Vitamin D Is Essential To Good Health
A paper published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (http://www.ajcn.org) identifies vitamin D’s potential for contributions to good health in immune systems, the secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas, heart and blood pressure regulation, muscle strength and brain activity. In addition, access to adequate amounts of vitamin D is believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of cancer.
Thirty-six organ tissues in the body are known whose cells respond biologically to vitamin D. The list includes bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and the uterus. Therefore we must conclude that a deficiency of vitamin D can impact all 36 organs. Already, vitamin D deficiency is associated with muscle strength decrease, high risk for falls, and increased risk for colorectal, prostate and breast and other major cancers.
Dr. Anthony Norman, a professor of biochemistry and of biomedical sciences who has worked on vitamin D for more than 45 years states, “It is becoming increasingly clear to researchers in the field that vitamin D is strongly linked to several diseases. Its biological sphere of influence is much broader than we originally thought. The nutritional guidelines for vitamin D intake must be carefully reevaluated to determine the adequate intake, balancing sunlight exposure with dietary intake, to achieve good health by involving all 36 target organs.”
Vitamin D is synthesized in the body in a series of steps. First, sunlight’s ultraviolet rays act on a compound in skin. When skin is exposed to sunlight, this compound is converted to vitamin D, which, in turn, is metabolized in the liver and kidneys to form a hormone.
The past recommended daily intake of vitamin D was 200 international units (IU) for people up to 50 years old and 400 IU for people 51 to 70 years old and 600 IU for people over 70 years old. Dr. Norman’s recommendation for all adults is to have an average daily intake of at least 2000 IU.
“To optimize good health you must have enough vitamin D,” he said. “Vitamin D deficiency is also especially of concern in third world countries that have poor nutritional practices and religious customs that require the body to be covered from head to toe. Ideally, to achieve the widest frequency of good health by population, we need to have 90 percent of the people with adequate amounts of vitamin D”.
About half of the elderly in North America are not getting enough vitamin D to maintain healthy bone density, which increases the risks for bone fractures and good tooth attachment in the jaw bones.
Dr. Norman has further stated, “There needs to be a sea change by various governmental agencies in terms of the advice they present to citizens about how much vitamin D should be taken. The tendencies of people who spend most of their time indoors contribute to the inability of the skin to biosynthesize sufficient amounts of vitamin D.”
Found in minute amounts in food, vitamins are organic substances that higher forms of animals need to grow and sustain normal health. Vitamins, however, are not synthesized in sufficient amounts to meet bodily needs. Therefore, the body must acquire them through diet or in the form of supplements. Because it is found in very few foods naturally, milk and other foods (often orange juice) are fortified with vitamin D.
While deficiency of vitamin D impacts health negatively, ingestion of extremely high doses of vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia, a condition in which the blood’s calcium level is above normal. The highest daily ‘safe’ dose of vitamin D is 10,000 IU.
Dr. Norman, a devoted researcher of vitamin D says, “More than ever we need to increase the amount of research on vitamin D, with more funding from government agencies…..to meet the challenge of preserving or improving the health of everyone on the planet.”
Jim Harris is a Nutritional Consultant at The Art of Wellness Center at 1900 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262. Please call 760-778-5600 or visit www.theartofwellnesscenter.com.