eileen

Reported December 25, 2007
Vitamin D Important for Brain Function



(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Not only does vitamin D help build healthy bones, it may also help build strong minds.
In a new review of vitamin D researchers from Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute find there is plenty of evidence to suggest vitamin D is important in brain development and function. And they say people at high risk of not getting enough of it need supplements.
Scientists have recently become aware that vitamin D is good for more than just bones – evidence shows it protects against autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis and type I diabetes as well as some forms of cancer, especially colorectal and breast.
This review shows vitamin D can affect proteins in the brain known to be directly involved in learning, memory, motor control, and perhaps maternal and social behavior.
Vitamin D can only be found in a few foods such as fatty fish. It is also added to fortified milk. But we get most of our vitamin D from exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. People with light skin absorb vitamin D six times more efficiently than those with dark skin which is why dark-skinned people in the Northern United States or European latitudes with little sun exposure are at risk for rickets, bone fractures, and possibly other diseases.
Even though more research needs to be done on the health risks of not getting enough vitamin D the authors recommend people with exceptionally low levels of it – especially nursing infants, the elderly, and African Americans – take supplements.

SOURCE: FASB Journal published online Dec. 13, 2007
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_pr...?storyid=17765

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"under exposure to UV rays is as dangerous as overexposure....this is D life" eileen

RyanJM

This forum is a good idea for promoting the benefits of tanning, but vitamin D is not one of them. It has been shown that as little as a few minutes a day of sun exposure by the hands and face is enough to activate the vitamin D in the body. So tanning is pretty pointless in that regard unless you never go outside.

eileen

Do you have your own personal vitamin D meter to test this Ryan? I do. Also today it is very cold 22 degrees and overcast. Actually that is the forcast all week. How do you suggest I get this Vitamin outside today? Don't suggest I pop pills either, I don't believe in our pill popping nation idea when you can get something naturally.

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"under exposure to UV rays is as dangerous as overexposure....this is D life" eileen

engfant

What a tool.

Don Smith

RyanJM's post leads me to believe that he/she/it is vitamin D deficient.

Perhaps he/she/it would like to define the spectral characteristics of the "sun exposure" of "the hands and face" whereby "as little as a few minutes a day" would be adequate.

Also, he/she/it (who is probably a dermoterrorist or sunscreen advocate) doesn't seem to understand that sunlight only strikes one side of the body at a time.

Our studies show that it takes 16 minutes per side (32 minutes total) of whole body exposure to sunlight at noon on a typical Midwestern summer day to stimulate an adequate amount of vitamin D. If a few minutes of exposure to the face and hands was enough, would the majority of the population have insufficient levels of vitamin D?