Natural Vitamin D

Vitamin D, A Gene-Regulating Super Nutrient
by Byron J. Richards, citizen journalist

http://www.NaturalNews.com/024728_Vitamin_D_health_cancer.html

Colecalcipherol- (D) has long been known to assist

healthy bones by helping to stimulate bone cells to make

new bone while enhancing the uptake of calcium into

bones. Its role in boosting immunity, hormone regulation,

brain health, metabolism, diabetes prevention, cancer

prevention, and cardiovascular health are just now

becoming clear. The sunshine vitamin appears poised to

claim its crown.

All your body organs and cells have receptors for vitamin

D, meaning that vitamin D communicates all around your

body. Your cells use vitamin D to directly regulate your

genes, making it one of the most powerful compounds in

human health. In fact, one study with 2100 female twins

showed that having adequate vitamin D extends life by

five years. This is because vitamin D prevents excessive

wear and tear to the telomers that are attached to the

ends of your chromosomes that enable cell division

(determining potential cell lifespan). This is truly a

new era of nutritional science.

Vitamin D Basics
Vitamin D3 is produced in your skin when exposed to

sunlight. Extra vitamin D from prolonged sun exposure is

converted to non-biologically active lumisterol, which

can also be converted back to D3 when sun exposure levels

drop. Prolonged sun exposure results in tanning (extra

melanin synthesis), which is a natural sunscreen (like

clothing) and reduces the amount of vitamin D3 that is

made in the first place. There is no such thing as

getting too much vitamin D3 from the sun.

Vitamin D must be converted into its biologically active

form (1,25(OH)2D) before it goes to work. Your kidneys

are the main organ that does this for your body as a

whole, but it is now recognized that many cells have the

enzymes to directly activate vitamin D. For example,

cells lining your lungs and digestive tract can activate

vitamin D to help fight infection. The vitamin D

receptors around your body are capable of binding both

the active and inactive forms of vitamin D. Cells that

activate vitamin D can also inactivate it, forming a

convenient system of self-regulation based on a variety

of needs.

Once vitamin D is active in cells it has one made job,

activating genes. In other words, the basic role of

vitamin D in your body is to help regulate its functions

at the level of gene transcription. Because so many

different tissues and types of cells use vitamin D, it

can be assumed that this is a fundamental need for

survival.

Your body places a high value on vitamin D and has made

provisions to store it in your liver and the lining of

your digestive tract. This savings account of vitamin D

can be called into action during times of need, such as

the long winter months. It is interesting that

deficiencies of vitamin D in your liver or digestive

tract are associated with the poor health of both organ

systems.

When your skin makes vitamin D then the vitamin D turns

on antioxidants within your skin to deactivate the free

radicals coming from the sun's UV radiation. This is a

natural defense mechanism (a built in sunscreen). The new

science shows that only 9% of the population has vitamin

D receptors that don't do a good job of this. It is

ridiculous to make 100% of the population think that

routine sun exposure is a major health risk when such

advice applies mostly to a small group.

How Much Supplemental Vitamin D Do You Need?
It is widely recognized that vitamin D is low in many

Americans. Government levels for vitamin D dietary intake

are 400 IU to 600 IU per day and may be lacking based on

a significant body of vitamin D science. Many vitamin D

researchers believe that 2000 IU are needed on a daily

basis, especially in the winter months in the U.S.

Vitamin D intake of 2000 IU has been safely tested in

children ages 10-17. In fact, only the dose of 2000 IU

was able to bring the common vitamin D deficiency in

children up to normal levels.

In a study of overweight African-American children it was

found that 57% who were overweight lacked vitamin D,

compared to 40% of the control group. However, 1 month of

vitamin D intake at 400 IU per day failed to bring

vitamin D levels into normal range, indicating that

current government recommendations are inadequate.

A randomized study of 180 pregnant women found that 800

IU of vitamin D per day improved their blood levels, but

only a few of them and their babies reached normal levels

of vitamin D on this dose. In another study with 206

pregnant women only 10% had adequate vitamin D levels.

