Are you Vitamin D Deficient

From an Yahoo article titled "8 Ways to Tell if You Are Vitamin D Deficient". Vitamin D is one of the easiest nutrients to supplement with and one of the most important, although everyone needs robust levels of all nutrients in order to work synergistically within the body to support the immune system.

 

Vitamin D is an extremely important vitamin that has powerful effects on several systems throughout the body. Unlike most vitamins, vitamin D actually functions like a hormone and every single cell in your body has a receptor for it.

Your body makes it from cholesterol when your skin is exposed to sunlight. It's also found in certain foods such as fatty fish and fortified dairy products, although it's very difficult to get enough from diet alone.

The recommended daily intake is usually around 400-800 IU, but many experts say you should get even more than that.

My Aching Knees comment: Most nutritionists and researchers today are recommending daily intake of 4,000 to 6,000 IU. My base line daily supplement gives me 2,500 IU and I routinely take 2,000 to 4,000 more IU of Vitamin D each day.

Vitamin D deficiency is very common. It's estimated that about 1 billion people worldwide have low levels of the vitamin in their blood.

According to a 2011 study, 41.6 percent of adults in the U.S. are deficient. This number goes up to 69.2 percent in Hispanics and 82.1 percent in African-Americans.

These are common risk factors for vitamin D deficiency:

• Having dark skin.

• Being elderly.

• Being overweight or obese.

• Not eating much fish or milk.

• Living far from the equator where there is little sun year-round.

• Always using sunscreen when going out.

• Staying indoors.

People who live near the equator and get frequent sun exposure are less likely to be deficient, because their skin produces enough vitamin D to satisfy the body's needs.

Most people don't realize that they are deficient, because the symptoms are generally subtle. You may not notice them easily, even if they are having a significant negative effect on your quality of life.

Here are eight signs and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency.

1. Getting Sick or Infected Often

One of vitamin D's most important roles is keeping your immune system strong so you're able to fight off the viruses and bacteria that cause illness.

It directly interacts with the cells that are responsible for fighting infection. If you become sick often, especially with colds or the flu, low vitamin D levels may be a contributing factor.

Several large observational studies have shown a link between a deficiency and respiratory tract infections like colds, bronchitis and pneumonia.

A number of studies have found that taking vitamin D supplements at dosages of up to 4,000 IU daily may reduce the risk of respiratory tract infections.

In one study of people with the chronic lung disorder COPD, only those who were severely deficient in vitamin D experienced a significant benefit after taking a high-dose supplement for one year.

Bottom Line: Vitamin D plays important roles in immune function. One of the most common symptoms of deficiency is an increased risk of illness or infections.

2. Fatigue and Tiredness

Feeling tired can have many causes and vitamin D deficiency may be one of them. Unfortunately, it's often overlooked as a potential cause.

Case studies have shown that very low blood levels can cause fatigue that has a severe negative effect on quality of life.

In one case, a woman who complained of chronic daytime fatigue and headaches was found to have a blood level of only 5.9 ng/ml. This is extremely low, as anything under 20 ng/ml is considered to be deficient. When the woman took a vitamin D supplement, her level increased to 39 ng/ml and her symptoms resolved.

However, even blood levels that aren't extremely low may have a negative impact on energy levels. A large observational study looked at the relationship between vitamin D and fatigue in young women.

The study found that women with blood levels under 20 ng/ml or 21–29 ng/ml were more likely to complain of fatigue than those with blood levels over 30 ng/ml.

Another observational study of female nurses found a strong connection between low vitamin D levels and self-reported fatigue. What's more, the researchers found that 89 percent of the nurses were deficient.

Bottom Line: Excessive fatigue and tiredness may be a sign of vitamin D deficiency. Taking supplements may help improve energy levels.

3. Bone and Back Pain

Vitamin D is involved in maintaining bone health through a number of mechanisms. For one, it improves your body's absorption of calcium. Bone pain and lower back pain may be signs of inadequate vitamin D levels in the blood.

Large observational studies have found a relationship between a deficiency and chronic lower back pain. One study examined the association between vitamin D levels and back pain in more than 9,000 older women.

The researchers found that those with a deficiency were more likely to have back pain, including severe back pain that limited their daily activities. In one controlled study, people with vitamin D deficiency were nearly twice as likely to experience bone pain in their legs, ribs or joints compared to those with blood levels in the normal range.

Bottom Line: Low blood levels of the vitamin may be a cause or contributing factor to bone pain and lower back pain.

4. Depression

A depressed mood may also be a sign of deficiency. In review studies, researchers have linked vitamin D deficiency to depression, particularly in older adults.

In one analysis, 65 percent of the observational studies found a relationship between low blood levels and depression. On the other hand, most of the controlled trials, which carry more scientific weight than observational studies, didn't show a link between the two.

However, the researchers who analyzed the studies noted that the dosages of vitamin D in controlled studies were often very low. In addition, they noted that some of the studies may not have lasted long enough to see the effect of taking supplements on mood.

Some controlled studies have shown that giving vitamin D to people who are deficient helps improve depression, including seasonal depression that occurs during the colder months.

Bottom Line: Depression is associated with low vitamin D levels and some studies have found that supplementing improves mood.

5. Impaired Wound Healing

Slow healing of wounds after surgery or injury may be a sign that vitamin D levels are too low.

Results from a test-tube study suggest that the vitamin increases production of compounds that are crucial for forming new skin as part of the wound-healing process.

One study on patients who had dental surgery found that certain aspects of healing were compromised by vitamin D deficiency.

It's also been suggested that vitamin D's role in controlling inflammation and fighting infection is important for proper healing.

