Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

WendyL_203 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:47:40 GMT

After doing my own research on Vitamin D, I looked at all the supplements I was taking and determined that I still needed to add more Vitamin D to reach 1000 mg daily. It's especially important post-menopausal women who are taking calcium. I summarized my own research findings at (www.menopausetheblog.com/.../why-the-sunshine-vitamin-is-so-important-for-menopausal-women) if you're intersted. There's also a Vitamin D Council in Canada that publishes research.

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Hmmmmm — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:11:23 GMT

Just a note on cod liver oil (thank you Carlson’s or this would not have happened taste-wise):

An unrecognized benefit of all this is excellent vitamin A supplementation. I noticed an improvement in my eye sight within one month after starting to take Carlson’s on a daily basis. My skin also looks very good, which is another benefit from getting adequate vitamin A.

Due to Dr. Mercola's advice and great articles on this subject, I had my vitamin D status tested a couple years ago. My level was at 13, which at the time, I did not realize was really low. By taking 3 tsps (one good swig from the bottle) every morning on an empty palate, I was able to bring this level up to around 30. I now realize that in order to get this up to 50-60 I will have to take an additional D3 supplement (2,000) each day as well. Working year round in an office, I rarely get sun exposure except for a trip to Florida each winter. I no longer get the flu or a cold just before going to Florida each year either.

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Lidija — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:58:56 GMT

It can only be a good thing that articles such as this one are published more often.

People need to know that the sun is not their enemy and we need not hide from it! This is not to say that we should be careless-It is common sense that we don't allow our skin to burn.

However, it is truly sad that people rarely speak of the sun without mentioning the words danger or skin cancer.Mass media and "health experts" have done are a really good job at convincing people how bad the sun is for their health.Kids are growing up with the same convictions and it will take time for this to change. Hopefully people learn sooner then later!

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

pinfold — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:03:00 GMT

I have tried taking vit.D three times. Three different brands from the Health food store.Three different doses ranging from 500 IU to 2,000 IU. Each time within four days I have terrible pain in my arms and legs.I really wanted to be on it because I was diagnosed with M.S. twelve yrs. ago and have gone off my big ABC drug (avonex).

Any thoughts?

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Elton — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:31:43 GMT

Dang. I wish everyone in the US could adopt Nudism. :(

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

karin sheldon — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:09:41 GMT

D2 is synthetic and causes cancer. ALWAYS get D3 if you take a supplement.

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

george tolhurst — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:04:43 GMT

I DON'T BELEIVE THAT YOU CAN OVERDOSE ON VIT. D

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Alice Whaley — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:57:41 GMT

It is confusing. Went for blood test and that showed low Vit-D. Went for voice imprint help and was told

I should not take Vit-D. We spend about 3 hours outdoors all year long but live in Chicago area.

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Beccadog — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:49:28 GMT

Consuming too much vitamin D (vitamin D2) can cause the reactions as if it were used to kill rats and other rodents.

In humans **ingestion poisonings,symptoms include anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss. Many of the other effects of chronic vitamin D toxicity are due to induced hypercalcemia....[Symptoms similar to hypercalcemia are seen and include anorexia, fatigue, headache, itching, and weakness.] Polyneuropathy may be seen.

ACUTE:

Mild persistent hypertension has been reported in children with vitamin D intoxication.

Cardiac arrhythmias and myocardial infarction may be seen with chronically high ingestion. Changes in rat coronary arteries have been observed.

Other effects include: Anorexia, nausea, vomiting, constipation and diarrhea. Extreme depression, apathy, confusion, and fatigue. In humans, aortic stenosis was associated with high doses of vitamin D in pregnancy.

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ search word <vitamin D>

Symptoms of aortic stenosis include: shortness of breath, chest pain, and fainting. In severe cases: reduction of blood flow to the brain and heart valve infection. www.cardiologychannel.com/.../symptoms.shtml

BOTTOM LINE: Follow directions and everything in moderation. Supplements are more concentrated than food sources. Also, these studies are on vitamin D alone. They are not on the toxic organochlorines which accumulate and concentrate in fatty fish!

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Beccadog — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:25:41 GMT

The American Medical Association both recommends use of fish oils and warns against overuse of supplements.

