The You Revolution

More on the Importance of Vitamin D Women

I've posted before on the importance of ample Vitamin D levels for breast cancer sufferers. At the time I reported that those women with breast cancer and optimal levels of Vitamin D had a greater chance of recovery than those with low levels.

 In an article that appeared Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Austrian researchers found people with a Vitamin D deficiency more likely to die from all causes than those with optimal levels.

Adults the world over it seems, are low in the vitamin.

Most of us know that vitamin D is important for calcium absorption but did you know that it protects against peripheral artery disease and tuberculosis. Last week, US researchers said Vit. D may extend the lives of colon cancer patients.

BUT, this is not a reason to start popping Vit D pills in excess or lying in the sun for hours. Too much Vit D brings other problems and too much sun is linked to skin cancer.

15 - 20 minutes per day of sun without sun screen protection is not only safe but allows the body to synthesize Vit D from the sun's rays. If you live in an area where there is little sun due to cloud cover or you can't get outside when it's shining, then supplements are in order.

Conventional medicine tends to be conservative in their recommendations and suggest 200 IUs for children and adults up to age 50, then 400- 600 IU after age 50. My research shows that adults and younger people can not only tolerate, but would benefit from 800- 1000 IUs per day all in from food and supps. (I am not including children in this)

Since D is a fat soluble vitamin it should be taken with food that contains some fat for best absorption.

Statin Users Please Read

Drugs that lower "bad" or LDL cholesterol fall into a class called statins. You may have heard of them, you may be taking one. It's hard to have missed them if you watch television or read popular magazines because their manufacturers spend big bucks to deliver the message that you can lower your cholesterol with one of these drugs.

And you can, never mind the side effects, one of which is that not only do these drugs lower LDL but since they don't discriminate they also lower HDL, or "good" cholesterol.

But I'm not here to rant on the drug companies, and my next post will talk a bit about the whole LDL lowering concept and the debate that rages around it.

I do want you to know that if you take a statin drug you would do well to supplement with a safe supplement called CoQ10. This vitamin-like substance is produced in the body and is necessary for generating up to 95% of total energy for our bodies. The same mechanism by which statins limit production of cholesterol also limits the production of CoQ10. In Germany and Japan all statin prescriptions are given with the recommendation to supplement with 200 mgs of CoQ10 daily.

Why not here in the states?

Does Your Wellness Program Include A Multi?

I'm a big believer in supplementing our meal programs with vitamins, herbs, and minerals as needed for optimal health and disease prevention. Nobel Prize winning biochemist ALbert Szent-Gyorgyi said, "A vitamin is a substance that makes you ill if you don't eat it." Sort of sounds like Columbo but the point is important.

Here is the result of a study published in Nutrition Journal. The researchers, from the U Cal at Berkley, compared the health of two groups, one which had taken various supps, multi-vitamins, minerals, and herbs geared toward maintaining health for 20 years. The other group took none at all.

The serious supplement takers, compared to the non-takers, were 73% less likey to have diabetes and 39% less likely to have hypertension. They had better levels of homocysteine, C-reactive protein, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol. This 20+year long study reinforces the idea that supplements are good "insurance" for optimal health.

What's in your supplement program?

You do take Supps don't you?

Supplementing with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients as a way of staving off disease and promoting well being has long been debated as effective or a waste of money. My research puts me in the Must Take some category. I am putting together a special report on Supplements We Need to Age Well and came across these stats.
According to Dr. Julian Whitaker, MD, millions of dollars could be saved--and pain and suffering avoided--if certain supplements were routinely prescribed instead of prescription drugs. Please note, I am not saying the prescription drugs are bad or should not be prescribed when necessary. I do think there are docs who are quick to write a scrip when a change in diet or addition of a supplement would work to heal a person's malady for less money and with no side effects.
That said, this information comes out of a 2007 study on health care costs and how to alleviate some of them with proven alternatives. (Yes poor management, waste, ill equipped and poorly monitored caregivers also add to this overall but this post deals with one simple aspect with an astounding potential cost savings.)

Know What You're Getting

How do you pick your supplements? Do you ask the store clerk which brands are "good?"
Do you get recommendations from friends? Or do you buy based on price? All of these methods are common
but may not be the best way to ensure that the ingredients listed on your supplements label are actually in the supplement!
What's that you say? Yes, it's true, ingredient labels are not a guarantee that the level of a certain vitamin or mineral say, is accurate. I would like to think that certain brands can be counted as reliable, alas, that's also not true.
What to do? I recommend a testing lab called Consumer Labs.
Their mission is: to identify the best qulaity health and nutrition products through independent testing. You can learn about how they test and how they remain independent by going to their website. I have used them for years and been surprised over and over again when a well respected company falls short of their stated ingredients. Or something toxic, like lead, is found in higher than acceptable levels as was the case with a supplement put out by Dr. Andrew Weil. Yes even the mighty are fallible.