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Five-point vitamin D primer


SIRI AGRELL
From Monday's Globe and Mail
April 30, 2007 at 9:29 AM EDT

Do you put on sunscreen if the curtains are open? Think tanning beds are for sorority girls? Live in Vancouver?
Well, it might be time to get a little more natural light in your life as researchers suggest that the vitamin D produced by sun exposure has a number of profound health benefits.
In June, U.S. researchers will announce what they say is the first direct link between vitamin D and cancer prevention. Their four-year clinical trial found that women taking the vitamin had a 60-per-cent reduction in cancer incidence compared to those not taking it.
Reports that vitamin D deficiency have been linked to cancer, multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes and osteoporosis should have people rushing to change their lifestyle, says John Cannell, head of the Vitamin D Council, a California-based non-profit organization.
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He says it's especially important in Canada, where the sunlight that triggers production of the vitamin in the body is scarce in winter.
Here's how he suggests improving your body's levels of the sunshine vitamin:
GET TESTED
Dr. Cannell believes everyone should have a blood test to determine, then monitor, their vitamin D levels. He recommends going to the doctor three or four times a year and asking for a 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D level test. "It should be between 125 and 150 nanomoles per litre," he said. "It's important that the patient not accept the doctor saying your levels are fine. They've got to get the number and get their levels up."
HOLD OFF ON THE SUNSCREEN
"If you properly apply sunscreen, you might as well stay inside," Dr. Cannell says.
Sunlight is the best source of vitamin D, experts agree. How long you should stay outside depends on how much sun block your skin creates naturally, Dr. Cannell says. "Unfortunately, vitamin D deficiency discriminates according to race." Fair-skinned people, especially blonds and redheads, need only about 20 minutes a day to produce the recommended levels. Those with darker skin could need five to 10 times longer.
Of course, soaking up the rays has long been criticized as a surefire route to skin cancer. Never allow the skin to burn, Dr. Cannell advises. Vitamin D production is maximized before skin turns pink, and further exposure does not increase levels.
It is possible to trigger the same vitamin D production with a tanning bed, Dr. Cannell said, but not just any tanning bed. "You've got to find a suntan parlour that has the old-fashioned type of sun bed," he said. "The new, high-pressure beds have taken out the ultraviolet radiation."
Ask the owner if the parlour's beds have UVB light, which is close to natural sunlight. Twice a week for 10 minutes will produce plenty of vitamin D. But Dr. Cannell warns that, like natural sunlight, artificial tanning can have a damaging effect on the skin: "You will get objections from dermatologists ... sunlight ages your skin, and that's enough for some people to say, 'I'm not going to do it.' "
GOT MILK?
Only a few foods have naturally occurring levels of vitamin D, and usually in insignificant quantities. Fatty fish like salmon, sardines and herring contain vitamin D, as do egg yolks, shiitake mushrooms and reindeer meat. Some juice and cheese companies also fortify their products with vitamin D, but Dr. Cannell says it is more effective for adults to go outside than to modify their diet.
An adult would have to drink about 40 glasses of milk a day to get the recommended dose of vitamin D. Milk is a more adequate source for children.
TAKE A PILL
In the winter months, and for those who do not want to expose their skin to sun, Dr. Cannell recommends taking vitamin D supplements. Vitamin D3 cholecalciferol pills are available over the counter in most pharmacies and health-food stores. He suggests taking 2,000 international units of the supplement per day.
It is possible to have too much vitamin D; Dr. Cannell cautions against buying supplements over the Internet. "You can get capsules with 50,000 units. That's a medicine; it's not for supplementation," he says.
"There are some people who say, 'If a little bit is good, then a lot is better,'" he says. "But that can be a problem."

Neon Beach

Excellent!

dcjjp2

I wonder how they are going to announce what they have to say about Vitamin D in the media???

__________________
Jeff