Posted on 12/06/2009 9:00:19 AM PST by STARWISE
The claims have been sensational. Martin Mittelstaedt checks up on the research behind the hype
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In the summer of 1974, brothers Frank and Cedric Garland had a heretical brainwave.
The young epidemiologists were watching a presentation on death rates from cancer county by county across the United States.
As they sat in a lecture hall at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore looking at the colour-coded cancer maps, they noticed a striking pattern, with the map for colon cancer the most pronounced.
Counties with high death rates were red; those with low rates were blue. Oddly, the nation was almost neatly divided in half, red in the north and blue in the south. Why, they wondered, was the risk of dying from cancer greater in bucolic Maine than in highly polluted Southern California?
*snip*
Exposure to sunshine varies dramatically depending on the latitude. What if that's what was behind the varying cancer rates?
Their hypothesis, painstakingly developed and published six years later in the International Journal of Epidemiology, was that sunlight has a powerful anti-cancer effect through its role in producing vitamin D in bare skin.
Those living at northern latitudes, they theorized, receive less sunlight and make less of the vitamin, which in turn increases their risk of dying from cancer.
Today, with vitamin D so much in the news, it's hard to believe that it took decades for the Garlands' hypothesis to gain traction in the mainstream medical community.
But the benefits of vitamin D are no longer restricted to cancer prevention:
Studies have linked a shortage of the compound to such serious, chronic ailments as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, heart disease, influenza and schizophrenia.
Rest @ link
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
Non-flushing isn’t as effective....and has other problems.
My doctor takes 2000-4000 IU of D3, so that's what I take. She said there is no agreement about the proper dosage, but only the geltabs should be taken -- not the solid pills.
3 ways to get more vitamin D
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20996364/ns/today-today_health/
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Getting enough of this nutrient could help lower your risk of death
Over the past few years, research has shown that getting enough vitamin D can reduce the risk of several medical conditions, including osteoporosis, gum disease, diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and YES, even certain cancers.
Now, vitamin D appears to be associated with a lower risk of death, according to a meta-analysis of 18 previously published studies in the September 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Here are three things you can do to ensure you’re getting enough.
1. Incorporate vitamin D-rich food
* Wild salmon 3 oz = 420 IU
* Atlantic mackerel 3 oz = 320 IU
* Sardines 1 can = 250 IU
* Shrimp 3 oz = 150 IU
* Skim and 1% low-fat milk 1 cup = 100 IU
* Shittake mushrooms 4 items = 260 IU
* Fortified yogurts like Dannon Light & Fit 1 cup = 80 IU
* Fortified cereals:Multigrain Cheerios 1 cup = 40 IU; Post Bran Flakes 1 cup = 40 IU; Kashi Vive 1¼ cup = 80
I think it is very important to distinguish between vitamin D and Vitamin D3. As I understand it, vitamin D is a goldy Locks vitamin, but D3 can be taken in higher doses without being toxic.
My Doctor has me on a once a week dosage of 50,000 IU, he thinks that it is more affective if it is taken this way rather than lower dosages each day. There is less chance of hit and miss dosages and it seems to help absorb calcium better.
Dear Grandma, Have mercy on the neighbors and put your shirt back on.
FYI: Melanoma most frequently occurs in none sun exposed areas. The truck driver that hangs his left arm out of the window gets almost no vitamin d benefit after the arm becomes very tan. Black people need 10-20 times as much sun exposure
in north america as do white people in order to get the same
amount of d. It takes 48 hours to get the d3 on your skin absorbed into the blood stream. If you bathe with soap the d goes down the drain.
Bottom line is that in my nearly 50 years of near perfect health and observing many around me who are perpetually sick or otherwise in some sort of health crisis, I have drawn the following conclusions.
Those who nervously sit at home and obsess over health tend to be sicker than those who live an active lifestyle and partake in all that life has to offer. Case in point, pop star Michael Jackson with his silly surgical masks and aversion to germs of all types. Where did that get him? In an early grave with a boatload of wacky stories for the supermarket tabloids to report on.
Meanwhile, you have millions of people people living long and healthy lives who spend plenty of time outdoors (without sunscreen!), knock back a few beers from time to time, drink coffee by the gallon, light up a cigar or pipe now and then, have eggs and bacon for breakfast, don't wash their hands 19 times a day and aren't afraid to pick up and eat a tasty morsel of food if they accidently drop it on the ground. They also never wore a surgical mask in their life unless maybe they had to strip some lead paint off their wall with an electric sander.
Basically all I'm trying to say is quit worrying and start living. (And yes, I do believe you should get your vitamin D the natural way, not in pill form, so get out in that yard and rake some leaves already.)
Polar bear (and seal, and husky) liver is indeed toxic.
The toxin, however, is Vitamin A, not D.
Thanks for the ping. I’m seeing nice results from taking vit. supplements. I’ve added the B Vit family, and it helps too - I could feel it when I stopped it (tastes yukky going down). But worth it.
A friends’ hubby was diagnosed with Lewy Body disease (mental disorder) and one of the factoids from his tests was he was horribly depleted of Vit B12, and that alone can cause dementia, she was told. Important for seniors to take it.
Dang. You better believe that I’m going to go out and get some D3.
But the article didn’t make it clear whether wearing sunscreen prevents the body from synthesizing vitamin D. (I don’t know if I can’t wear sunscreen on my face! It would be frecklefest 2009!)
Today on Sunday Housecall,the good doctor who is a strong advocate of Vitamin D and takes 2000 units per day, announced that a recent study indicated that Vitamin D supplement substantially reduced the problems of vertigo and balance.
Result in old people, less falls, fewer broken hips.
During Flu season. I increase my daily dose from 2000 to 4000 units per day
I thought it was niacinamide which was used in the studies. Niacinamide is a form of B-3 which is “non-flushing.”
To maximize the benefit of sun exposure, Americans need to modify their hygiene habits. If you get a good dose of sunshine and then promptly step into the shower and thoroughly scrub yourself with soap and water, most of the vitamin d is flushed down the drain. It takes up to 48 hours for the vitamin d produced in the oils on the skin to be absorbed into the body. Just soap up and scrub the "high points" (which probably weren't exposed to the sun anyway, unless you are of the naturalist persuasion) instead of the entire body.
“I would be careful with mega doses of the 4 fat soluble vitamins.”
Good advice. However, what constitutes a mega dose of Vitamin D is undergoing revision. Some researchers are recommending 1000 i.u./25 lbs. of body weight to achieve optimum health benefits.
Oh, absolutely.
Just do some research before talking to your doc.
Did not know
Look up topical bit c and skin cancer
If you are interested in this, then do a search at google on "alzheimer's disease" and coffee, caffeine.
For many decades they've known that coffee drinkers were less prone to get any form of dementia; but recently, in mice bred to develop Alzheimer's, researchers reversed all the symptoms with CAFFEINE.
There are also articles posted here at FR, which you can locate using the keyword, CAFFEINE.
Several freepers are actually taking No-Doz and generic caffeine preparations because of the results of that study.
The last I read, quite some time ago, was that they planned to do trials on humans with CAFFEINE.
And NO, I do not have a citation for any of the many articles I read about this.
wow
Catfish is a good source of Vitamin D, too.
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