Posted on 09/01/2009 9:02:04 AM PDT by neverdem
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 shortages 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 were 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...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
Vit D is no problem taking pill, not any bigger than Bayer Aspirin
Cheers!
Swanson’s carries a wide range of brand name products at some of the lowest prices to be found anywhere...their website is definitely worth a look.
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.
I will compare Amazon, iHerb, Swanson, and Vitacost.
Details later.
Cheers!
On just D3, or a selection of supplements & multis?
I’d be happy to see such a thing when you get done!
TIA!
Cheers!
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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