It is becoming more and more apparent to doctors and researchers that the vast majority of people are Vitamin D deficient - up to 70% or even 85% in some regions - and that Vitamin D deficiency is contributing to many of the chronic illnesses in western countries.
Vitamin D deficiency
The Vitamin D facts are that vitamin D deficiency has recently been associated with a host of chronic illnesses that seem to have nothing to do with each other:• Diabetes • Polycystic Ovary Disease
• Osteoporosis • Heart Disease
• Many Cancers • Infertility
• High Blood Pressure • Acne
• Decline in physical functioning in the elderly
•
Gingivitis, Periodontal Disease and Cavities
•
Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder
•
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
In the US, the RDA is between 200 – 600 IU per day, while in Europe it is 400-800 IU per day.
As more and more Vitamin d research comes out, it seems that scientists are realizing that these numbers are WAY too low. So low in fact that the newest studies are recommending almost 10 times that dosage for healthy adults to have optimal levels of the vitamin.
“Vitamin D deficiency is the single
most important dietary deficiency in the world
today. It has already been linked to prostate cancer,
colon cancer and breast cancer. After almost 35 years
of increases in allergic and autoimmune disease,
we are beginning to understand the causes
of the epidemic”.
- Harvard Medical School, Respiratory,
Environmental and Genetic Epidemiology,
Channing Laboratory, Brigham & Women’s Hospital,
Boston, Massachusetts,
Vitamin D, really a hormone and not a vitamin, has kept its classification as a vitamin due to our bodily needs for it that can be supplied in our diet.
But really it IS a hormone. One definition of a hormone is: “A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activity of certain cells or organs.”
Vitamin D fits this definition because we actually create it in our bodies by the activation of sunlight on our
skin.
And it definitely regulates the activity of other cells in the body.
What Does Vitamin D Do?
More Vitamin D facts
Immune system Control
Vitamin D facts that most people don't know is that it is a powerful immune system controller. Some recent Vitamin D research led to the journal 'Science News' to call it "The Antibiotic Vitamin!"
Vitamin D acts on the
immune system
through nuclear receptors called Vitamin D Receptors or VDR’s.
Nuclear Receptors are substances that attach to genes and affect their EXPRESSION of that particular gene depending upon environmental inputs. Only VDR's are specific to Vitamin D, but there are thousands of different nuclear receptors that gather information from the environment and tell genes what to do
The discovery of Nuclear Receptors really tipped the ‘nature vs. nurture’ argument in favor of the nurture side. Since the discovery of nuclear receptors and findings on how widespread they are, some scientists estimate that genetics influence the expression of disease about 20% with environment influences contributing 80%.
Most cells, if not ALL cells in the body have VDR receptors - making the influence of Vitamin D widespread.
VDR's do many things depending upon where they are located and what is currently needed in the body, but one of their major functions is regulation of many antimicrobials that the body produces.
VDR’s have been linked to over 10,000 genes including the genes that control inflammation - which is present in ALL chronic diseases!
Calcium Regulation
Most people are familiar with Vitamin D facts in relation to bones. We think of Vitamin D and calcium for strong bones.
If anything, Vitamin D is UNDERESTIMATED for its role in bone health with calcium getting all of the fanfare lately. But Vitamin D is really the hormone that regulates calcium. Vitamin D activates the parathyroid glands, that actually control the calcium levels in the body, and tell them what to do.
Lack of Vitamin D in the diet can prevent the absorption of calcium from the digestive system - no matter how much you take. Therefore, Vitamin D is at LEAST as important as calcium for bones.
Other Vitamin D functions
It seems as though Vitamin D has many functions that are as yet unidentified. One study showed, "Early life vitamin D inadequacy is implicated in the risk of bone disease, autoimmune disease, and certain cancers later in life."
Also several studies have concluded that higher total Vitamin D levels lower death rates for any reason. They concluded that low Vitamin D levels is an independent risk factor for early death.
Yet, STILL no one is recommending higher doses of Vitamin D for the general population.
No one is really sure how or why Vitamin D is so important. What no one disputes, however, is that it is VITAL to our good health.
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Vitamin D and Sun
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