eileen

The sunshine vitamin

Sarah Womack

• Last Updated: August 17. 2008 2:56PM UAE / August 17. 2008 10:56AM GMT

Sensible exposure to sunlight may be one of the best ways to get vitamin D. Courtesy Photos.com

To D or not to D? That’s the question most people living in the UAE should be asking, doctors say.

Why? Because it means people are thinking about whether they are getting enough vitamin D, an essential nutrient. Some experts go so far as to call vitamin D the “miracle compound”.

A recent study by Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi said the majority of men and women in the UAE were not getting enough vitamin D, and warned of a “major Vitamin D deficiency epidemic”.
Its research, carried out over two years, revealed that 65 per cent of women and 60 per cent of men suffer from a vitamin D deficiency.

Can a shortage in a single vitamin be so important?

Absolutely, says Dr Afrozul Haq, the senior clinical scientist at SKMC’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and leader of a team which has performed 17,000 vitamin D tests to discover the scale of the problem.

“It is very important to expose yourself to the sun in all seasons, as we utilise 3,000 IU (international units) to 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day,” he said. “To get the full potential health benefits of vitamin D we need to maintain the right blood levels.
Folic acid
Women planning to get *pregnant or who have just *become pregnant should take a daily supplement of 400mcg folic acid. Scientific evidence shows that folic acid reduces the risk of unborn babies *developing defects.

Vitamin D
A billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient. Recommended amounts vary and people should consult their doctors.

Vitamin D may offer protection against some types of cancer, including breast and prostate cancers and colorectal cancer. Professor Edward Giovannucci at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, says, “I would challenge anyone to find an area or nutrient or any factor that has such consistent anti-cancer benefits as vitamin D.”

Multi-vitamins
Children aged six months to four years may need *vitamin A, C and D supplements. Many young children do not get enough vitamin D, that can show up later as broken bones or a weakened *immune system, according to the Children’s Hospital in Boston. Children with vitamin D *deficiency can also appear tired, or shaky.

Vitamin B12
Vegans who never eat meat or dairy products may need to take vitamin B12 in tablet form. They can miss out on vitamin D, calcium, iron and zinc which are mainly found in meat and dairy *products. *Deficiency of vitamin B12 can predispose a person to strokes much more than the usual risk factors of diabetes and hypertension. Deficiency of vitamins B12, B6 and folate causes two-thirds of strokes.

“We should expose ourselves for about 10 minutes during summer and about 20 minutes during winter between 11am and 2pm. But the duration of exposure may vary depending on the skin pigmentation as dark skinned individuals need more time. People should expose at least 15 per cent of the body three to four times per week.”

The consequences of vitamin D deficiency include rickets in children – resulting in soft bones and skeletal deformities – and osteoporosis, or porous bones, in adults, which can lead to falls and fractures.
“People link calcium to strong bones and vitamin D gets overlooked,” said a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. “But it shouldn’t. Recent research shows that vitamin D plays an important role, along with calcium, in bone health.

“Bones are living tissue and constantly in a state of turnover, making calcium deposits and withdrawals daily. Vitamin D is also essential for strong bones. Your body needs it for optimum bone strength and to help absorb calcium. However, most people are not getting enough of either of these nutrients.
“Bones don’t come with a lifetime guarantee. They need continuing maintenance or they can weaken and break.”

Research also shows vitamin D is active in many tissues besides bone and may play a role in warding off a range of diseases including cancer, hypertension, and diabetes.

Scientists believe that a lack of vitamin D makes women more likely to get breast or colon cancer and men to get prostate or colon cancer. Deficiency also may increase the risk of Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and some bowel diseases. Haq says vitamin D also appears to have an effect on ageing, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular diseases, influenza, tuberculosis and psoriasis.
However, nutritionists say people either don’t understand the importance of vitamin D or don’t understand where it comes from.

Very few foods contain it naturally.

In a recent survey in Canada, green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits were most frequently mentioned as good sources for vitamin D. Both answers are incorrect.

Experts say good dietary sources for vitamin D include oily fish – salmon, mackerel, sardines, pilchards, trout, kippers – egg yolks, fortified milk and fortified orange juice.
In addition to these foods – and more importantly, as Haq points out – vitamin D can be obtained through the skin after direct exposure to sunlight, although as adults get older, their ability to make vitamin D through skin decreases.

When ultraviolet light penetrates the skin, it converts in the body to a form of vitamin D. The liver and kidneys act on this substance to turn it into an active form of vitamin D.
However, most of the time, our skin is covered by clothes. Sunscreen also prevents the creation of the vitamin.

“Sunshine is a marvellous health-giving and healing power in the world,” Haq said. “So people should sit in the sun, recline in the sun, walk on the sunny side of the street, avoid parasols, and recognise the sun as a friend and not an enemy, a promoter of health, and a destroyer of disease.”
Sarah Wilson, a nutritionist from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, agreed, saying people were nervous of sun exposure.

“Sun damage caused by excessive ultraviolet B exposure increases the incidence of malignant melanoma and other skin tumours,” she says. “But you do not have to actually sunbathe to make enough vitamin D and most people make enough by spending some time outside on most days in the summer with some bare skin such as hands, face and arms or legs.”
A recent study by the UAE University, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, said that in countries where more conservative dress curtails exposure to sunlight, high levels of vitamin D supplementation were needed to raise blood levels, particularly in women.

Dr Hussein F Saadi and his colleagues studied vitamin D levels in 90 women who were breastfeeding and 88 women who had never given birth. Many dressed to cover their whole bodies while outside of their homes.
Only two of the women, one in each group, were not vitamin D deficient. All the women were randomly assigned 2,000 IU (international units) of vitamin D2 daily or 60,000 IU in one dose each month. The investigators said that vitamin D2 was the only high-dose calciferol available in the UAE.

Although monthly and daily dosing significantly and safely increased vitamin D levels, only 21 of the 71 women (30 per cent) who completed the three-month study reached the recommended blood levels.
People who are concerned about the risk of skin cancer and always use a high factor sunscreen or cover their skin when outside may also want to ensure a healthy vitamin D status by taking a supplement.

Vitamin D is available as part of children’s vitamin drops (containing vitamins A and C). It is also included in broad-spectrum one-a-day multi-vitamin supplements and in calcium supplements prescribed by doctors to prevent or treat osteoporosis.
In the US, the vitamin D recommendation is 400 IU a day for adults ages 51 to 70 and 600 IU for those over 70.

But many believe the level to be inadequate for preventing osteoporosis and other conditions associated with low vitamin D. In the EU, vitamin D has a recommended daily intake of 400 IU, although campaigners are calling for an increase to 1,000 IU, half the upper safe limit recommended by the EU and US.
Haq said: “In my view a multi-vitamin as a supplement has nothing to do with vitamin D levels. Generally, supplemental multi-vitamins contain a very little amount of vitamin D and are ineffective to fulfil our vitamin D needs.

“They also contain vitamin A which antagonises the action of vitamin D. So vitamin D alone as a supplement is recommended to correct D deficiency.

He said: “Solar UVB is the primary source of vitamin D for most people on earth. Dietary sources of vitamin D are generally inadequate unless one consumes large amounts of fish. Even though vitamin D is one of the most powerful healing chemicals in your body, your body makes it absolutely free. No prescription is required.”
Although rare, it is possible for vitamin D to have toxicity. If you want to improve your vitamin D status, try sensible exposure to sunlight and increasing your intake of vitamin D-rich foods or supplements. “Vitamin D supplementation holds significant public health potential,” says Dr Haq.

SOURCE LINK & IMAGE CREDITS: http://www.thenational.ae/article/20...7&profile=1007

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