Those with the lowest D had children who experienced

tooth enamel abnormalities and cavities early in life.

A new study with young healthy men found they needed

700-800 IU of vitamin D per day in the winter to maintain

optimal bone health. You can imagine that someone older,

most woman, or individuals in poor health would need a

higher amount.

Even the Mayo Clinic is churning out press releases

telling everyone to take 800-1000 IU of vitamin D per

day. They are telling people that Vitamin D can improve

muscle strength and help older people not fall, reduce

the risk of some cancers, help chronic pain, protect

against autoimmune disease, and reduce the risk for

cardiovascular disease. Wow – even mainstream medicine is

on the vitamin D bandwagon.

In my view, part of the issue of how much Vitamin D you

should take is based on the symptoms you have that

indicate likely deficiency. Keep in mind that these

symptoms may crop up as winter moves along and your

vitamin D savings account is depleted. Thus, I will

review some of the key findings of recent vitamin D

research.

Vitamin D and Your Immunity
The front line troops of your immune system (innate

immunity) use vitamin D to help mount an immune response

for their foot soldiers. These immune cells use vitamin D

to produce a germ-killing compound called cathelicidin.

Your immune cells then release cathelicidin to kill

bacteria, a process that does not work if there is a lack

of vitamin D. The bacteria killing properties have been

known for some time and have even been used to help kill

tuberculosis.

Many chronic skin problems are associated with increased

infection. In a recent small study of patients with

atopic dermatitis it was found that taking 4000 IU of

vitamin D per day for 21 days restored their skin's

production of cathelicidin to normal – offering

protection from infection.

A new study shows that vitamin D is directly activated by

cells in your lungs to help combat infection. The

researchers showed that this not only boosted the

bacteria-killing cathelicidin but also improved the

ability of immune troops to identify invaders.

If you have recurring skin problems or if your lungs are

a friendly place for bugs to live (especially a

winter-time weak spot) then it is likely you need more

vitamin D.

Autoimmune Problems
Vitamin D has a dampening effect on excessive and

inappropriate behavior of immune cells. It helps reduce

the amount of inflammation produced by immune cells. In

fact, a deficiency of vitamin D may be an underlying and

possibly causative issue for almost any autoimmune

problem and a theory can be put forth that vitamin D

adequacy is required to prevent your immune system from

going into an improper hyperactive and excessively

inflammatory state – a problem that is at least a part of

all diseases of aging.

Studies show the ability of vitamin D to help prevent as

well as improve such issues as arthritis, autoimmune type

I diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Any person with any autoimmune disease should have their

vitamin D levels tested by their physician and these

should be corrected as a first step in seeking to improve

any problem.

It is an interesting point that vitamin D helps both a

lacking and hyper-active immune system work well. A key

theme of nutrition is that it works in your body to

promote efficiency of healthy function. In the case of

vitamin D it not only boosts up underperformance, it

quiets down excessive and improper activity. Obviously,

no drug has such intelligence.

Vitamin D and Cancer
One of the main functions of vitamin D is telling your

genes what to do. Many of these functions relate to cell

growth and division. For example, adequate vitamin D is

crucial to the healthy growth of your skin and hair. In

fact, a lack of vitamin D can result in an autoimmune

reaction that makes your hair fall out or in disruptions

to consistent skin pigmentation.

Cancer problems imply that cell division has gotten out

of control in an inappropriate way. Just as vitamin D is

needed by immune cells so they don't become hyperactive

and inappropriate, so it is that vitamin D may be needed

to help regulate cell growth and differentiation to keep

it in a healthy condition.

A number of precise cell growth factors are favorably

influenced by vitamin D, which is likely to have benefit

for many kinds of cancer. Current vitamin D cancer

research has tended to focus on colon, breast, and

prostate cancer.