One analysis looked at patients with diabetic foot infections. It found that those with severe vitamin D deficiency were more likely to have higher levels of inflammatory markers that can jeopardize healing.

Unfortunately, at this point there is very little research about the effects of vitamin D supplements on wound healing in people with deficiency. However, one study found that when vitamin D deficient patients with leg ulcers were treated with the vitamin, ulcer size reduced by 28 percent, on average.

Bottom Line: Inadequate vitamin D levels may lead to poor wound healing following surgery, injury or infection.

6. Bone Loss

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in calcium absorption and bone metabolism. Many older women who are diagnosed with bone loss believe they need to take more calcium. However, they may be deficient in vitamin D as well.

Low bone mineral density is an indication that calcium and other minerals have been lost from bone. This places older people, especially women, at an increased risk of fractures. In a large observational study of more than 1,100 middle-aged women in menopause or postmenopause, researchers found a strong link between low vitamin D levels and low bone mineral density.

However, a controlled study found that women who were vitamin D deficient experienced no improvement in bone mineral density when they took high-dose supplements, even if their blood levels improved.

Regardless of these findings, adequate vitamin D intake and maintaining blood levels within the optimal range may be a good strategy for protecting bone mass and reducing fracture risk.

Bottom Line: A diagnosis of low bone mineral density may be a sign of vitamin D deficiency. Getting enough of this vitamin is important for preserving bone mass as you get older.

7. Hair Loss

Hair loss is often attributed to stress, which is certainly a common cause. However, when hair loss is severe, it may be the result of a disease or nutrient deficiency. Hair loss in women has been linked to low vitamin D levels, although there is very little research on this so far.

Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease characterized by severe hair loss from the head and other parts of the body. It's associated with rickets, which is a disease that causes soft bones in children due to vitamin D deficiency.

Low vitamin D levels are linked to alopecia areata and may be a risk factor for developing the disease.

One study in people with alopecia areata showed that lower blood levels tended to be associated with a more severe hair loss.

In a case study, topical application of a synthetic form of the vitamin was found to successfully treat hair loss in a young boy with a defect in the vitamin D receptor.

Bottom Line: Hair loss may be a sign of vitamin D deficiency in female-pattern hair loss or the autoimmune condition alopecia areata.

8. Muscle Pain

The causes of muscle pain are often difficult to pinpoint. There is some evidence that vitamin D deficiency may be a potential cause of muscle pain in children and adults.

In one study, 71 percent of people with chronic pain were found to be deficient. The vitamin D receptor is present in nerve cells called nociceptors, which sense pain.

One study in rats showed that a deficiency led to pain and sensitivity due to stimulation of nociceptors in muscles.

A few studies have found that taking high-dose vitamin D supplements may reduce various types of pain in people who are deficient.

One study in 120 children with vitamin D deficiency who had growing pains found that a single dose of the vitamin reduced pain scores by an average of 57 percent.

Bottom Line: There is a link between chronic pain and low blood levels of the vitamin, which may be due to the interaction between the vitamin and pain-sensing nerve cells.

Correcting a Vitamin D Deficiency is Simple and again it is incredibly common and most people are unaware of it.

That's because the symptoms are often subtle and non-specific, meaning that it's hard to know if they're caused by low vitamin D levels or something else. If you think you may have a deficiency, then it's important that you speak to your doctor and get your blood levels measured.

Fortunately, a vitamin D deficiency is usually easy to fix. You can either increase your sun exposure, eat more vitamin D rich foods or simply take a supplement......and it will have have big benefits for your health.

MyAchingKnees Comment: You really can't obtain adequate Vitamin D from Sun exposure. You can get the Vitamin D you need by eating foods rich in Vitamin D, but it is hard, very hard, in today's world to get wholesome foods. The best way to get the Vitamin D you need is through supplementation - just make sure you get it from quality supplements.

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Research suggests vitamin D could affect brain function

This article came from bostonglobe.com by Jeremy Fox, a Globe Correspondent, and was titled: "Research suggests vitamin D could affect brain function." I was interested since I take a Vitamin D supplement as I believe it is essential for not only bone and joint health but for overall immune function and now there is evidence suggesting Vitamin D supports even more than that.

When you think of vitamin D, you may think of bone health. For years, doctors have recommended vitamin D and calcium supplements to guard against fractures and osteoporosis.

But in recent years, the efficacy of those supplements has been widely questioned, while other research has explored possible connections between vitamin D and heart health, cancer prevention, and other health benefits.

Those connections have not yet been proved, but now studies on the relationship between vitamin D and serotonin production are taking researchers down a new path. A growing body of evidence suggests that vitamin D — present in some foods and produced naturally when skin is exposed to sunlight — regulates the enzyme that converts the amino acid tryptophan into serotonin, a neurotransmitter believed to help regulate moods and direct brain development while in the womb.

“It is very important for guiding [where] neurons . . . go in the brain and how they shape the structure and the wiring of the brain,” said researcher Rhonda P. Patrick. “Without adequate serotonin in that developing fetus, the brain . . . doesn’t develop normally.”

Patrick, a postdoctoral fellow at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in Oakland, Calif., said the degree to which vitamin D regulates serotonin isn’t yet clear. But psychologists and neuroscientists have established the effects of low serotonin by restricting tryptophan entering the brains of human test subjects, she said.

“What happens is their long-term decision making shuts down,” she said. “They become impulsive and aggressive, angry, unhappy. They have difficult time interpreting people’s facial expressions.”

‘Why do we feel better when we go out in the sun? Sun makes vitamin D in your skin.’

Vitamin D is naturally present in some foods, including fatty fish such as mackerel, salmon, and tuna, and in small amounts in cheese, egg yolks, and beef liver, according to the National Institutes of Health. But most vitamin D in the human diet comes from its addition to foods such as milk, orange juice, and breakfast cereals.

