Friday, October 30, 2009

Vitamin D

I'm sure you've heard or read this many times, the human body naturally produces vitamin D through exposure to sunlight. Even with all the evidence pointing to these facts, why do so many Americans avoid the sun and take the chance of making insufficient amounts of vitamin d?

Some reasons may include computer games, fear and even laziness. I believe the media, along with the medical profession has given the sun a bad rap. Yes, it may cause cancer, and I'm not a doctor, but my feeling is it takes a lot more exposure to the sun than what's recommended to produce the vitamin d your body needs.

According to experts, "it takes about 30 minutes of exposure to strong (summer-strength) sunlight to avoid deficiency, and darker skinned people need more exposure than the lighter skinned do." This may explain why African-Americans, people of Middle-Eastern descent, some Hispanics, and other dark skinned people suffer higher rates of vitamin D deficiency.

I written on this subject before, but it's worth repeating. Most people who live in the northern states don’t get enough strong sunlight during the winter months. On the other side, those living in the southern states may not make sufficient vitamin D during the summer especially if they "over-avoid" the sun or use excessive amounts of sunscreen.

As more and more Americans continue to live their lives indoors, that is, with little or no exposure to strong sunlight for the 20 to 40 minutes a day, for light skinned people, or more, for darker skinned people, you will see an increase of cases of vitamin d deficiency. This sunlight exposure is very important to produce adequate blood levels of vitamin d.

No many foods contain a lot of vitamin d. However, tuna and salmon contain the highest amounts of vitamin d. Even milk, fortified with vitamin d, is not a great source of this all important vitamin.

As mentioned many times in my articles, I'm not a doctor, but I am a person that does research and reads a lot of medical articles. I'm also a health conscious person who promotes health and wellness products from TriVita. Before TriVita, it was Pharmanex, another great company with great products.

So why the change, you may ask? Two reasons; team support and religious belief. Yes, I had very little, if any, support from my team, and felt closer to people that had the same religious beliefs that I had.

Both TriVita and Pharmanex have terrific products, and they both do plenty of scientific research before releasing any product. I've been taking vitamin supplements and researching these supplements for almost ten years now. I can honestly say that I would rather play the odds, and take scientifically proven vitamin supplements, rather than adhere to the idea that they do not work. When it comes to scientific proof, or public opinion, I'll go with the proof.

One way that I found to avoid vitamin d deficiency, is to take TriVita's VitaCal-Mag D, a supplement that is a combination of calcium and vitamin d. VitaCal-Mag D provides five forms of chelated calcium, over 20 bone-fortifying vitamins and minerals, 100% RDI of Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc and Vitamin D.

Follow my lead, and do your research. Start taking supplements that have been scientifically proven, and then, spread the word.

You can learn all about vitamin supplements, and vitamin D by going to the TriVita Products website.

Jeffrey Sloe
440-725-3729
jeff@internetmarketingadvisors.net
TriVita Independent Business Affiliate, 12871028
Additional Vitamin D Information

The above information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

 

Monday, October 26, 2009

Vitamin D

I've been writing about the importance of vitamin d for some time now. The evidence backing up what I've written continues to pile up. In a recent article by Vital Choice's Craig Weatherby, findings concur that an intake level higher than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) is needed to prevent falls and fractures.

Falls that break hip or pelvis bones often lead to a serious downward health spiral ... and the results of clinical trials indicate that vitamin D pills can reduce the risk of falling among older people. Vitamin D is a critical factor in bone health, but it is clearly better to prevent falls than to hope that stronger bones will withstand the shock.*

As mentioned in several of my articles, preventative medicine is always the best solution. And if we can prevent fractures, especially of the hip - quite common to the elderly, by strengthening the muscular system, which in turn will prevent many of the unnecessary falls, then we will have accomplished our mission.

Now, a new analysis of the best clinical evidence finds that the US recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin D intake by adults aged 51 to 70 (400 IU) is only about half the dose needed to reduce the risk of falls among older people (Bischoff-Ferrari HA et al. BMJ 2009).

The current RDA for vitamin D are 400 IU for adults aged 51 to 70 and 600 IU for people over 70. And the RDA for all persons younger than 51 is a scant 200 IU.*

So, how much vitamin d is needed to be effective in producing stronger muscles? And what does vitamin d have to do with stronger muscles? Those are two very important questions that can be answered by the team of researchers that have been conducting studies around the world. First, let's look at the daily doses needed to build stronger muscles.

