Getting Daily Dose of ‘D’
By Claudia Palma
Staff Writer
For optimal health and to reduce risks of cancer, diabetes and other health diseases, you don’t need a high cost medical plan or prescriptions, just step outside.
Recent studies have shown that people with low levels of vitamin D may be at a higher risk of getting cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and more.
Sedentary lifestyles and fear of skin diseases and cancers cause many to avoid sun exposure, which naturally produces vitamin D in the body.
The most recent study conducted by researchers at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., found a link between an increased risk of mortality and vitamin D deficiency.
Research showed that out of 13,331 men and women studied, those in the quarter of the group with the lowest vitamin D levels were 26percent more likely to have died than those with the highest levels, the scientists said last week in the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
“Vitamin D is very critical in the body for general health,” said Dr. Ben Stafford, medical director of the cancer program at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia.
Stafford said the studies do require more looking into the link between vitamin D deficiency and cancer, especially since cancer cells have receptors for vitamin D and may be a factor.
But he said it is too soon to get excited about “something we don’t know enough of yet.”
“One way or another, you need to have some source of Vitamin D,” he said.
The National Insitutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements says vitamin D is essential in proper calcium absorption which helps bones from becoming become thin, brittle, or misshapen, and can prevent osteoporosis.
Vitamin D helps the body regulate cell growth, immune function, blood pressure and insulin production, which can help in the prevention of cancer, diabetes, heart and autoimmune diseases.
Dr. Michal Melamed, co-author in the mortality study, and assistant professor at Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, said vitamin D levels are easily measured in the blood.
Through an e-mailed statement, he said most experts agree that an adequate level for adults is over 30 ng/ml, although having too high a level is probably not good either.
Melamed suggests 10 to
15 minutes of sun exposure, before applying sunscreen
to be sure there is adequate UVB exposure, in the middle of the day, is probably enough to prevent vitamin D deficiency.
Sunscreens with a sun protection factor of 8 or more appear to block vitamin D-producing UVB rays.
According to the Vitamin D Council site, we make at least 10,000 units of vitamin D within 30 minutes of full body exposure to the sun, and occurs within minutes.
Several doctors suggest having slightly more than the FDA recommended 400-800 iu of vitamin D, especially in winter months when sun exposure is minimal.
Melamed said it is not clear how much a person has to take in to achieve this level, but whether it’s through sun exposure or food supplements, the body processes the vitamin the same.
But why pop a pill or eat extra calories? Just step outside and enjoy the natural process of producing this vital vitamin.
claudia.palma@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2110
(c) 2008 San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.