Because vitamin D regulates about 1,000 different types of genes in the body — roughly 5 percent of the human genome — Patrick and her mentor, Bruce N. Ames, a senior scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, believes the nutrient may play a much larger role in our health than previously realized.

Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, said that the hypothesis suggests many avenues for further research.

“This work by Ames and Patrick is significant because it describes a potential pathway linking vitamin D with serious mental conditions, and may explain some of the features of these diseases,” Willett said in an e-mail.

Researchers are working to confirm Ames and Patrick’s hypothesis in the lab. Mark R. Haussler, a professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine — Phoenix, and Peter Jurutka, an associate professor at Arizona State University, have conducted experiments that support the hypothesis, Haussler said.

In successive experiments using synthesized DNA, then cells from human kidneys, then cells from the brains of rats and of humans, Haussler and Jurutka established that vitamin D produced effects consistent with Patrick and Ames’s hypothesis: It enhanced the ability of the brain cells to produce serotonin by anywhere from double to 30 times as much, Haussler said.

Haussler said a better understanding of how to regulate serotonin production could have a “huge impact, and all the way across the life span.” Haussler speculated that regulating serotonin in developing brains could potentially affect the development of autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Some benefits of vitamin D have been known for generations, Haussler said, though they might have been described in different terms.

“When I was young, my mother would say, ‘Mark, go out in the sun; you’ll feel better,’?” Haussler said. “Well, you know, I usually did, and that’s a common-sense-type thing, but why? Why do we feel better when we go out in the sun? Sun makes vitamin D in your skin.”

But too much sun can also lead to skin cancer, he cautioned, and not all sun exposure will help produce vitamin D. In New England during the winter, the sun is too low on the horizon to help generate the production of vitamin D.

Doctors and researchers said that in this region and many others, it is beneficial to take a vitamin D supplement, at least during winter months, but controversies have arisen in recent years about the use of vitamin supplements and the tools for measuring vitamin D deficiency.

Late last year, a widely discussed editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine encouraged the public to “stop wasting money” on vitamin and mineral supplements that had not been proved to prevent or slow the development of chronic diseases.

That editorial included a caveat that vitamin D supplementation remained “an open area of investigation, particularly in deficient persons” but nevertheless concluded that “current widespread use [of vitamin D supplements] is not based on solid evidence that benefits outweigh harms.”

Also last year, a study from Massachusetts General Hospital found that many of the 70 percent to 90 percent of African-Americans diagnosed as vitamin D deficient may actually have healthy levels of the vitamin — and are not deficient — because they are genetically disposed to carry more of the “free” form of the nutrient.

Willett, of the Harvard School of Public Health, said the anti-supplement editorial “was unhelpful as it lumped together a very wide range of doses and conditions.”

Willett said many Americans do not get enough vitamin D from diet and sun exposure and should take a supplement. His recommendation included African-American adults because, he said, science has not yet determined which forms of vitamin D benefit specific organs, and the “free” form may not be helpful in all instances.

There is no universal agreement about the proper dosage, but Willett recommends 1,000 international units per day for most adults. Patrick said that before taking a supplement, people should get tested and consult their physicians.

MyAchingKnees comment: I am currently taking 5,000 IU a day. My base supplements provide 1,000 IU day a day and I take an addition 4,000 IU. When everybody around me is sick, I'm not. But I'm not attributing that to the Vitamin D alone,...it is only one of the many nutrients I believe a person needs in much higher doses than the RDA in order to have a robust immune system and a healthylife.

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Faulty Research on Vitamin D

Faulty Research on Vitamin D from Yahoo News, a article titled "No health shield from vitamin D pills: study" came out stating that Vitamin D supplements have no significant effect on preventing heart attack, stroke, cancer or bone fractures, according to a review of scientific evidence published.

Researchers led by Mark Bolland of the University of Auckland in New Zealand looked at 40 high-quality trials to see if supplements met a benchmark of reducing risk of these problems by 15 percent or more.

Previous research had seen a strong link between vitamin D deficiency and poor health in these areas.

But the new study, published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, strengthens arguments that vitamin D deficiency is usually the result of ill health -- not the cause of it.

MyAchingKnees comment:  Think of this last sentence,....this is what they are saying:  "If you are ill, you will have a Vitamin D deficiency.  But if you have a Vitamin D deficiency, you will not get sick."

Its authors say there is "little justification" for doctors to prescribe vitamin D supplements as a preventive measure for these disorders.

"Available evidence does not lend support to vitamin D supplementation and it is very unlikely that the results of a future single randomised clinical trial will materially alter the results from current meta-analyses," they write.

Vitamin D is a key component for healthy bones, teeth and muscles. It is produced naturally when the skin is exposed to sunlight or derived from foods such as oily fish, egg yolks and cheese.

In March last year, British scientists, in a comparison of 4,000 women, found that vitamin D supplements taken in pregnancy made no difference to the child's bone health.

And in September 2012, researchers at New York's Rockefeller University saw no evidence that vitamin D supplements lowered cholesterol, a factor in heart disease, at least over the short term. In contrast, a November 2012 investigation into pregnant women who lived in high-latitude, northern hemisphere countries with long, dark winters found a link between low levels of natural vitamin D and an increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) in their offspring.

For these women, taking vitamin D supplements to offset the effects of long periods without sunlight could be advisable, according to that research.  

