There are many problems that we may face in life but from time to time, we learn something that just may make a difference, not only in our lives but in the lives of many people around us. One of those issues is a vitamin D deficiency, a problem that is affecting many people today.
Part of the reason why vitamin D is so low in many people is because they don’t get enough sun exposure. This may be due to winter, which limits sun exposure for half of the year but in other cases, it may be because we just tend to stay inside. UV ray exposure with an artificial light may be one way to overcome this difficulty.
One of the problems with using a traditional tanning bed is the magnetic ballast. They are responsible for the loud buzzing noise that you often hear in tanning salons. When an electronic ballast is used, there are far fewer damaging EMFs.
Another concern is in regards to the light bulbs being used. Some of those tanning beds may only contain UVA lights which is responsible for the tan but does not increase your vitamin D levels. In the northern hemisphere, the production of vitamin D is not possible because the sun is lacking during the winter months. An artificial UVB light can help you to obtain your vitamin D or you can obtain it through your diet.
The benefits of UVB exposure from either natural or artificial light are well known. They include the production of nitric oxide, something that lowers your blood pressure. It is also noteworthy that vitamin D is not actually a vitamin. It is a neuro-regulatory steroidal hormone, and it has many important health impacts.
Vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic in many parts of the world and it may be contributing to hundreds of health problems. Correcting your vitamin D deficiency may help to reduce your risk of dying by as much as 50% according to one study.
It may sound too incredible to be true, but when you consider that vitamin D influences one out of every 10 of your 30,000 genes, you can see exactly how important it is.
Vitamin D Affects Gene Activity
One example of how vitamin D affects the body is that it helps to fight infections and chronic inflammation. Over 200 antimicrobial peptides are produced as a result of vitamin D, including cathelicidin, which is a naturally occurring antibiotic.
This is one of the reasons why vitamin D is so effective against colds and the flu.
According to a press release by Orthomolecular Medicine, here are now 33,800 medical papers with vitamin D in the title or abstract, and this veritable mountain of research shows that vitamin D has far-reaching benefits to your physical and mental health. Such research has shown that vitamin D can improve:
Pregnancy outcomes (reduced risk of Cesarean section and pre-eclampsia)
Type 1 and 2 diabetes
Heart disease and stroke
Autism, Alzheimer’s, and other brain dysfunction
Bacterial and viral infections
Some recently published studies demonstrate that boosting vitamin D levels can improve pain in diabetics, Crohn’s disease, breast cancer and even depression.
Relevance of Vitamin D in Crohn’s Disease
Research has previously associated low vitamin D levels with an increased risk of Crohn’s disease. Along with that, it also showed that improving your vitamin D levels can improve symptoms of the disease. A more recent study found a “significant interaction between vitamin D levels and Crohn’s disease susceptibility, as well as a significant association between vitamin D levels and genotype.”
Serum vitamin D levels tend to be lower in individuals with Crohn’s disease. 2 different DNA sequence variations showed a significant association with the levels of vitamin D in those with Crohn’s disease. 4 variances were also associated with vitamin D levels among the control group.
Basically, this shows that vitamin D can have a genetic effect in those with Crohn’s disease. It can make it either better or worse, depending on your levels of vitamin D.
Vitamin D May Reduce Depression and Pain
Vitamin D supplementation has also been shown to reduce pain in diabetic women and depression. The following was reported by PsychCentral:
“The investigators set out to determine how vitamin D supplementation might affect women with type 2 diabetes who were also suffering from depression.
At the beginning of the study, 61 percent of women reported neuropathic pain, such as shooting or burning pain in their legs and feet, and 74 percent had sensory pain, such as numbness and tingling in their hands, fingers and legs.
During the course of the study, the participants took a 50,000 IU vitamin D2 supplement every week for 6 months. By the end of the study, the women’s depression levels had significantly improved following the supplementation.
Furthermore, participants who suffered from neuropathic and/or sensory pain at the beginning of the study reported that these symptoms decreased at 3 and 6 months following vitamin D2 supplementation.”
Todd Doyle, PhD, one of the lead researchers showed that vitamin D supplementation is “a promising treatment for both pain and depression in type 2 diabetes.” It is noteworthy, however, that using vitamin D3 may be better than using prescription vitamin D2. Previous research shows that vitamin D2 may do harm in the long term.
Why Vitamin D3 Is Recommended over D2
The synthetic form of vitamin D2, Drisdol, is made by a radiating plant matter and fungus. It is the type of vitamin D that is most commonly prescribed by doctors. It is not, however, the type that your body produces in response to sun exposure or safe tanning bed exposure. That is vitamin D3.
A 2012 meta-analysis by the Coltrane Database shows that mortality rates for individuals who supplemented with vitamin D2 versus those who supplemented with D3 showed significant differences. 50 randomized controlled trials took place including 94,000 participants and show the following.
A six percent relative risk reduction among those who used vitamin D3
A two percent relative risk increase among those who used D2
This certainly does shed some light on the role that vitamin D plays in the management of type II diabetes and related side effects. 60% of type II diabetics are vitamin D deficient, so there is lots of room for improvement.