Though the official safe upper intake limit is only 2,000 IU per day, vitamin D intake is proven safe at 10,000 IU per day … a daily level that’s 25 times the current RDA for adults 51 to 70 (400 IU) and 16 times the current RDA for adults over 70 (600 IU).

Most experts recommend taking at least 1,000 IU via food and supplements, and prefer an intake of 2,000 IU to 4,000 IU per day ... unless most of your skin is exposed to 20 to 30 minutes of strong sunlight per day.*

Is all the research too new for the government to change their position on the RDA of vitamin d? Is there too much money to be made by the medical facilities that preventing fractures will actually take away some of their revenue? I may be talking out loud, or voicing my opinion, but preventing any type of injury or illness makes sense to me.

So, what does vitamin d have to do with building strong muscles?

Vitamin D stimulates synthesis of protein, the building material for muscle (Hamilton B 2009).

And as USDA researchers wrote this year, "Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to improve tests of muscle performance, reduce falls, and possibly impact on muscle fiber composition and morphology in vitamin D deficient older adults." (Ceglia L 2009)*

If you're looking to prevent falls by strengthening your muscular system, try TriVita's VitaCal-Mag D. VitaCal-Mag D nutritionally supports your body to improve muscle, nerve, and enzyme function. The RDA for this vitamin d supplement is 400 IU; however, if you double the dosage, you will be closer to what the authors of the studies recommend.

To learn more about TriVita's VitaCal-Mag D, go to TriVita Products and click on the Vitamin D link.

* All quotes are taken from the sources article listed below.

Jeffrey Sloe
440-725-3729
jeff@internetmarketingadvisors.net
TriVita Independent Business Affiliate, 12871028
Vitamin D

Sources:

  • http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article001576264.cfm?x=bgbL9MD,bfv5gTb0

The above information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

 

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Vitamin D Is Needed

Most Americans eat well enough to get the recommended nutrients on a daily basis, or do they? Is diet alone, enough to sustain a healthy body, or are vitamin and mineral supplements needed to get your daily requirements of the proper nutrients? This has been an ongoing argument for some time, and will probably continue for many years to come.

A lot of researchers say that the food we eat today is fortified with plenty of nutrients. The once common vitamin deficiency diseases such as scurvy and rickets (caused by a lack of vitamin C and vitamin D, respectively) have nearly disappeared in America and other advanced countries. For the most part, researchers believe that with a few exceptions, like the elderly or pregnant women, most people don't need supplements.

Ok, hold on; before you go and throw all of your vitamin supplements bottles away, continue reading.

There are some researchers who maintain that the diets of many Americans still fall well short on several essential nutrients. However, the lack of these nutrients is not enough to cause those debilitating deficiency diseases, but perhaps enough to miss out on their benefits without extra help from supplements.

While the most popular, and probably the least effective, supplement is the multivitamin. There is little evidence to support the fact that they do any good, yet many make claims that cannot be supported. Some researchers do say that multivitamins are "an inexpensive insurance policy," says David Schardt, senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

On the upside, there is a growing consensus that states Americans get too little vitamin D, which is needed to help the body absorb calcium. Calcium is important for healthy bones, and can help in the prevention of osteoporosis. Extra calcium to protect bone health is safe and is routinely prescribed for women who get too little from food. Because vitamin d and calcium work hand-in-hand, you may see nutritional supplements that contain both calcium and vitamin d.

TriVita's VitaCal-Mag D is one such supplement. According to TriVita, "the key to bone health is calcium and Vitamin D. These are the two essential ingredients that will help you maintain the strength of your skeletal system, ensure regular cellular activity, proper cardiac function, and preserve the health of other vital body systems."

There are many supplements that can help you maintain a healthy body, So before you clean out you medicine cabinet, do some research. If you have supplements that can help, follow the directions on the back of the bottle and start taking them. They do absolutely no good sitting in your medicine cabinet. On the other hand, there are some supplements that do just as much good, in your body, as sitting in the cabinet.

Do your research, and start taking supplements that have scientific proven results. You can then help support one side of the argument; are vitamin and mineral supplements needed?

You can learn all vitamin supplements, and vitamin D by going to the TriVita Products website.

Jeffrey Sloe
440-725-3729
jeff@internetmarketingadvisors.net
TriVita Independent Business Affiliate, 12871028
Additional Vitamin D Information