MyAchingKnees Comment: The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH), recently completed a study that suggest Vitamin D just might be key to help a person recover faster from workouts. The study revealed that increased levels of vitamin D taken before a workout helped decrease muscular weakness. Additional research has revealed that vitamin D supports healthy bones, heart and immune function, muscle strength, and even healthy glucose levels in the normal range. Herein lies the rub - Vitamin D can be obtained from the sun during your outdoor activities, but exposure to the sun doesn’t mean you’re getting the right amount of Vitamin D. Deficiencies in Vitamin D are common during the summer months as people neglect vitamin D supplementation but still don’t get enough vitamin D-producing sunlight.

As far as Physicians or researchers giving Vitamin D to test subjects, no mention is made of the source, purity or efficacy of whatever form or manufacturer the Vitamin D came from. Most of the manufacturers of not only Vitamin D but all supplements do not produce these supplements in the nutrient doses necessary for optimal health nor produce in a process to assure the quality.

I think I'll just continue to take the 3,000 IU of Vitamin D each day. But I don't rely on Vitamin D alone.  I take a well rounded amount of all nutrients as you can't just pick the latest supplement of the month, take that exclusively and expect optimal health.  

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The Top Six Vitamins You Should Not Take - Really?

From the article "The Top Six Vitamins You Should Not Take". The evidence against supplements continues to pile up, says Steven Salzberg on Forbes. Great! another article misleading the population about supplementation. Oh well, let the consumer beware.

Recently I created a list of The Top 5 Vitamins You Shouldn’t Take. Now I’m expanding that list to include vitamin D, which is taken by almost half of older adults. Now, two new studies in latest issue of The Lancet show that most of these people are wasting their money.

The first study is a large review by Philippe Autier and colleagues, who found that taking supplemental vitamin D has no effect on a wide range of diseases and conditions. After looking at over 450 studies, the authors conclude:

“The absence of an effect of vitamin D supplementation on disease occurrence, severity, and clinical course leads to the hypothesis that variations [in vitamin D levels] would essentially be a result, and not a cause, of ill health.”

So it appears that we’ve been getting cause and effect backwards, at least as far as vitamin D is concerned. Autier looked at non-skeletal disorders, including heart disease, weight gain, mood disorders, multiple sclerosis, and metabolic disorders, all of which have been linked to lower vitamin D. In trial after trial, supplemental vitamin D had no beneficial effect on any of these conditions. Autier et al concluded that:

“associations between 25(OH)D and health disorders … are not causal. Low 25(OH)D [vitamin D] could be the result of inflammatory processes involved in disease.”

Instead, the researchers found, in study after study, that low vitamin D was the result of poor health, not the cause.

The Autier study didn’t look at the biggest supposed benefit of vitamin D: protection against osteoporosis. We’ve long known that vitamin D is associated with bone health. Fortunately, in the same issue of The Lancet, Ian Reid and colleagues looked closely at this question. They reviewed 23 studies with 4082 participants, all designed to determine at whether supplemental vitamin D improves bone density. Their findings? It doesn’t help. They concluded:

“Continuing widespread use of vitamin D for osteoporosis prevention in community-dwelling adults without specific risk factors for vitamin D deficiency seems to be inappropriate.”

Vitamin D supplements, to put it plainly, are a waste of money.

(For those concerned about osteoporosis, the widely used drug alendronate (Fosamax®), has been shown to increase bone density by about 5%, as explained in a 2011 article by Dr. Sundeep Khosia. But Fosamax has side effects.)

It’s pretty easy to get enough vitamin D in a normal diet. Or, as Dr. Mark Gillinov explained in the Huffington Post last week, just 10 minutes of sunlight gives you about 4 times your daily recommended vitamin D requirement.

So here’s my expanded list of the Top Six Vitamins You Shouldn’t Take, with the newest entrant at the end:

1.Vitamin C
2.Vitamin A and beta carotene
3.Vitamin E
4.Vitamin B6
5.Multi-vitamins
6.Vitamin D
You can read more about the first five, some of which can be downright bad for you, in the original list.
What’s left? Well, if you don’t have a deficiency, there’s no reason to take any supplemental vitamins at all. As my Hopkins colleagues Eliseo Guallar, Lawrence Appel, and Edgar Miller wrote last month in the Annals of Internal Medicine : “Enough is enough: stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements.” As they wrote, after looking at three more large studies just published last month, ““most supplements do not prevent chronic disease or death, their use is not justified, and they should be avoided.”

Save your money. Or better yet, if you must spend it, buy a bit more fresh fruit. You’ll be healthier for it.

MyAchingKnees Comment: Again, let the buyer beware. I would ask the researchers these simple questions: "Should we stay away from all Multiple Vitamins? Or just the ones that are manufactured under food grade standards and without the nutrient levels that are necessary? How about pharmacuetical grade supplements? Are those okay to add to your healthy lifestyle? 

 
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Can Vitamin D Prevent Diabetes?

This article is from Lisa Collier Cool and was originally titled "Can This 7-Cent Vitamin Prevent Diabetes?".

Researchers have launched the world’s first large, definitive clinical trial to find out if vitamin D supplements can stave off type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for the disease.

About 20 US medical centers are participating in the National Institutes of Health-funded trial, known as the D2d study, which will include some 2,500 volunteers with pre-diabetes, a problem affecting 79 million Americans.

“Without an effective intervention, about 10 percent of people with pre-diabetes will progress to type 2 diabetes each year,” reports Anatassios Pittas, MD, co-director of the Diabetes Center at Tufts Medical Center, who has received a grant of more than $40 million over five years from the NIH as part of the D2d study.

In the double-blinded clinical study, pre-diabetic participants ages 30 and older will be randomly assigned to take 4,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D3 or a placebo. Their health will be tracked for about four years.

