Vitamin D - Ancient Substance, New Research.

I mentioned yesterday that there are Vitamin D receptors everywhere in our bodies, and that includes the brain. This is where, through the presence of Vitamin D, serotonin is released. Serotonin makes you happy, therefore the sun makes you happy! What some of the most recent research into Vitamin D has uncovered is that "[Vitamin D] can reduce the risks of heart attacks by as much as 50%; decrease the risks of cancers of the breast, colon and prostate by a similar amount; reduce infectious diseases, including influenza, by as much as 90%; combat both type-1 and type-2 diabetes; diminish the risk of dementia and associated neurological dysfunctions; and dramatically impede the incidence of multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases."*
When it comes to cancer, there is now enough research linking Vitamin D, sunlight and cancer, to include Vitamin D not only in prevention but also in treatment protocols. A recent study found that post-menopausal women who took 1,100 IU per day of Vitamin D and 1,500 mg per day of calcium lowered their risk of dying from ANY cancer by over 66%! Another study found the risk of breast cancer spreading was 94% higher for those women who were Vitamin D deficient when they were diagnosed. As mentioned in previous posts, Vitamin D is stored and can be activated anywhere, anytime. When the vitamin becomes active it takes part in two very important anticancer processes. It induces apoptosis, which is cell-suicide (that's a good thing, all cells are supposed to die, cancer cells don't and need to be reminded) and it inhibits new blood vessels from forming that would feed cancerous growths.
There also is a strong correlation between latitude and heart attacks, the further away from the equator you live, the higher your risk of heart attack. Also, in Northern Latitudes heart attacks surge by 53% in the winter when sunlight and Vitamin D levels are at the lowest. In the tropics, however, the rate of heart attacks is constant throughout the year. Vitamin D reduces blood pressure, is an anti-inflammatory agent and it's ability to stimulate your cardiovascular function is as good as aerobic exercise!
In terms of immune support it is becoming clear now that Vitamin D is vital. Many researchers are now saying that seasonal infections such as colds and influenza have much less to do with higher seasonal viral activity, but are the cause of decreased levels of Vitamin D! In another recent study supplementation with 2,000 IU per day of Vitamin D, compared with the formerly recommended dose of 400 IU per day, resulted in a 90% reduction of upper respiratory tract infections!
Alright, I think I have thrown around enough stats for today. Let's talk about how much Vitamin D you should take. I hope that by now you are sufficiently convinced that both sunlight and Vitamin D supplementation is absolutely critical! In fact my fiancée Jenna recently decided, after reading all of this new information about Vitamin D, to call it Vitamin Duh! because knowing all of this you'd be silly not to take it!
I'd like to clarify to you at this point that pretty much all Daily Recommended Intake values for vitamins and minerals are based on preventing acute deficiency conditions and NOT on providing optimal health. Health Canada increased their recommendations for Vitamin D, just last year, from 200 IU per day to 600 IU per day and that's really still just barely enough to prevent rickets! To put these recommendations into perspective for you, consider this: Full body exposure to strong sunlight (when the sun is high in the sky) for 15 to 30 minutes, enough to make the skin turn a little pink (but not burn!) will provide the body with 15,000 - 20,000 IU of Vitamin D. The following is a chart that can provide you with some guidance in terms of the about to take. Following my Naturopath's recommendations I take 10,000 IU per day. Keep in mind that the best source of Vitamin D is the sun! But anyone living outside of the tropics must supplement with this important nutrient!

*Lyle MacWilliam, MSc, FP - Nutrisearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.

Vitamin D History 101

Vitamin D is key in the metabolism of calcium. In fact the migration of early marine life onto land was only possible because Vitamin D made the development of strong bones possible, which could support mammals on land. Really the origins of Vitamin D can be traced back over 750 million years to single cell organism, however in terms of human history it has played a vital role all along. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors have always been exposed to strong sunlight and the darker complexion of peoples that live closer to the equator are testament to this history. In fact if you have darker skin and live north of 37 degrees latitude you really aren't able to make enough Vitamin D (in which case you need to supplement). The Neanderthal's demise may very well have had to do Vitamin D deficiency as well. Their bow-legged bone structure and stooped posture was a sign of severe calcium imbalances likely due to Vitamin D deficiency.

