Benefits of vitamin D in Saturdays Independent

dbs

I think there is an article in Saturdays Independent on Vitamin D which I know Ted Hutchinson a regular poster on this board recommends it might be worth reading about the benefits.

Ted_Hutchinson

dbs wrote: »

I think there is an article in Saturdays Independent on Vitamin D which I know Ted Hutchinson a regular poster on this board recommends it might be worth reading about the benefits.

Well I'll risk buying a copy tomorrow but if I read the usual rubbish about the official RDA and current toxic uppper limit I'll probably be spitting mad and fuming. Only if the article clearly states the fact that our bodies need between 3000iu and 5000iu of Vit d3 daily will I be happy. Any mention of 2000iu being toxic will have me bursting a blood vessel, it's such utter nonsense that no one in their right minds should be able to consider it plausible. Our skin makes 12000iu given 10mins of strong enough sun and we don't drop down dead or suffer any ill effects so why would a fraction of that amount be harmful in a tablet. Risk assessment for vitamin D -- Hathcock et al. 85 (1): 6 ... sets out the safety aspect and if the Independent reporter hasn't read it and understood the science outlined in it then they'll be a letter on the way when I've calmed down sufficiently to compose myself.
Just because the medical profession isn't capable of ever admitting it's made a mistake isn't a good reason for us to go on basing our understanding on myth and junk science. We've known since 2003 when Heaney proved we need twice the Toxic Upper Limit daily that the previous understanding was wrong so we've got to accept this and move on.
The reason we have more underweight babies than ever, the reason Breast cancer increases year on year, the reason we have more strokes in the winter, the reason mental illness increases, the reason we have more obesity, the reason why Parkinson's is about to double and Altzhiemer's is worsening is all down to the same fundamental cause. We in the UK are all Vitamin D insufficient this research used 75 nmol/L and found 9 out of 10 in Winter were low. Ideally we should have 125nmol/L and our bodies naturally plateau at 60ng/ml 150nmol/l this is double the level that research used. We have become totally maladapted to our natural environment and need to readjust our diets and lifestyles to regain out ability to live naked in natural sunshine.
I will update my signature right now.

dbs

Its front page headline looks good but the article is only on page 2 which is bit of a let down would have liked more information.

It quotes from the journal Epidemiology and Infection to use higher doses for colds and flu but does not state how much and the American Journal of Public Health which reviewed 63 scientific papers on vitamin D and concluded public health action was required to boost vitamin D levels.

Ted_Hutchinson

The sunshine superstar: study reveals Vitamin D as 'wonder vitamin'

Leading article: Here comes the sun

The above links lead to the Independent articles but regulars here will be aware that the value of Vitamin D for preventing Colds and Flu has been linked to many times before.
Epidemic Influenza And Vitamin D

I have to admit to not being able to find the research on Afro-Caribbean women however as it fits in with what was already known it should be no surprise to anyone. The amounts used 20-microgram dose of vitamin D, increased to 50 micrograms after two years, represent in IU terms 800iu/d initially then 2000iu/d for those who aren't aware that 4 times the RDA and then 10 times the RDA. So you can see why I want the RDA raised to a level which actually meets your bodies needs. I really can't see why we cannot educate the nation to use supplements when Vitamin D from Sunshine isn't available and sunbathe sensibly when it is. The four most common deadly cancers lung, bowel, breast prostate are all to some extent (up to 50%) prevented by high Vitamin D status, should you be unlucky enough to get one of these then a high Vitamin D status will almost certainly give you a longer and more optimistic prognosis. But we know taking simply the "official" RDA because it is such a trivial insignificant amount does absolutely nothing to raise Vit d status. Using ten times the RDA can be seen to be effective in preventing colds and flu, it would be a start to reducing the cancer death rate also.

Interesting to see this new research from a lactation study using up to 6400IU vitamin D(3)/day for 6 months. suggesting This was achieved when circulating 25(OH)D exceeded 100nmol. We hypothesize that as humans live today, the 25-hydroxylase operates well below its V(max) because of chronic substrate deficiency, namely vitamin D(3). When humans are sun (or dietary) replete, the vitamin D endocrine system will function in a fashion as do these other steroid synthetic pathways, not limited by substrate.
This40ng/mL = 100nmol/L thus moving the goal posts of insufficiency from 32ng/ml nearer to the Vitamin D council optimal of 50ng/mL 125nmol/L. Given the fluctuations due to season/weather/pollution it seems to me that anyone lower than optimal, needs supplementation or more, longer, sunexposure.