MyAchingKnees Comment:  While I think Vitamin D in a necessary supplement and a daily dose in the several thousand of IU's is required, I don't think these studies involving single nutrients do a lot of good since they do not consider nor evaluate the necessary and synergistic effect of taking all the required nutrients for the bodies immune system to optimally function.......still I am glad someone thinks that daily doses of more than the RDA recommended 400 IU are necessary.     

New strategies are urgently needed to halt the diabetes epidemic, which now affects nearly 26 million Americans—with about 1.9 million new cases diagnosed each year, according to the American Diabetes Association. Rates have been rising in tandem with the obesity epidemic.

Urgent Need for Safe, Low-cost Strategies to Stop an Epidemic

“There’s a lot of hype about potential benefits of vitamin D—which is one of the most popular supplements with sales of $425 million a year in 2009—but not enough good scientific evidence to support a recommendation for or against taking it for diabetes prevention,” adds Dr. Pittas.

However, there are strong signals that the inexpensive vitamin—available for as little as 7 cents per pill—might be helpful. For example, Dr. Pittas and colleagues reported in a 2012 study that pre-diabetic patients with the most vitamin D in their blood had lower risk for progressing to type 2 diabetes, even when lifestyle interventions known to cut the threat, such as weight loss, exercising more, and eating a better diet were taken into account.

Ample amounts of the sunshine vitamin are linked to dramatic drops in risk for both type 1 and 2 diabetes. Compared to people with the most vitamin D in their blood, those with the least are 50 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a meta-analysis of 16 studies published earlier this year in Clinical Chemistry.

High levels of vitamin D have an even more potent effect on risk for type 1 diabetes (an autoimmune disease). A 2012 study found that people with vitamin D levels of 17 nanograms or less per milliliter of blood had more than triple the risk for type 1 versus those with levels above 40.

While these and other studies show a strong correlation between vitamin D and lower diabetes risk, they don’t establish causation. In other words, there is no proof that the sunshine vitamin prevents diabetes.

Facing Diabetes Head On: Tips to Help You Cope

What’s the Link Between Vitamin D and Diabetes Risk?

“For type 2 diabetes to develop, people have to have two problems: their bodies become resistant to insulin and the beta cells in their pancreas don’t produce enough insulin to keep up with demand,” says Dr. Pittas.

“There is some preliminary evidence that vitamin D may improve both problems,” adds Dr. Pittas. “Another intriguing discovery is that the beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin have the ability to activate vitamin D locally, which is not the case with most other tissues in the body.”

These discoveries offer a plausible biological mechanism by which vitamin D may fight diabetes, continues Dr. Pittas, who has been researching links with both forms of the disease for more than a decade. “I became intrigued with this association after learning that rates of type 1 diabetes rise as you move further from the equator.”

This geographic pattern also holds true for other autoimmune conditions, leading many researchers to hypothesize that sunshine, which sparks the body to produce vitamin D, may be protective.

However, there could also be other reasons, cautions Dr. Pittas. “For example, people who live close to the equator tend to have a healthier lifestyle than those in northern countries where people exercise less and eat a Western diet.”

Should You Take Vitamin D to Prevent Diabetes?

Since it’s not yet known if high doses of vitamin D, such as those used in the study, protect against diabetes, Dr. Pittas recommends sticking to the RDA of vitamin D (600 IU for people ages one to 70, and 800 IU for those over 70), unless your healthcare provider recommends higher doses.

Also discuss being checked for vitamin D deficiency, which is very common among Americans, especially in the winter, points out Amy Doneen, ARNP, medical director of the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center in Spokane, Washington.

“Although a cause-and-effect relationship with diabetes hasn’t been established, optimizing your vitamin D levels if they’re low appears to be particularly beneficial if you have insulin resistance, the root cause of both type 2 diabetes and many heart attacks,” adds Doneen.

The best dietary sources for vitamin D include oily fish like salmon and mackerel, beef liver, egg yolks, and fortified dairy products.

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Nutrients For Faster Weight Loss

From the article Six Nutrients For Faster Weight Loss, by Alisa Bowman and The Editors Of Women's Health

Vitamin D For years scientists have searched for a magical ingredient that would help people shed fat. In 2008, Dr. Shalamar Sibley of the University of Minnesota put 38 obese people on an 11-week diet where they consumed 750 calories less than their estimated daily need. Study participants whose blood levels of D were higher at the study's start lost more weight than participants whose blood levels of D were lower. They actually lost a lot more--70 percent more, to be exact. Based on the results of this study, by fueling your body with the D-rich nutrients it needs to stay out of a fat-storage state and in a fat-burning state, you can speed weight loss by 70 percent! Thousands of studies on vitamin D have been completed over a span of 40 years, and it's become clear that vitamin D is pretty incredible and effective. Still, it's not the only player on this fat-melting team. Turn up your metabolism and melt body fat adding vitamin D and these five fat-melters from The Vitamin D Diet.  

MyAchingKnees comment: While I believe that we need to take much more Vitamin D that the RDA recommends,...I am currently taking between 3,900 and 5,900 mgs each day, it is hardly definitive that Vitamin D works to burn fat. It is widely thought, and believed by me anyway, that Vitamin D is an essential ingredient for bone health and especially proper immune system function. The question needs to be asked, "what other nutrient deficiencies did the obese people with Vitamin D deficiencies also have?"  

Calcium
Calcium is a mineral that works in tandem with D to help you shed fat. Calcium is stored in fat cells, and researchers think that the more calcium a fat cell has, the more fat that cell will release to be burned. Calcium also promotes weight loss by binding to fat in your GI tract, preventing some of it from getting absorbed into your bloodstream.  

