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Vitamin D |
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Vitamin D (Cholecalciferol)
Vitamin D, otherwise known as the sunshine vitamin, is significant in normal body growth and development. In particularly, vitamin D is used to absorb calcium and phosphorus to create bone. Great sources of this supplement include fortified milk, oily fish, liver, and eggs.
How This Vitamin Works in Your Body:
The Following May Benefit from Taking Vitamin D:
Where This Vitamin is Found:
How to Use:
Cautions:
Over 55:
Pregnancy:
Breastfeeding:
Storage:
Symptoms of Deficiency:
Overdose:
Side Effects:
Interactions: Top Vitamin D
Review Just Published
Findings from a review on vitamin D showed the various health benefits
provided by vitamin D and the consequences of vitamin D deficiency.
Without vitamin D, the small intestine would only be able to absorb 10
percent to 15 percent of our dietary calcium intake, which could lead to
osteoporosis.
Other health consequences of vitamin D deficiency include:
Common cancers Type 1 diabetes Exposure to sunlight supplies us the majority of our
vitamin D our bodies require. Darkly pigmented skinned people are the
exception because they require 10 to 15 times exposure to the sun to get
the same effect as lighter skinned people. For those people who don’t get adequate amounts of
sunlight, experts recommend a minimum of 1,000 IU vitamin D to maintain
healthy levels in their blood. A high number of vitamin D deficiency
cases have been found in infants who are solely breastfed from adults
who have darker skin or lower exposure to the sun. Vitamin D has also
often been misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia. Many studies have shown how effective sunlight is with
producing vitamin D in the skin. Since few foods contain vitamin D,
sunlight provides us with most of the vitamin D we need. Vitamin D deficiency has been becoming a growing
epidemic across the world and is contributing to many chronic
debilitating diseases.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
March, 2004;79(3):362-371 Vitamin D
Deficiency is Major Health Risk Vitamin D deficiency has placed many Americans,
particularly African Americans, in the higher risk bracket for
developing bone problems and several other kinds of diseases. Evidence of this increasing problem could be seen in the
number of cases popping up of children afflicted with rickets, a
vitamin-D-related bone disorder once thought to be a condition of the
past. Also, doctors have been experiencing a number of adults who
suffered with serious muscle pain and atrophy until they were treated
for vitamin D deficiency. Studies have also suggested that vitamin D deficiency
might heavily impact the elderly by making them prone to developing
bone-thinning diseases such as osteoporosis and other bone-related
problems including fractures. Some of the other health problems associated with
vitamin D deficiency include certain types of cancer, high blood
pressure, depression and immune system disorders. Because of these
concerns, many scientists have requested official vitamin D
recommendations. Experts who advise more sun exposure as a way to get
vitamin D have stirred up many emotions among skin cancer experts who
expressed concerns over people ignoring the warnings on protecting their
skin while spending time in the sun. Vitamin D Facts Skin has the natural ability to produce vitamin D
when struck by ultraviolet rays in sunlight. The amount of vitamin D a person needs depends on
factors such as where they live, their skin pigment, age and other
factors. African Americans and other dark-skinned people and
those living in northern latitudes make significantly less vitamin D
than other groups. Very few people get their vitamin D requirements
through their diet. Studies showed very low levels of vitamin D among
children, the elderly and women. One nationwide study of women revealed that almost
half of the African American women of childbearing age might be
vitamin D deficient.
Washington Post May 21,
2004 Should Vitamin D
be Given to Cancer Patients? Vitamin D has proven to aid in the treatment of many
health conditions. However, researchers are driven to uncover if this
vitamin is beneficial in treating cancer. At a national conference researchers debated over
whether or not plain vitamin D worked more effectively than a
potentially profitable form of vitamin D, specifically designed to treat
cancer. Some questions researchers hoped to find answers to
included: Should patients take supplemental vitamin D in
addition to the standard cancer treatment? Should patients be treated for vitamin D deficiency?
However, in the midst of these questions, the discussion
took a turn and boiled down to one main focal point: calcitriol. Calcitriol, the most potent steroid hormone in the human
body, is produced in large amounts in the tissues of vitamin D-filled
individuals. However, in patients with cancer, vitamin D is in low
supply. It is for this reason that some researchers proposed to develop
an analogues form of this vitamin to fill up those patients' tanks. For these reasons, most believe vitamin D should without
a doubt be given to cancer patients, in addition to the standard cancer
treatment. This theory here is that the vitamin D will significantly
increase tissue levels of calcitriol, which in turn has outstanding
anticancer properties. A downfall to this theory is that intravenous calcitriol
and its analogues cause hypocalcaemia, or high blood calcium. Plain
vitamin D does not have this problem. Reports have shown that plain vitamin D helps with
the following types of cancer: Colon Prostate Pancreatic Breast, ovarian and cervical The studies concluded that vitamin D analogues may help
certain types of cancer, but it does not provide a cure, nor it will not
treat vitamin D deficiency. Researchers agreed that the best route to
fighting cancer is to have a sufficient intake of natural vitamin D to
create more calcitriol. In addition, plain vitamin D may also help prevent
normal cells from turning cancerous. Vitamin D nutrition may also help
common health-conditions linked to cancer such as hypertension, type 2
diabetes, heart disease, chronic pain and osteoporosis.
Medical News Today October
11, 2004 The Secret
Benefits of Vitamin D Vitamin D plays a much larger role in regulating health,
than simply promising strong bones. Researchers from around the globe
have discovered that getting the recommended daily vitamin D intake
could help reduce plaguing health risks such as MS and diabetes. Ordinarily, a vitamin is an essential element the body
cannot create on its own; however, it is possible for people to create
all the vitamin D they need from a cholesterol-like precursor. For adults, the recommended amount of international
units (IU) of vitamin D per day should be between 200 to 600 IU, though
most people don’t even come close to that. During the summer months that
goal is easily reached, as the human body can generate up to 12,000 IU
of vitamin D from only half an hour of sun exposure. However, during
winter months, the daily intake people derive from food and sun exposure
falls way below the recommended amount. Further, people who live farther from the equator find
it extremely difficult to get enough sun to maintain sufficient blood
concentrations of the vitamin. By running tests, researchers attempted to discover the
myriad of benefits vitamin D has to offer. They found that the vitamin helps regulate cell growth,
immunity and energy metabolism. It also could possibly serve as a model
for drugs that might tame a range of stubborn, hard to treat diseases. Benefits of Vitamin D Include: Protection against multiple sclerosis (MS) Prevention of diabetes Signals colon, breast and prostate cells to stop
growing and eventually succumb to programmed cell death One common concern linked to not getting enough vitamin
D is leg weakness. According to studies, people who had higher readings
of vitamin D also had greater thigh strength. Researchers conducted
deficiency studies and found that with a daily vitamin D intake of at
least 400 IU, a woman’s risk of being injured in a fall was decreased by
20 percent. Another group of researchers who linked vitamin D to
immune benefits found that subjects given the lowest amount of vitamin D
intake were 25 percent more likely to experience tooth-gum detachment
than subjects given the highest intake of the vitamin.
Science News October 9,
2004;166(15)
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