In more recent times, it was during the Industrial Revolution when more and more people began living in big smoggy cities, seeing less and less sun. At the turn of the 20th century it was discovered that sunlight caused the skin to produce Vitamin D, it was estimated that close to 80% of kids living in Northern Europe and the Northeastern United States suffered from rickets, which is a bone deforming disease. Heliotherapy (exposing people to sunlight) became increasingly popular and was prescribed for the treatment of rickets, tuberculosis and psoriasis. And although it worked, it fell out of favor and instead the use of antibiotics, vaccinations and other drugs were heavily promoted. During the 1960s the pharmaceutical industry began to shift public perception, regarding the risk of skin-cancer and premature wrinkling due to sun over-exposure. All of a sudden we began to think of the sun as "bad"! It should be noted that it has been known since 1937 that, yes, over exposure to strong sunlight can increase the risk of skin cancer (generally easily treatable), but that UV sunlight can actually protect you from many more, and much more deadly cancers. Non-melanoma skin cancer has a death rate of 0.5%, while internal cancers such as colon and breast cancer can have death rates of 20%-65%. In fact there is even evidence that increased sun exposure can increase survival rates for melanoma, which is a more deadly form of skin cancer!

I hope you are getting the point, Vitamin D is absolutely vital for good health and sunlight is not bad! Sunlight has always, since the beginning of time, been essential for life and it is still today vital for our well being. Sunscreen with SPF 30 will eliminate 99% of your skin's ability to manufacture Vitamin D. If you give yourself 15 to 30 minutes of strong full body sunlight, when the sun is highest in the sky, you will have plenty of Vitamin D! The rest of the time, you can moderate your exposure by covering yourself and wearing a hat. Just don't let your skin burn.

Vitamin D - we should all worship the sun!

I was reading about all the new research on Vitamin D in the NUTRISEARCH Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements (I know, it doesn't sound like a riveting read, but that's exactly what the first two chapters about Vitamin D are, they are riveting!) and I couldn't help but chuckle at humanity's recent ridiculous blunder. Let me explain. For most if not nearly all of human history, we have worshiped the sun. The ancient Egyptians knew about the health benefits of the sun and so did many other cultures. There are medical texts dating as far back as 1500 BC that speak of sun exposure therapies. After all, the sun has been part of life on this planet since life began. But over the past 50 years we have managed to actually give the sun a bad reputation. The discovery that overexposure to the suns UV rays can cause skin cancer was used to launched a massive campaign to get people to cover themselves with sunscreen. This in addition to an increasingly indoor lifestyle has lead to Vitamin D shortcomings of astronomical proportions. The health implications are both vast and tragic.

Over the next few days I will write about Vitamin D, so if you read this blog on your laptop, read it outside in the sun and let your skin make some of this incredible stuff!

Vitamin D and Sunscreen

Thanks to modern technology I am sitting outside while fulfilling my daily commitment of writing. I have been writing about vitamins and minerals, how our soil has been depleted over several decades and why we need higher amounts of anti-oxidants to support our body's cells. There is another vitamin that most people are deficient in. It's Vitamin D, which is made by our bodies when we are exposed to the sun. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a lot of health problems. Because the body needs Vitamin D to properly use calcium, Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to bone related diseases such as osteoporosis and rickets. The vitamin is also crucial for cell regulation functions and therefore is key in preventing cancer.