Protein
In addition to keeping hunger in check, regular doses of protein help to keep body composition--the amount of fat relative to muscle--in better proportion. Along with calcium and D, protein helps you to preserve muscle mass as you drop pounds. A recent study out of the University of Illinois found that women who consumed protein twice daily lost 3.9 percent more weight than women who consumed less of it on a diet. They not only lost more weight, they also got stronger as they did so, with their thigh muscles alone ending up with 5.8 percent more protein at the end of the diet than before.  

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3s enable weight loss by switching on enzymes that trigger fat-burning in cells. They also help to boost mood, which may help reduce emotional eating. And omega 3s might improve leptin signaling in the brain, causing the brain to turn up fat burning and turn down appetite. You almost can't consume D without consuming omega-3 fatty acids, and that's a good thing. Fatty fish like salmon (which are also high in D) are one of the richest sources of this fat. Other foods, such as some nuts and seeds, contain a type of fat that can be converted into omega-3s after ingestion.  

MyAchingKnees comment: I think that all the benefits of Omega 3's are relatively unknown to people. If people have experienced what I have experienced with a quality Omega 3 supplement, they would be breaking down the doors to take it.  

Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFAs)
MUFAs are a type of fat found in olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, peanut butter, and chocolate, and they have just one chemical bond (which is why they are called "mono" unsaturated). One Danish study of 26 men and women found that a diet that included 20 percent of its calories from MUFAs improved 24-hour calorie burning by 0.1 percent and fat burning by 0.04 percent after 6 months. Other research shows that MUFAs zero in on belly fat. Specific foods that are high in MUFAs--especially peanuts, tree nuts, and olive oil--have been shown to keep blood sugar steady and reduce appetite, too.  

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
CLAs are potent fat burners that are found, along with D and calcium, in dairy products. They are fatty acids that are created when bacteria ferments the food in the first part of the stomach of cows, sheep, and other ruminant animals. The CLA that is created through fermentation then makes its way into the meat and milk of these animals. When we consume these foods, the CLA helps blood glucose enter body cells, so CLA can be burned for energy and not stored as fat. CLA also helps to promote fat burning, especially in muscles, where the bulk of our calorie burning takes place.  

The whole fat-melting picture Now before you start superdosing yourself with all of these fat melters and waiting for the fat to magically melt away, let's be clear: D and other fat melters facilitate weight loss, but they are not magic pills. If you just took a bunch of supplements, you might see some effect--for instance, by swapping some fat for muscle. But to see serious weight loss, you'll need to combine these fat melters with portion control.

MyAchingKnees comment: While I like all the efforts to bring sound nutritional research to people, the danger of articles listing single ingredients as some people will buy and consume these single ingredients while missing others.  I believe that we need a wide range of nutrients in scientifically determined ratios so they can work syngergistically with each other to provide our body's immune system with the complete package.    

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More on Vitamin D - Yahoo article

 This is from an article on Yahoo! by a lady named Weir.  Her article begins: Vitamin D provides a wide range of health benefits. It is effective in preventing rickets and treating other bone diseases such as osteoporosis. According to the Mayo Clinic, getting enough vitamin D may prevent high blood pressure and protect against certain types of cancer. It may also promote weight loss for women. A growing body of research links heart health to sufficient vitamin D.

Most recently, a large-scale study in the American Journal of Cardiology discovered that boosting vitamin D levels in heart patients who were deficient cut their risk of death by 60%, among other significant findings.

Getting enough vitamin D

It's estimated that 30-50% of Americans suffer from vitamin D deficiency. The human body produces vitamin D, which is actually a hormone, when exposed to sunlight. However, during the winter, it is impossible to get enough exposure anywhere north of San Francisco or Philadelphia. People in southern states who slather on sun block or who stay indoors most of the time may not be getting enough either. The same goes for people who are housebound due to illness or whose work keeps them inside all day. In addition to lack of sunshine, other conditions may increase likelihood of vitamin D deficiency:

o Infants who are exclusively breastfed. Mother's milk may not provide sufficient levels. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a supplement of 400 IU per day.

MyAchingKnees comment: 400 IU is the old RDA for Vitamin D. Nutritional experts now recommend many times that. The sources that I trust, recommend a minimum of 2,000 IU daily. And the benefit to Vitamin D, of course from a reputable company manufacturing a potent, bio-available product, is that 2,000 IU can come in a very small tablet form making it easy to take.

o Older adults. The elderly do not synthesize vitamin D as effectively as younger people and tend to spend more time indoors.

o People with dark skin. The pigment melanin can reduce the body's ability to produce vitamin D from sunlight.

o Obese people. Body fat alters the way vitamin D is released into the system.

Choosing a vitamin D supplement

If you are shopping for a supplement, research suggests that vitamin D3 is more effective than vitamin D2. Food sources rich in vitamin D include cod liver oil, fatty fish (such as mackerel), eggs, and fortified milk and orange juice.

MyAchingKnees comment: We agree that the form and source of Vitamin D to take is the D3 form. Most people just do get an adequate amount of good food each day, and have no way of knowing if they are getting the right amount of complete nutrients from their foods - other than repetitive blood tests, hence the need to supplement.

There is some debate over how much vitamin D to take. The National Institutes of Health recommends 600 IU per day for adults but some experts say that taking a supplement that contains between 1000-2000 IU can be beneficial. Its important to stay within the appropriate range--there is a toxicity at over 10,000 IU. The best way to determine how much you might need is to have your physician administer a simple blood test and make a recommendation based on the current level in you system.

MyAchingKnees: I take 3,800 IU of Vitamin D3 (as Cholecalciferol) daily, while my wife and college bound daughter take 4,400 IU each day.

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Vitamin D as Brain Food?