FOR:

Epidemiologic studies document the fact that intake of fish (especially oily cold water fish such as herring and mackerel) is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality from atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease. The components responsible for this action are the omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FA, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid) found almost exclusively in seafood and especially fish oil. Investigational studies suggest that the n-3 FA have hypotriglyceridemic, anti-inflammatory, platelet antiaggregatory, hypotensive, and anti-intimal thickening actions. Most of these responses are dose related. ... A number of fish oil supplements are marketed in health food stores presumably for atherosclerosis prophylaxis. No large, long-term, multiple-dose, prospective, randomized clinical studies have been conducted to confirm that any fish oil supplement has a definitive role in the prophylactic or therapeutic management of patients with disorders that might be amenable to fish oil supplementation.

[American Medical Association, Council on Drugs. AMA Drug Evaluations Annual 1994. Chicago, IL: American Medical Association, 1994., p. 2308]**PEER REVIEWED**

AGAINST

.. Adverse effects can be produced by fish oil supplements at doses that are considered pharmacologic compared to the amount ingested from eating fish. Excessive caloric intake, propensity for bleeding, occasional increases in LDL-cholesterol and depression of HDL-cholesterol, glucose intolerance in diabetics, vitamin E deficiency, and vitamin A and D toxicity (eg, with cod liver oil) are some of the adverse reactions that have been reported.

[American Medical Association, Council on Drugs. AMA Drug Evaluations Annual 1994. Chicago, IL: American Medical Association, 1994., p. 2310]

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ HSDB

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Beccadog — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:22:39 GMT

My statement about PCBs being in the Baltic is a conservative.

Where predators (including humans) occur on the food web determines how much of these organochlorine (hormone disrupting) chemicals accumulate in their bodies. The human being is at near the top of the food web, and the human fetus is at the very top.

**Organochlorines, including DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which are ubiqitous environmental contaminants, that have been banned in most countries, but considerable amount continue to cycle the ecosphere, have been found in sea birds and marine mammals. The top tropic level predators bioaccumulate these fat soluble compounds, reflecting their presence in the environment.**

www.biomedcentral.com/.../11

The arctic cod consumes zooplankton, which has a dependency of phytoplankton.

school.discoveryeducation.com/.../biomes_wildarctic

Sea ice, marine plants, plankton and Arctic cod form an inter-related food web that sustains other animals such as polar bears, ivory gulls, and humans at the top of the food chain. Now this delicate process by which the marine plants grow from the sea ice is threatened by global warming.

http://tinyurl.com/yqogum

The American Medical Association recommends use of fish oils and warns against overuse of supplementation of fish oils that come from cod.

More to come..

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Dee D. — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:54:00 GMT

"Vitamin D" is in fact not a vitamin, but a hormone. Please go to www.marshallprotocol.com to read about new research on the impact of adding a hormone to the human diet in an unregulated. New knowledge that has been discovered on how bacteria convert this hormone to it's active form which ultimately leads to immune disregulation resulting in a wide variety of health problems. Knowlege is key to one's health! Here's to your improved health!

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

Dee D. — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:52:38 GMT

"Vitamin D" is in fact not a vitamin, but a hormone. Please go to www.marshallprotocol.com to read about new research on the impact of adding a hormone to the human diet in an unregulated. New knowledge that has been discovered on how bacteria convert this hormone to it's active form which ultimately leads to immune dysregulation resulting in a wide variety of health problems. Knowlege is key to one's health! Here's to your improved health!

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

bamboobug — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 13:47:42 GMT

"Shiitake mushrooms can be an exceptional source of vitamin D, as noted in research published in Paul Stamets’ book, Mycelium Running. Shiitake mushrooms grown and dried indoors have only 110 IU of vitamin D per 100 grams. But when the shiitakes were dried in the sun, the vitamin D content rose to 21,400 IUs per 100 grams. Even more surprising, when the mushrooms were dried with their gills facing up toward the sun, their content rose to 46,000 IU!"

www.motherearthnews.com/.../Vitamin-D-Sunshine-Supplements.aspx

books.google.com/books

re: Is Vitamin D the "Nutrient of the Decade?"

nutritionpower — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 13:24:12 GMT

For Beccadog and others: Dr. Mercola recommends 15 minutes in the Sun I think with no sunscreen. Your neighbor was probably like my father who spent hours out in the worst sun of the day because he thought tanning was healthy. He lived to be 83 but he had about 200 skin cancers removed, including 2 melanomas.

Also regarding cod liver oil, you can buy purified sources from nordic naturals brand or garden of life brand. They do have pharmaceutical grade cod liver oil without all the contaminants.