.....one billion people are estimated to be vitamin D deficient with children and adults in Europe at particular risk
In this article, learn how Vitamin D:
• Strengthens Bones, especially with added Calcium
• Protects children against Diabetes Type 1
• Protects against High Blood Pressure
• Protects against greater levels of Pain
• Protects against Cancer
• Improves Physical performance
Forword By Professor Eric Llewellyn:
Vitamin D supplementation has been the subject of considerable attention in the nutritional world in recent years, and not without good reason. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a considerable number of modern diseases some of which we have listed above. Like all supplements, there are those to warn people against and those to recommend. The undesirable type of supplemental Vitamin D is referred to as the non-active, “storage” form, which sadly is the most common type. Ours is the only product to be created as a food structure Vitamin D with all the proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates and bioflavonoids that constitute a food nutrient. It is also the biologically active form of Vitamin D3. Vitamin D is a potent fat-soluble antioxidant.
Dr. Michael Holick states that current recommendations of 200 IU per day for children and adults up to 50 years of age for vitamin D need to be increased to 800 - 1000 IU vitamin D3.
Holick notes that about one billion people are estimated to be vitamin D deficient with children and adults in Europe at particular risk, even more so since very few foods are fortified with the vitamin.
In adults, vitamin D deficiency may precipitate or exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
Vitamin D bone benefits need added calcium, study by Stephen Daniells
KEYWORDS
Minerals
Bone & joint health
Vitamins & premixes
Vitamin D-calcium-osteoporosis
All market reports
21-May-2007 - Taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk of fractures is only effective if accompanied by additional calcium, Belgian researchers have reported.
They reviewed randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of supplementing postmenopausal women and/or elderly men over the age of 50 with oral vitamin D with or without calcium supplementation vs. placebo/no treatment.
Boonen and co-workers report that when vitamin D alone was supplemented, no significant reduction of hip fracture risk was observed. On the other hand, when the vitamin was supplemented in combination with calcium, the risk of hip fracture was reduced by 18 per cent.
When the results of the new meta-analysis were combined with those of the JAMA meta-analysis, the risk of hip fracture was reduced by 25 per cent, compared to vitamin D only.
Vitamin D pills may protect kids from type-1 diabetes
Folate, B6 could boost heart health for type-1 diabetics
Low fat diet recommendation for type-1 diabetics
13-Mar-2008 - The overwhelming body of science supports vitamin D supplements for protection against the development of type-1 diabetes, indicates a new meta-analysis.
According to data from five observational studies, infants who received vitamin D supplements were 29 per cent less likely to develop type-1 diabetes than non-supplemented infants, reports the review in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
"However, for concrete conclusions to be reached, adequately powered, randomised controlled trials with long periods of follow-up would be required to establish causality and the best formulation, dose, duration and period of supplementation," cautioned Christos Zipitis from the NHS Foundation Trust (Stockport) and Anthony Akobeng from the Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals.
Type-1 diabetes occurs when people are not able to produce any insulin after the cells in the pancreas have been damaged, thought to be an autoimmune response. The disease is most common among people of European descent, with around two million Europeans and North Americans affected.
In addition, the incidence of the disease is on the rise at about three per cent per year, according to Zipitis and Akobeng. The number of new cases is estimated to rise 40 per cent between 2000 and 2010.
In addition to an approximate 30 per cent reduction in the risk of developing type-1 diabetes, Zipitis and Akobeng also noted "some evidence of a dose-response effect, with those using higher amounts of vitamin D being at lower risk of developing type 1 diabetes."
They also noted that timing of the supplementation could also be a factor in the type-1 diabetes risk, with supplementation of vitamin D-rich cod liver oil between the ages of seven and 12 months at a 45 per cent lower risk, compared to infants supplemented between 0 and six months of age.
Low vitamin D levels linked to higher blood pressure by Stephen Daniells
Vitamins & premixes
Cardiovascular health
Vitamin D-blood pressure-hypertension
25-Jul-2007 - People with low blood levels of vitamin D may be at an increased risk of higher blood pressure - a problem that could be easily remedied with supplements, says a new study.
"This finding may have public health significance, as vitamin D levels can easily, and cheaply, be increased by a modest increase in sun exposure or vitamin D supplementation," wrote lead author Robert Scragg in the American Journal of Hypertension.
"However, first it needs to be confirmed by large, well-designed intervention studies," he cautioned.
In the UK alone, there are an estimated 10m people with hypertension, defined as having blood pressure higher than 140/90 mmHg. The condition is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), which causes almost 50 per cent of deaths in Europe, and is reported to cost the EU economy an estimated €169bn ($202bn) per year.
Vitamin D deficiency linked to greater pain by Clarisse Douaud
KEYWORDS
Vitamins & premixes
Mayo-American Society of Anesthesiologists-vitamin D
15-Oct-2007 - A new study has linked vitamin D and a reduction of chronic pain, lending to voices calling for increased fortification or supplementation of the nutrient in diets.
The study, presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists 2007 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, found that one in four patients who suffer from chronic pain also have inadequate blood levels of vitamin D. As such, the researchers put forth that the vitamin D deficiency possibly contributed to the patients' ongoing pain.
Vitamin D vital for cancer prevention, researchers by Philippa Jones
KEYWORDS
Vitamins & premixes
Cancer risk reduction
Vitamin D-cancer-recommended intake
08-Jun-2007 - A growing body of scientists believes that most Americans and Europeans do not receive enough vitamin D, and according to the latest study this could be putting them at a significant risk of developing cancer.
Researchers from the Creighton University School of Medicine, in the United States found during a study of 1,179 healthy, postmenopausal women that those taking large amounts of vitamin D3 in conjunction with calcium had a 60 per cent or higher chance of not getting cancer than their peers.
The women, from rural Nebraska, supplemented their diet for four years with calcium and a quantity of vitamin D3 nearly three times the US government's recommended daily amount (RDA) for middle-age adults.
"The findings are very exciting," said Joan Lappe, the study's lead researcher. "They confirm what a number of vitamin D proponents have suspected for some time but that, until now, have not been substantiated through clinical trial. Vitamin D is a critical tool in fighting cancer as well as many other diseases."
There is also evidence that a higher intake of vitamin D may be helpful in preventing and treating diseases other than cancer, such as high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis
Low vitamin D levels linked to poor physical performance by Stephen Daniells
KEYWORDS
Vitamins & premixes
Energy & endurance
Vitamin D-physical performance-muscle function
23-Apr-2007 - Older people with low levels of vitamin D may be at increased risk for poor physical performance and disability, suggests a new study highlighting the need for better targeting of the vitamin to the older generations.
"With a growing older population, we need to identify better ways to reduce the risk of disability," said lead author Denise Houston, from Wake Forest University. "Our study showed a significant relationship between low vitamin D levels in older adults and poorer physical performance."
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