Additional support for the theory that vitamin D can benefit those who are fighting type II diabetes was published in the previous year. The researchers found “a strong additive interaction between abdominal obesity and insufficient 25(OH)D in regard to insulin resistance.” They state that 47% of the increased odds of insulin resistance is related to insufficient vitamin D levels and high body mass index.
An additional study that was published in Diabetes Care showed that supplementing with vitamin D may also help to prevent type II diabetes in people who have prediabetes. The study is only observational, but the participants who had the highest vitamin D levels were 30% less likely to develop diabetes during the evaluation, which lasted for three years.
Reduce Your Breast Cancer Risk
A worldwide report by the British breast cancer surgeon, professor Kefah Mokbel, is urging women to supplement with vitamin D daily to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
“Prof. Mokbel has also requested Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, to make [vitamin D] pills freely available as this would result in saving about a 1,000 lives annually. ‘I am calling for all women from the age of 20 to be given free vitamin D supplements on the NHS because it is effective in protecting against breast cancer,’ Prof. Mokbel said.
…[R]esearch10, 11 conducted by the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb, which analyzed menopausal women from rural eastern Nebraska for over four years, revealed that taking vitamin D supplements along with calcium cut about 60 percent risk of cancer, including breast, lung and colon cancer…’It’s inexpensive, it’s safe, and it’s easy to take. It’s something that should be considered by a lot of people,’ says Joan Lappe, professor of nursing and medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb. ‘It’s low-risk with maybe a high pay-off.’”
Vitamin D for Cancer Prevention
Many studies are now showing the vitamin D is able to protect against a number of different cancers, including prostate, breast, lung, pancreatic and skin cancers. The theories that link vitamin D deficiency to cancer have been both tested and confirmed in 200 different epidemiological studies and in more than 2500 laboratory trials.
According to a 2007 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a serum level of vitamin D, more than 33 ng/mL, was able to reduce the possibility of colorectal cancer by 50%. Further research published in the International Journal of Cancer shows only at 10 ng/ml increase in vitamin D levels was able to reduce the associated instance of colorectal cancer by 15% and reduced breast cancer incidence by 11%.
According to a 2007 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, cancer free survival after a four year follow-up was 77% higher in women who received 1,100 IU vitamin D and 1,450 mg calcium per day, compared to those who received either a placebo or calcium by itself. Carole Baggerly, founder of GrassrootsHealth, stated that as much as 90% of ordinary breast cancer may be associated with vitamin D deficiency. In fact, breast cancer has sometimes been described as a vitamin D deficiency syndrome.
Maintaining Optimal Vitamin D Serum Levels
The maintenance of therapeutically beneficial vitamin D serum level is important for your health. Studies indicate that a bare minimum for cancer prevention is around 40 ng/ml. Additional research suggests that it may be as high as 60-80 ng/ml. A 2009 review article said the following: “Vitamin D for Cancer Prevention: Global Perspective,” published in Annals of Epidemiologystates that:
“Higher serum levels of the main circulating form of vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), are associated with substantially lower incidence rates of colon, breast, ovarian, renal, pancreatic, aggressive prostate and other cancers.Epidemiological findings combined with newly discovered mechanisms suggest a new model of cancer etiology that accounts for these actions of 25(OH)D and calcium. Its seven phases are disjunction, initiation, natural selection, overgrowth, metastasis, involution, and transition (abbreviated DINOMIT). Vitamin D metabolites prevent disjunction of cells and are beneficial in other phases.
It is projected that raising the minimum year-around serum 25(OH)D level to 40 to 60 ng/mL (100–150 nmol/L) would prevent approximately 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer each year, and three fourths of deaths from these diseases in the United States and Canada, based on observational studies combined with a randomized trial.
Such intakes also are expected to reduce case-fatality rates of patients who have breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer by half… The time has arrived for nationally coordinated action to substantially increase intake of vitamin D and calcium.”
Supplementation Guidelines
GrassrootsHealth suggests that adults may need around 8000 IUs every day to achieve the proper serum level of 40 ng/ml. If possible, it is best to boost your levels through sun exposure and if you don’t take a vitamin D supplement, you can boost your intake of vitamin K2 through supplementation or through the foods that you eat. If you get enough vitamin D from the sun, it is not as critical to supplement.
How do you know if your vitamin D level is at the proper level? Making a determination is possible by having your vitamin D level tested every six months. Many people vary according to their exposure to ultraviolet light or through oral D3 supplementation. The goal is to reach a relevant serum level of 50-70 ng/ml and to maintain that level throughout the year. Test at the highest point, typically in August, and again at the lowest point around February.
The test for vitamin D is one of the most important tests you can take so if you haven’t done it, take the time to do it now.
The Role of Vitamin D in Disease Prevention
There is much evidence to show that vitamin D plays a crucial role in disease prevention and maintaining the utmost health. With approximately 30,000 genes in the body, vitamin D affects almost 3000 of them and the vitamin D receptors throughout the body.
One large-scale study showed that optimal vitamin D levels may slash your risk of cancer by up to 60%. Keeping your levels optimized may help to prevent at least 16 types of cancer, including lung, ovarian, pancreatic, skin and prostate cancers.
H/T: The Hearty Soul
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