MyAchingKnees.com received a question from P.B. concerning Vitamin D: "What do you think about Viatmin D? I just read something on the internet about Vitamin D being necessary for brain health. The article said that Cod Liver Oil was a good source for Vitamin D."

P.B.....the article you probably read was from Real Age, click here to read the entire article, titled "Clear Brain Plaques with This Nutrient"

It did state that cod liver oil is rich in Vitamin D and if your mother gave it to you, she was ahead of her time.

Whenever I saw my mother reaching for the Cod Liver Oil bottle,....I ran out the back door!

The article when on to state that a new animal study from Japan suggests that vitamin D may help clear the brain of amyloid beta, a toxic protein-like compound that accumulates in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. And that this animal study validates the results of a previous study done in human Alzheimer's patients. In the human study, vitamin D together with curcumin -- a chemical found in turmeric spice -- appeared to stimulate the immune system in a way that helped clear the brain of toxic amyloid beta. But this new animal research suggests that vitamin D alone may be able to do that job nicely. Even more amazing, the lab animals that received vitamin D were able to remove a significant amount of amyloid beta buildup in their brains, literally overnight. It seems the vitamin may somehow regulate production of transporter proteins that ferry amyloid beta across the blood-brain barrier and out of the brain. Pretty exciting stuff.

The RealAge article was correct in that many adults lack vitamin D. But not just in the winter months. You cannot synthesize enough Vitamin D from sunshine to provide the body with the necessary Vitamin D nutrient levels for optimal health.

The article also stated that in order to get Vitamin D, a person should try eating canned salmon that supplies a "whopping" 530 international units (IU) of vitamin D for each 3-ounce serving.....or open the canned tuna for 360 IU of vitamin D from a 3-ounce serving.

The article went on to recommend drinking orange juice that's been fortified with vitamin D and you'll add an additional 100 IU of the Vitamin D to your day with each cup you drink. I won't drink orange juice unless it is NOT from concentrate. Be careful of high glycemic fruit juices.

Vitamin D is absolutely a necessary nutrient and one to take in much higher doses than the FDA recommends in their RDA. They recently upgraded their recommendation from 400 IU to 800 IU. Many well known nutritional scientist recommend much higher doses in the minimum 2,000 IU daily range. That would be almost four cans or 12 ounces of Salmon a day. You would probably grow gills and maybe a dorsal fin or two with that.

I prefer to get my Vitamin D from pharmaceutical grade supplements. I take a minimum of 1,800 IU's a day and sometimes 3,800 IU's a day. This is to support my immune system, combat oxidative stress which impacts across the body. Vitamin D is a known nutrient to help prevent Osteporosis and other related joint pain as well.

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Vitamin D Deficiency Increases Risks

MyAchingKnees.com has written before about the necessity for Vitamin D at much higher levels than previously thought to support a healthy immune system. In fact, one of our auto responders when you sign up for more information from this site, is on the effects of Vitamin D to combat oxidative stress which often manifest itself in joint pain as well as many other symptoms of degenerative disease. I take 3,800 IU's of pharmaceutical grade Vitamin D daily.

Published study, although it gets a little technical, showed that adults with low vitamin D levels had more than double the risk of pre-hypertension and pre-diabetes than adults with higher vitamin D levels.

Pre-diabetes and pre-hypertension have been associated with low vitamin D levels. In a recent issue of the journal Diabetes Care, scientists report a correlation between reduced vitamin D levels and pre-diabetes and pre-hypertension in adults. Both pre-diabetes and pre-hypertension are estimated to exist in at least one-fourth of disease-free adults.

Researchers analyzed data from 898 men and 813 women who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2001-2006. Blood pressure measurements were obtained during examinations conducted upon enrollment, and blood samples were evaluated for glucose, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and other factors.

Pre-diabetes was defined as having a fasting serum glucose of between 100 and 125 milligrams per deciliter, and pre-hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure of 120 to 139 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure between 80 and 89 mmHg. Pre-diabetes was 33 percent higher among those with vitamin D levels of 76.3 nmol/l (30.5 ng/ml) or less compared to those with higher levels. Pre-hypertension was evident in 61 percent of those with the lower vitamin D levels. Participants with undiagnosed diabetes and untreated hypertension had even lower vitamin D levels on average. Serum vitamin D levels tended to decline with increasing age and body mass.

When the risk of having both conditions was considered, those with low vitamin D levels had 2.4 times the risk of that experienced by subjects with higher vitamin D levels.

It is reasonable that among those with pre-diabetes or pre-hypertension, vitamin D supplementation resulting in increased serum vitamin D levels may help reverse subtle changes in fasting serum glucose and resting blood pressure that may lead to more advanced disease states.

Source: Pre-diabetes and Pre-hypertension in Healthy Adults Are Associated With Low Vitamin D Levels. Diabetes Care March 2011 vol. 34 no. 3 658-660, Alok K. Gupta, MD, Meghan M. Brashear, MPH and William D. Johnson, PHD.

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Blood Test by LabCorp

Received my lab results from LabCorp, which was conducted by HealthCheckUSA a firm that take provides a low cost diagnostic way of looking at many health issues.

I always have several tests, the technical test terms are: CMP14+LP+5AC+CBC/D/Plt; Iron and TIBC; Hgb Aic with eAG estimation; Prostate-Specific Ag, Serum; Testosterone, Serum.

I highly advise everyone to, even if they have to pay out of the pocket, to get routine blood tests. They can literally be a life saver and in fact a large factor in being concerned enough to try pharmaceutical grade supplements over 5 years ago. I had to pay $145 for the test, which I think is a good deal as I received a three page read out of my blood levels, and what they meant.