So, what are some of the reasons why you might not get enough of this Vitamin? Well, how much time do you spend outside? Of the time you spend outside, how much time do you wear sunscreen? You see, we've been told that ultra violet light is bad and causes skin cancer. But it's clearly not all bad, because we desperately need it to produce Vitamin D. Of course our use of certain greenhouse gases has diminished the ozone layer and we are now exposed to more ultra violet radiation than we used to. I don't mean to suggest that we all go out and get crazy red sun burns, but know that every time you apply sunscreen, you are not allowing your body to produce a vitamin essential to your health. Also, I think it's worth noting that chemical sunscreens contain chemical compounds that are known carcinogens. They generate free-radical activity, which as we've learned damages cells and can lead to cancer. They also have estrogenic properties that affect sexual development and have other ill health effects.

I have to say, as I am writing this I am realizing that I need to write a bit more about sunscreen. But I want to read a little more and make sure I have some good sources. So in the meantime, try to get some sunlight on your skin, without sunscreen, I am not talking six hours of sun tanning here, just a little. And think about taking Vitamin D this fall, winter and spring when your body is probably not able to produce adequate amounts.

I hope you are still drinking lots of water too!

Oxidative Stress

I am not quite done with vitamins. There is another big reason why I believe it's important to take vitamins and that has to do with oxidative stress. You've probably heard of free radicals and anti-oxidants but chances are you may not know exactly what one or both of them are.

Free radicals occur naturally in the body. They are chemical compounds that are very reactive and will steel electrons from other molecules. When this occurs, the molecules who have just given up an electron then become more reactive and turn into free radicals themselves. We have a chain reaction and the result is oxidation. If you cut an apple or an avocado in half and leave it exposed to the air, it turns brown. This is oxidation.

In our bodies, it's the cells that take the hit. They get damaged by oxidation and this is referred to as oxidative stress. The cells are the building block of your body, healthy cells build healthy bodies. The body protect's itself from this oxidative stress with anti-oxidants, which are compounds and molecules that are able to donate an extra electron to free radicals thus stopping that chain reaction. Where do we get these anti-oxidants from? Fruits and Vegetables for example. Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant, in fact if you take that apple or the avocado from the earlier example and squeeze some lemon juice on it, it won't turn brown. That's because the Vitamin C is protecting the exposed fruit cells from oxidation (see right side of the apple).

The same applies to our body's cells, the get their protection from anti-oxidants found in fresh fruits and vegetables. So far this should make pretty good sense, if you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables your more likely to be healthy. Oxidation is a natural process and anti-oxidants help the body deal with it. So why would anyone be concerned with getting more anti-oxidants? The answer is that just as the mineral content of our farming soil has dramatically decreased since the 1940, the amount of oxidative stress has increased. What are some of the sources of this increased Oxidative Stress? Toxins in our environment, which are either in the air we breathe or in the food we eat, have increased astronomical since the 40s.

David Servan-Schreiber writes about this in his book Anticancer: "The annual production of synthetic chemicals has risen from a million tons in 1930 to two hundred million tons today"! The chemical industry has released well over one hundred thousand chemical compounds since the 1940s, the vast majority of which remain unstudied in terms of their ability to cause cancer for example. One argument that chemical companies always make is that humans generally are exposed to only one hundredth of the amount toxic to animals of the chemical in question. However, we are regularly exposed to 3,750-7,500 carcinogens of which one hundredth is still thirty-seven to seventy-five times the dose considered toxic to animals. And of course there is the 'cocktail effect' of being exposed to a vast combination of environmental toxins, of which no one has a clue what the effect is on the human body.

One thing is certain, we have been getting sicker and bigger. This coming generation may actually be the first in history to be outlived by their parents. I for one am committed to limiting my exposure by eating as much organic, fresh and local as I can. And I am also comforted to know that my body is getting protection and all the help it needs to repair itself from the Vitamins, Anti-oxidants and Minerals I take.

Stay healthy friends, live long and prosper!

