Increased Serum 25 (OH) Vitamin D on Coronary Calcium Scores in Asymptomatic Adults, American Journal of Therapeutics, December 15, 2008. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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