The good news is that CHD risk (mainly Hypertension and Diabetes) is way below even 1/2 the average risk level. Should be as I take the highest rated supplement on the market. However, not all was good. My Vitamin D level was low. And this is after taking 2,000 IU per day. The RDA level is 400 IU which Scientist now are saying is way too low to be effective. I have added another 2,000 IU per day and we'll see how that goes.

The value of Vitamin D to cellular health and a healthy immune system is getting more and more press. A healthy immune system can fight off oxidative stress caused by free radicals which can manifest problems in many ways: in common degenerative diseases such a diabetes and the inflammation from oxidative stress can be a factor in joint pain.

Pharmaceutical quality, high doses of vitamins, anti-oxidants and minerals are my front line defense not only against the onset of age related health issues but combined with optimizers such as Glucosamine and Omega 3 fatty acids provide me with an elimination of the chronic joint pain in my knees and back that I had lived with for almost 20 years.

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More on Vitamin D

MyAchingKnees.com will sometimes post information that has no direct link to Chronic Joint or Knee Pain. This is one of these posts. Vitamin D is one of nutrients that have recently received renewed scrutiny. We believe that not only advanced doses are supplementation are necessary for optimal health, but optimal health helps reduce the damage of free radicals from oxidative stress and therefore helps out entire body combat the resulting inflammation. So our overall health has an indirect or direct affect on chromic joint pain.

How Much Vitamin D do you need?

When you get your 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level, the normal range is usually reported as 32 to 100 ng/ml. However, researchers are now beginning to believe that desired level of vitamin D should be over 50 ng/ml and some are recommending that it should be greater than 60 ng/ml. Depending on your level of vitamin D you will need to first get your level into the desired range. However, I would at least recommend that you try to achieve a blood level above 50 ng/ml.

Your personal physician should actually prescribe the amount of increased vitamin D that you will need to bring your vitamin D up to the proper level. It should then be rechecked to be sure that this goal has been accomplished. I work with the members of my online medical practice at www.drraystrand.com to achieve this goal through email or phone consultation and bloodwork that I can order for them. Once you have achieved this goal, you then should supplement with 1,000 to 1,200 IU of vitamin D3 daily.

Low Vitamin D levels increase Cardiovascular Risk

A report in the Archives of Internal Medicine (June 11,2007) added more evidence in the link of low vitamin D levels and heart disease. These researchers measured the 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D levels in over 15,000 women. Those women who had the lowest levels of vitamin D had significantly higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and elevated triglyceride levels (the other fat in the blood other than cholesterol). These are all risk factors for heart disease and strokes.

These researchers again pointed out the fact that low vitamin D levels carry a significant risk factor to our health. They concluded that current intake of vitamin D is far to low for optimal health. This is why I recommend that my patients should get their vitamin D levels checked and act accordingly. First, to bring their vitamin D levels back up to the recommended level (at least greater than 50 ng/ml) and second, to maintain these levels by taking at least 1,000 to 1,200 IU of vitamin D in supplementation.

Osteoporosis and the Importance of Vitamin D - Health Nugget from Doctor Ray Strand

I subscribe to Dr Ray Strand's Bionutrition Newsletters and Health Nuggets. Doctor Strand is one of this Country's foremost Doctor's practicing Nutritional Medicine. His book, "What Doctor's Don't Know About Nutritional Medicine May be Killing You" is an absolute must have for anyone serious about a healthy lifestyle or simply understanding how nutrition, both bad and good, affect your body and therefore your health.


Osteoporosis is epidemic in the US and Canada and yet physicians seem to focus primarily on calcium supplementation and medication. However, it is a well-known fact that you cannot even absorb calcium from your diet without adequate levels of vitamin D. The most potent vitamin D is vitamin D3. Our nation is in the midst of realizing that over 90% of the population is seriously deficient in vitamin D. This becomes a critical health issue especially when you consider how critical this nutrient is in helping to build and maintain bone density. One interesting report even showed that elderly people with the highest levels of vitamin D suffered far fewer falls and were less frail.

Anyone who has been diagnosed or is concerned about osteopenia (early thinning of the bone) or osteoporosis needs to have their vitamin D blood levels checked. As mentioned in a previous "Health Nugget", the best test is a 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level. You want to have a blood level greater than 50 ng/ml. You can order this blood test at www.drraystrand.com or ask your personal physician to order it for you from your local lab.

Vitamin D and Calcium Supplementation

Vitamin D is now thought to be much more necessary, in advanced doses, not only for optimum health and as protection against degenerative disease, but for joint health as well. Even though I attribute my pain free knees to pharmaceutical grade Glucosamine and Omega 3 Fatty Acids, I have also added a pharmaceutical grade Calcium and Vitamin D supplement as well. Click here to find out more about these products.

From Doctor Ray Strand, www.raystrand.com

A four year clinical was done that involved nearly 1200 women. This is the kind of study physicians love and always talk about when it comes to pharmaceutical trials. However, very few of them realize that there are these kinds of studies regarding the health benefits of taking supplements. Subjects were assigned to take 1400 mg of calcium alone, or 1400 mg of calcium plus 1100 IU of vitamin D, or a placebo. After only 4 years, the risk of developing any type of cancer was 60% lower in the vitamin D group. If you excluded the cancers diagnosed in the first year because these cancers were most likely already present before the study, there was a 77% reduction in all types of cancer in the vitamin D group.

The researchers pointed out that vitamin D has an effect on at least 200 human genes and is critical in the normal functioning of our immune system and cell division. When there is less than an optimal level of vitamin D, the regulatory process involving cell proliferation and differentiation becomes defective. This can lead to abnormal cell division and thus cancer growth. However, if individuals simply supplement their diet with 1100 IU of vitamin D, they can significantly decrease their risk of all cancers.