You Don’t Want to be “D-ficient”
When it Comes to Vitamin D
By Garden of Health Writers
 Coming
up short on this valuable vitamin could affect your health—including the
immune system, cells, brain and heart.
Not getting enough of a good thing? If you’re one of
the estimated one billion people on this earth who are vitamin D
deficient, then you’re probably not. Most of us know that vitamin D is
important for bone health, but this essential nutrient has other
benefits, too. Over 900 genes and several areas in the body—the brain,
heart, blood vessels, muscles and intestines—have vitamin D receptors,
or proteins that bind to vitamin D. Studies show positive health effects
happen when vitamin D binds to these receptors. Perhaps that’s why
research indicates vitamin D’s role in immune, cellular, brain and
cardiovascular health.
Let’s take a closer look at what the research is
saying:
Immune Support - Vitamin D is a powerful immune
system supporter and inhibits negative autoimmune responses by
modulating T-cell responses. When vitamin D is in short supply, Th1
cells can attack the body instead of fighting off unwanted invaders.
Cell Proliferation and Differentiation - When
certain cells divide rapidly, or proliferate, the impact on your health
can be devastating. Cell differentiation, however, can decrease unwanted
proliferations. Vitamin D inhibits unwanted proliferation and stimulates
healthy cell differentiation. Lung, skin, colon, bone and breast sites
have been studied for vitamin D’s positive effects on cell
differentiation and proliferation, causing them to act as normal, mature
cells. Dr. Cedric Garland, a 20-year veteran vitamin D researcher,
believes vitamin D can prevent unwanted cell proliferation by 75% with
optimal vitamin D blood levels.
Brain Health - Scientists at the Children’s
Hospital & Research Center Oakland in Oakland, California, say the brain
has a wide distribution of vitamin D receptors wherein vitamin D
directly and positively affects cognitive function. Vitamin D supports
brain health, while a deficiency can result in brain dysfunction.
Cardiovascular Health - Vitamin D may play a
role in cardiovascular health since low blood levels of vitamin D can
increase coronary artery calcification. Vitamin D deficiencies can also
elevate risk of stroke and congestive heart failure, while optimal
vitamin D levels support normal levels of inflammation— important for
cardiovascular health. The key for these benefits is to get enough
vitamin D, but many people are deficient.
Who’s at Risk?
Those at risk for a vitamin D deficiency include
breastfed infants, dark-skinned individuals, those with fat
mal-absorption challenges, and the obese. People aged 50 and up are at
risk, too. Why? As people age, the skin can’t synthesize vitamin D as
efficiently as it once did.
Those with limited sun exposure can fall short on
vitamin D, too. People who work inside, homebound individuals, those
avoiding the sun due to skin cancer concerns and those living in
northern latitudes—basically those who reside north of an imaginary line
that runs from the northern border of California all the way to
Boston—are particularly at risk.
How Much Is Enough?
How much vitamin D is enough? That’s a good question
that doesn’t have an open-and-shut answer. Most experts agree, however,
that we need to boost our vitamin D intake. Our nation’s leading
pediatrician group, the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommends
children from birth to their teen years increase vitamin D intakes to
400 IU daily—twice as much as the 200IU recommended in 2003. Millions of
children should take daily vitamin D supplements to meet the
requirements, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Adults aged 51 to 70 are recommended to get 400 IU
daily, while those 71 and up should get 600IU daily. The Institute of
Medicine, the government advisory group setting these dietary
guidelines, may change recommendations due to emerging research
indicating we could require more. For example, in March 2007,
researchers published an editorial indicating that vitamin D intakes of
400 IU per day only slightly increased overall vitamin D status and that
daily intakes of 1,700 IU may be necessary. Many experts recommend
between 800 to 1,000 IU for adults, but some believe 2,000 IU of vitamin
D daily will provide maximum benefits. More studies need to be done, but
it’s looking like we need to get much more of a good thing—vitamin D.
Keep Your Clothes On
Vitamin D has two forms especially important to human
health: vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).
Vitamin D2 is made in plants and vitamin D3—a preferred form of vitamin
D—is made when cholesterol in our skin cells reacts with sunlight. A
mere 15-20 minutes of sunshine each day helps your body manufacture
10,000 to 15,000iu of vitamin D3—making sunshine a brilliant source of
vitamin D. The trouble is that you’d have to be totally nude to reap all
the benefits of that sunshine, so you should consider alternate sources
of vitamin D3 through foods or supplements. Cod liver oil, pink salmon,
mackerel, sardines and tuna are excellent vitamin D-packed foods.
Supplementing with Vitamin D
 Typically
found in two forms, D2 and D3 both have been shown to be effective in
clinical studies to raising vitamin D levels in the blood. However,
vitamin D3 is preferred since it’s metabolized much better in the body
and is in the form that comes from the most natural sources possible—the
sun and our food.
Vitamin Code RAW Vitamin D3 by
Garden of Life is different from any other vitamin D nutritional
supplement available today. Vitamin Code RAW D3 is the only RAW,
vegetarian, whole food vitamin D3 formulated with RAW Food-Created
Nutrients. In following with the Vitamin Code philosophy, RAW Vitamin D3
is a whole food vitamin D complex that is gluten- and dairy-free with no
soy allergens, binders or fillers, and is cultivated with live
probiotics, antioxidants, enzymes and nutrient-specific peptides.
Vitamin Code Raw Vitamin D3’s RAW Food-Created Nutrients provide
targeted delivery and natural recognition of nutrients by your body to
support:
- Healthy Bones & Joints
- Healthy Colon & Digestion
- Memory & Concentration
- Breast & Prostate Health
- Proper Cell Replication
- Immune System
For more information on the Vitamin Code Raw D3, click here.
The statements in this article have not been evaluated
by the Food and Drug Administration. The information contained here is
not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Suggestions and ideas presented in this document are for information
only and should not be interpreted as medical advice, meant for
diagnosing illness, or for prescriptive purposes. Readers are encouraged
to consult their health care provider before beginning any cleanse,
diet, detoxification program, or any supplement regimen. The information
in this document is not to be used to replace the services or
instructions of a physician or qualified health care practitioner. |