Nutritional Crisis

Yesterday I talked about the mineral depletion of our soil over the last several decades. Because trace minerals are rarely added back to the soil, their concentrations have decreased dramatically in vegetables since the 1940s. Therefore, assuming you eat a very healthy diet full of fresh wholesome foods, your body does not get enough of the essential trace minerals and nutrients it needs to maintain optimal health. That is one of the reasons why I believe it is important to take supplements.

I don't, however, want to suggest that taking vitamins alone is enough or disregard the importance of real food. I think eating organic and locally grown fresh food is something we should all strive for. I think organic farming is the only sustainable kind of farming in the long run and in the face of the climate challenge we need to change the way food travels. The food in your shopping cart may well have travelled collectively tens of thousands of kilometers depending on what's in your cart. Kiwis and lamb from New Zealand, apples and oranges from California, atlantic salmon that was shipped to China to be processed and then shipped to North America to be sold. You get the idea, but I want to write more about nutrition than about the environment today. I just wanted to make the point that eating local and organic foods is important for many reasons. And I know that eating all organic comes with a steep price tag, which many cannot afford. I don't eat 100% organic, but it's something I strive for. You can look up lists online about which foods are most contaminated in terms of pesticides and other chemicals and that can help you get started. Eventually organic foods will become affordable as more and more people choose them.

Now it's time for me to walk the talk and go down to the Farmer's Market to get some locally grown organic vegetables...

Take Vitamins

I am going to present my case for why you should take vitamins. This is obviously a bit self serving as I am in the business of selling vitamins, but hopefully I can back up my reasons with facts and research well enough to make it clear that I care about your health more than my wealth.
I used to take vitamin and mineral supplements fairly intermittently. Basically, whenever I got sick and the odd time my mom would urge me to take them because of my active and physically demanding lifestyle. As a broke student I really only took them when I got them from my mom.

Now I take not only vitamin and mineral supplements, but also other nutritional supplements such as fish oil and specific plant based extracts. I have learned why it is important to take nutritional supplements and why I won't get what I need by just eating healthy. But I have also experienced what has happened to my body when I started to give it everything it needs. When I experienced a recurrence of testicular cancer late last year it was bit like wild fire, growing and spreading. Before a surgery in January it had spread to some lymph nodes in my abdomen and consecutive CT Scans showed that those nodes were growing. After drastic lifestyle changes, which to list them would require a blog entry of its own, I experienced significant results.

I had gone to the Naturopath and done some intravenous therapies there, Vitamin C and Sodium Bicarbonate. I went on a near vegan diet, got my body ph into the alkaline range and began taking supplements. CT Scans since have shown that those lymph nodes have shrunk. I went from wildfire to tumors getting smaller. I am not trying to make any claims about having cured myself. As of now I still have enlarged lymph nodes and elevated tumor markers (levels of certain substances in the blood). But things are far from the out of control situation last winter.

But enough about my personal journey, I promised to write about why it is important to take Vitamins and why we don't get enough of essential nutrients just by eating healthy. First of all, you probably don't eat as healthy as you think. If you took an honest account of what goes into your body, kept track of it for a week and then looked at it, you would most likely have to admit to yourself that there is a fair bit of less-than-healthy food that you eat. But even if you ate as much fresh vegetables as you should and you ate mostly unprocessed foods, whole healthy meals, I am saying that you're not getting enough of certain vitamins, anti-oxidants and minerals. And here is why:

Some things have changed over the last couple of decades and I am going to begin with the changes in how our food is grown. As the world's population has increased, farming has become more and more an industrial food production. Most crops are grown in monocultures, which require large amounts of fertilizer and as a result the soil has become devoid of many essential minerals. If it isn't in the soil, it won't be in the plant! The following are two charts that show the level of mineral depletion in the soil here in North America and specifically the depletion of certain minerals in vegetables. The last graph shows a strong correlation between the depletion on minerals in the soil and mineral deficiency related diseases.

So, I will let you ponder this and continue with more on this topic in my next entry. I have to eat some lunch and take some vitamins....