VITAMIN D3 DEFICIENCY IS RAMPANT WORLDWIDE

Vitamin D deficiency is rampant not just in the U.S., but worldwide, and research into vitamin D status and its effects on your health has grown tremendously in the past couple of years, showing that previously recommended levels are insufficient to reap any major health benefits.

This has led to a surge in vitamin D testing, with labs doing some 500,000 tests per month!

Unfortunately, recent developments in 2008 have made it clear that there are irregularities in the values obtained from the different testing methods. Although results from any of the three commonly used assays may be analytically accurate, they might not be clinically accurate, which is, ultimately, what matters.

The correct test is 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

Please note the difference between normal and optimal. You don't want to be average here; you want to be optimally healthy.

These optimal values have been confirmed by more recent studies into vitamin D status
and its effects on health and reduced disease risks.

OPTIMAL
25-Hydroxyvitamin D Values
70-90 ng/ml

 

 

NORMAL
25-Hydroxyvitamin D lab Values
50-70 ng/ml

 

Your vitamin D level should NEVER be below 32 ng/ml.
Any levels below 20 ng/ml are considered serious defiency states and will increase your risk of breast
and prostate cancer and autoimmune diseases like MS and rheumatoid arthritis.

 

Diseases linked to Vitamin D Deficiency

 

	Amount Per Serving	% Daily Value
Vitamin A (as Beta-Carotene)	5000 IU	100%
Vitamin C (as Ascorbic acid)	60 mg	100%
Vitamin D (as Cholecalciferol)	2000 IU	500%
Vitamin E (as d-alpha-tocopherol)	30 IU	100%
Vitamin B-1 (as Thiamine HCL)	1.5 mg	100%
Vitamin B-2 (as Riboflavin Pwd)	1.7 mg	100%
Vitamin B-3 (as Niacinamide)	20 mg	100%
Vitamin B-6 (as Pyridoxine HCL)	2 mg	100%
Folic Acid	800 mcg	200%
Vitamin B-12 (as Cyanocobalamin)	6 mcg	100%
Vitamin B-5 (as Calcium Pantothenate)	10 mg	100%
Calcium (from Coral Calcium SMP 44)	500 mg	50%
Calcium (from Aquamin)	95 mg	9%
Iodine (Kelp)	108 mcg	72%
Magnesium (from Coral Calcium SMP 44)	250 mg	63%
Magnesium (from Magnesium Citrate)	42 mg	11%
Magnesium (from Aquamin®)	7 mg	2%
Zinc (as Amino Acid Chelate)	15 mg	100%
Selenium (as Amino Acid Chelate)	30 mcg	43%
Copper (as Amino Acid Chelate)	2 mg	100%
Manganese (as Amino Acid Chelate)	1.44 mg	72%
Chromium (as Amino Acid Chelate)	120 mcg	100%
Coral Calcium (Marine SMP 44)	2000 mg	*
Cesium	3 mg	*
Strontium (from Coral Calcium SMP 44)	3200 mcg	*
	1000 mcg	*

 

Two new vitamin D studies using a sophisticated form of analysis called meta-analysis, in which data from multiple reports is combined, have revealed new prescriptions for possibly preventing up to half of the cases of breast cancer and two-thirds of the cases of colorectal cancer in the United States. The work was conducted by a core team of cancer prevention specialists at the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and colleagues from both coasts.

BREAST CANCER

The breast cancer study, published online in the current issue of the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, pooled dose-response data from two earlier studies – the Harvard Nurses Health Study and the St. George's Hospital Study – and found that individuals with the highest blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, or 25(OH)D(Scientific names for Vitamin D), had the lowest risk of breast cancer.

The researchers divided the 1,760 records of individuals in the two studies into five equal groups, from the lowest blood levels of 25(OH)D (less than 13 nanograms per milliliter, or 13 ng/ml) to the highest (approximately 52 ng/ml). The data also included whether or not the individual had developed cancer.

“The data were very clear, showing that individuals in the group with the lowest blood levels had the highest rates of breast cancer, and the breast cancer rates dropped as the blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D increased,” said study co-author Cedric Garland, Dr.P.H. “The serum level associated with a 50 percent reduction in risk could be maintained by taking 2,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily plus, when the weather permits, spending 10 to 15 minutes a day in the sun.”

COLON CANCER
The colorectal cancer study, published online February 6 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is a meta-analysis of five studies that explored the association of blood levels of 25(OH)D with risk of colon cancer. All of the studies involved blood collected and tested for 25 (OH)D levels from healthy volunteer donors who were then followed for up to 25 years for development of colorectal cancer.

As with the breast cancer study, the dose-response data on a total of 1,448 individuals were put into order by serum 25(OH)D level and then divided into five equal groups, from the lowest blood levels to the highest.

“Through this meta-analysis we found that raising the serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D to 34 ng/ml would reduce the incidence rates of colorectal cancer by half,” said co-author Edward D. Gorham, Ph.D. “We project a two-thirds reduction in incidence with serum levels of 46ng/ml, which corresponds to a daily intake of 2,000 IU of vitamin D3. This would be best achieved with a combination of diet, supplements and 10 to 15 minutes per day in the sun.”

VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTS

Vitamin D3 is available through diet, supplements and exposure of the skin to sunlight, or ultraviolet B (UVB). In the paper, the researchers underscored the importance of limiting sun exposure such that the skin does not change color (tan) or burn. For a typical fair-skinned Caucasian individual, adequate vitamin D could be photosynthesized safely by spending 10 to 15 minutes in the noontime sun on a clear day with 50 percent of skin area exposed to the sun. Darker skinned individuals may require more time in the sun, such as 25 minutes. For people with photosensitivity disorders, or anyone with a personal or family history of nonmelanoma skin cancer, any amount of extra sun exposure would be inadvisable.

The meta-analysis on colorectal cancer includes data from the Women's Health Initiative, which had shown in 2006 that a low dose of vitamin D did not protect against colorectal cancer within seven years of follow-up. However, the researchers wrote, the meta-analysis indicates that a higher dose may reduce its incidence.

“Meta-analysis is an important tool for revealing trends that may not be apparent in a single study,” said co-author Sharif B. Mohr, M.P.H. “Pooling of independent but similar studies increases precision, and therefore the confidence level of the findings.”

The authors recommend further research to study individuals for the
effect of vitamin D from sunlight, diet and supplements on the risk of cancer.

 

The San Diego Union-Tribune Vitamin D lowers cancer risk in older women study finds

June 8, 2007

OMAHA, Neb. – Building hopes that one pill could someday prevent many cancers, scientists say vitamin D cut the risk of several types of cancer by 60 percent overall for older women in the most rigorous study yet.

The new research strengthens the case made by some specialists that vitamin D may be a powerful cancer preventive and most people should get more of it. Experts remain split, though, on how much to take.

“The findings . . . are a breakthrough of great medical and public health importance,” said Cedric Garland, a prominent vitamin D researcher at the University of California San Diego. “No other method to prevent cancer has been identified that has such a powerful impact.”

Earlier research has shown that vitamin D helps regulate cell growth, a fundamental biological process that goes haywire in cancer. Most other supplements have tended to target specific types of disease in early testing, such as selenium or vitamin E for prostate cancer.

This study, published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is the first time that researchers significantly boosted – and measured – blood levels of vitamin D and then followed identical groups of patients from start to finish.