eileen

Research Suggests Health Benefits from Increased Vitamin D


Wednesday, September 3, 2008 9:55 AM CDT

Multiple published studies on the benefits of vitamin D lead Time Magazine to list vitamin D as one of the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2007.

In 2008, there have been headlines reporting that vitamin D is linked to colon cancer survival and helps protect cells from stress that leads to cancer.

Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to increased risk of early death according to Tammy Roberts, nutrition and health education specialist, University of Missouri Extension.

“As a result of some of these studies more people are asking to have their blood levels of vitamin D checked. Labs have reported a 74 to 90 percent increase in the number of this kind of test,” said Roberts.

Many people are finding they have low levels of vitamin D. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, as many as 36 percent of Americans are vitamin D deficient.
“One school of thought theorizes that we have always been deficient but didn’t know it until research on vitamin D increased and more people became interested. Others believe we are deficient because of our diet quality and our use of sunscreen,” said Roberts.

The human body is able to make its own vitamin D after exposure to the sun or ultraviolet light. Sunscreen blocks ultraviolet light and diminishes that ability.

The Institute of Medicine has not established a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D. There is an Adequate Intake (AI) established.

The AI of infants, children and adults up to age 50 is 200 International Units (IU) per day. AI for adults ages 51-70 is 400 IU per day and for adults after age 70 is 600 IU per day.

According to Roberts, this is significant because Adequate Intake is what is recommended when there is not enough scientific evidence to set a RDA.


“RDA’s are recommended levels of the nutrient that would meet the needs of almost all healthy individuals in a specific age group. AI recommendations are based on averages of what apparently healthy people are taking in,” said Roberts.

It appears that with the recent research, there is more evidence for a RDA for vitamin D. Some health professionals are recommending 1000 IUs of vitamin D per day.

“Achieving a level of 1000 IUs of vitamin D would need to come partially from a supplement since few foods are an excellent source of vitamin D,” said Roberts.

For more information on nutrition issues, contact any of the University of Missouri Extension offices in southwest Missouri, go online to http://extension.missouri.edu or contact one of the two nutrition and health education specialists working in the Ozarks: Tammy Roberts, (417) 682-3579 or Terry Egan, (417) 866-3039.


SOURCE LINK: http://www.senecanewsdispatch.com/ar...ews1039-80.txt

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

Don Smith

Some questions for you Eileen.

1. Why then, are indoor tanning salons prohibited from talking about vitamin D?

2. Why, given the fact that sunlamps/sunbeds are a "medical product" (Class 1) are we prohibited from making "substantiated medical claims" about them?

3. Why do federal, state and local regulatory entities prohibit indoor tanning salons from "telling the truth" about the benefits of controlled ultraviolet radiatiion exposure (CURE)?

Note: I'll tell you why I asked these questions later.

eileen

It is hard to get the word out when they have a gag order against us. I tend to talk about it all I can outside of the salon environment. I figure my freedom of speech should carry some weight. I have no mention of Vitamin D on my website, myspace or facebook other then news feeds. I went and purchased some Vitamin D3 supplements yesterday, while in the store 3 other customers were all buying Vit D3 as well. One older couple were arguing the husband telling his wife no we want D3 not D2. When I was in Costco yesterday I saw a family of 4 searching for Vitamin D3 as well. The word is certainly getting out but our word is not so easy to spread. Unfortunately you have a cult like profession where they are afraid to speak out against one another.... until we can get Dr's that are truely passionate about our health I'm not so sure the word will ever get out. We need a Dr. Sarah Palin. ;)

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

eileen

Don I'm about to post another article I just read. Maybe "WE" need to shift our focus and start calling our businesses "Sunlight Salons" instead of Tanning Salons to keep the correlation that what we sell is sunlight that you can't always get by walking outside.

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