Vitamin D may be heart protective

A deficiency of the sunshine vitamin may worsen plaque accumulation in vessels of diabetes patients

Vitamin D deficiency may exacerbate the excess heart disease risk that people with type 2 diabetes face, a new study in the Aug. 25 Circulation suggests. In lab tests, researchers demonstrate that immune cells with very low vitamin D levels turn into soggy, cholesterol-filled baggage that can become building blocks of arterial plaques.

Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, an endocrinologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and his colleagues found that people with diabetes seem more susceptible than nondiabetics to the negative cardiovascular effects attributable to a vitamin D shortage. Larger studies may clarify whether the shortage’s effects extend to nondiabetics, Bernal-Mizrachi says.

Previous studies have tied vitamin D deficiency to cardiovascular disease risk, but the cell biology underpinning this link has been gauzy. “Now we’re figuring out the mechanisms behind how this works,” Bernal-Mizrachi says.

The team tested blood samples from 76 obese people, average age 55, who had high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and low vitamin D levels. As a comparison, the scientists tested blood from 15 similar people who had normal vitamin D levels and another 45 people with normal blood pressure.

From these blood samples, the scientists cultured immune cells called macrophages and exposed the cells to an oxidized form of LDL cholesterol (the bad kind). Because macrophages are immune cleanup crews that normally snag and engulf LDL molecules, this test mimicked the goings-on in the walls of a blood vessel.

But in these tests, macrophages from the type 2 diabetes patients were more likely to absorb LDL cholesterol in excess when they were cultured without vitamin D than when they were bathed in vitamin D.

Macrophages low on vitamin D become indiscriminate devourers, gobbling up too much LDL and...

I see they were a dime cheaper (10.10 vs 10.20) on the particular Country Life D3 5000 U x 200 pills *but* would end up more expensive due to shipping ($5 vs $2) If you were buying more items at one shot & could take advantage of their “one price” $5 shipping deal, go for VitaCost. I was *only* shopping for the D3, being otherwise well outfitted, and I knew the $2 shipping from iHerb was in essence unbeatable. In general, I would suspect these outfits are very, very competitive. I mean, very. I only price compared that single item. I’d be surprised if shipping and sales tax were *not* the biggest cost-difference items on a multi-item order.

Sorry I'm late -- lots of personal stuff going on (teenagers, what else?)

I am going to have to make this on the installment plan, as the prices seem to bounce around, and I've had to start over a couple of times.

Todays installment:

Dr. Weil Multivitamins

B-50 complex

Biotin

Vitamin C

Note: I looked at four sites:

Amazon

iherb

Swanson

Vitacost

For Amazon, I typically chose the "top" selection (buy new from) which seems to be direct from Amazon and not from a reseller whose storefront is on Amazon.

I usually stick to the brands Country Life and Nature's Way, as they are both found on the list of manufacturers on this site which are generally widely available on a number of websites.

There are a couple of important additions, for example, Nature's Bounty (Fish Oil), NOW Foods (many supplements), and Food Science of Vermont (K2).

Space and time kept me from comparing these brands in general -- but in passing I note that NOW Foods brands are found at a lot of the over-the-counter health foods stores, and Nature's Bounty is found at Walgreens, at least in Minneapolis: and if you can pick up a 2-for-1 deal there, it is often competitive with online, and no waiting. :-)

Name	Quantity	Size	Brand	Source	Vendor	Price
Dr. Weil Multivitamin
	180				Amazon	$21.35
	180				iherb	$24.68
	90				Swanson	$13.79
	180				Vitacost	$19.77	win
Vitamin B-50 complex
	100	B-50	Country Life		Amazon	$12.79
	100	B-50	Nature's Way			$7.79
	100	B-50	Country Life		iherb	$8.82
	100	B-50	Nature's Way			$8.44
	100	B-50	Swanson Premium		Swanson	$3.99	win
	100	B-50	Nature's Way			$7.79
	100	B-50	Country Life		Vitacost	$6.27
	100	B-50	Nature's Way			$7.79
Biotin
	120	5 mg	Country Life		Amazon	$13.15
	120	5 mg	Country Life		iherb	$8.67
	100	5 mg	Swanson Premium		Swanson	$2.99	win
	120	5mg	Country Life		Vitacost	$8.57
Vitamin C
	250	500 mg	Country Life Buffered		Amazon	$12.22	Win
	90 x 3	500 mg	Nature's Way Ester-C			$30.48
	250	500 mg	Country Life - Buffered		iherb	$14.93
	250	500 mg	Nature's Way w/Bioflavinoids			$13.64
	100	500 mg	Buffer-C pH controlled		Swanson	$9.48
	250	500 mg	Nature's Way Vitamin C w/Bioflavinoids			$12.59
	120	500 mg	Country Life pH Controlled Buffer-C		Vitacost	$7.98
	250	500 mg	Nature's Way Buffered C-500			$13.79

More tomorrow...

Cheers!

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