One aspect of the current research shows that vitamin D

is a partner in the antioxidant defense system of cells,

helping to clear them of free radicals and thereby

protecting them from DNA damage that can lead to

mutation. Interestingly, vitamin D is smart enough not to

protect cancer cells. That finding, along with earlier

work, led this research group to claim "Our findings

reflect what we see in those studies and demonstrate that

vitamin D not only can be used as a therapy for prostate

cancer, it can prevent prostate cancer from happening."

Some of the newer colon cancer research finds that

vitamin D turns on death signals in colon cancer cells

and works synergistically with calcium to help prevent

colon cancer cells from spreading.

A definitive German study has now proven that low levels

of vitamin D in premenopausal women are associated with

an increased risk in breast cancer. Compared to the women

with the highest vitamin D, the increased risk ranged

from 45% - 68%, depending on the amount of deficiency.

Vitamin D, Diabetes and Obesity
Vitamin D levels are low in obese adults. It is well

known that vitamin D helps stimulate the release of

insulin from your pancreas. A lack of vitamin D

drastically increases the risk for type I diabetes and is

likely involved with the insulin and leptin resistance

that eventually causes type II diabetes. There is a lot

more work needed in this area to fully understand these

issues, but here is what we know so far.

The further you live from the equator the higher your

risk for getting type I diabetes. If you live in Finland

your risk goes up 400 fold. How vitamin D protects the

beta cells of your pancreas is not known, but it likely

dampens inflammatory immune signals and boosts

antioxidant protection – as it has been shown to do in

other areas of your body.

Pooled data from existing studies shows that a child

supplemented with vitamin D is 30% less likely to develop

type I diabetes even as an adult. In a very large Finnish

study those infants and children who consistently took

2000 IU of vitamin D per day had a 78% reduced risk of

type I diabetes.

Many overweight people are low in vitamin D and

correcting vitamin D deficiency has been shown to improve

insulin resistance, giving vitamin D a role in also

helping to prevent type II diabetes (the most common form

in society).

New research shows that vitamin D is metabolically active

within your stored fat, although we don't know exactly

what it is doing. We know from earlier research that

vitamin D helps reduce excess leptin from fat. High

leptin lowers another fat hormone called adiponectin

which we know must be at higher levels to prevent insulin

resistance and type II diabetes. While there is a lot

more about this to learn, it does appear that adequate

vitamin D is helpful for healthy metabolism of blood

sugar and fat.

If you are struggling with weight or the health of your

pancreas it may be another sign that some extra vitamin D

is needed.

Vitamin D and Heart Health
Researchers at the University of Michigan have nick-named

vitamin D "the heart tranquilizer" because it helps keep

your heart from working so hard and swelling in size.

Their findings indicate that vitamin D can help prevent

heart failure.

Vitamin D has been shown to improve blood flow in your

extremities, helping to improve what researchers call

peripheral artery disease (PAD). The researchers

evaluated 4839 U.S. adults and found those with the best

vitamin D levels had the least amount of PAD.

Vitamin D and Brain Health
Research with animals has shown that low vitamin D during

pregnancy causing brain abnormalities similar to those

seen in patients with schizophrenia. Because vitamin D is

involved with gene transcription in the evolving nervous

system a lack of it is bound to cause some kind of

problems.

In older Americans low vitamin D is associated with

depression. I think just about everyone feels better when

there is more sun.

An interesting study compared vitamin D levels in older

Americans to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

Patients with Parkinson's were 55% more likely to be low

in vitamin D.

Thus, if your hands are a bit shaky and/or your mood is a

bit off then maybe you could use a little more vitamin D.

Summary
Vitamin D does so many things helpful to your health that

you absolutely do not want to run short. Government

recommendations for dietary intake of vitamin D are too

low, especially for the winter months when vitamin D is

so important to the function of your immune system.

About the author: Byron J. Richards, Board-Certified

Clinical Nutritionist, nationally-renowned nutrition

expert, and founder of Wellness Resources is a leader in

advocating the value of dietary supplements as a vital

tool to maintain health. He is an outspoken critic of

government and Big Pharma efforts to deny access to

natural health products and has written extensively on

the life-shortening and health-damaging failures of the

sickness industry.