Wednesday, September 10, 2014

3 Amazing Health Benefits of Vitamin D3

3 Amazing Health Benefits of Vitamin D3

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3 Amazing Health Benefits of Vitamin D3

Posted: 09 Sep 2014 08:00 AM PDT

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Vitamin D has taken the health industry and media by storm. A goldmine of pioneering studies around the turn of the 21st century on vitamin D have reported surprising findings regarding the "Sunshine Vitamin." What’s empowering is the increase in public awareness regarding healthy sunshine exposure and its positive effects on bone health, the immune system, and disease prevention.

3 Benefits of Vitamin D3

There are numerous benefits to vitamin D, and it’s virtually impossible to list them all in one post. Here are perhaps the most important health benefits of vitamin D3, all of which have seen an extensive amount of study.

1. Alzheimer’s Disease

Promising research has been building over the last few years around the correlation between Alzheimer’s disease and Vitamin D deficiency. There are over 5 million Alzheimer’s sufferers in America alone, a trend that is expected to explode to 15 million by 2050. [1] Considering that around 90% of Alzheimer's disease patients have low levels of vitamin D, researchers are examining just how potent this nutrient is in disease prevention.

A recent study showed the effects of vitamin D on Alzheimer's occurrence in elderly women. The study demonstrated that the group with the highest intake of Vitamin D (20% of the participants) experienced lower Alzheimer’s disease incidence. [2] Another study focused on 300 elderly people showed a profound 250% increase in occurrence of Alzheimer’s cases in people with low blood levels of Vitamin D. [3]

2. Autoimmune Disorders

Autoimmune disorders have increased dramatically in recent decades, and within that time a little over 80 types of autoimmune diseases have been classified. Vitamin D is a potent immune system modulator and plays an integral role in optimal functioning. Recent findings suggest that these disorders may affect up to 5% of the population. Autoimmune disease describes a condition in which the body and its immune system (white blood cells, killer T cells, etc.) are stimulated and/or tricked into attacking healthy bodily tissues/organs, a process that doesn't occur under normal circumstances.

Adult women regularly consuming a multivitamin with just 400 IU/day of Vitamin D in one study had a 40% reduced risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Another study showed high ­dose Vitamin D supplementation resulted in RA symptom improvements in an astonishing 89% of patients and an astonishing 45% of patients obtaining complete remission. Vitamin D supplementation and intake via sunshine was shown to be very beneficial in regards to joint health. [4]

3. Immune System Support

The cold and flu are two of the most common illnesses that have plagued humanity for centuries, and we still haven't been able to figure out how to beat them. While potentially dangerous in a small subset of people, they are generally seen as a nuisance more so than a fatal disease. Usually, illness occurs when the immune system — our main line of defense — isn't functioning properly.

Vitamin D is thought to stimulate the production of powerful anti­microbial peptides in white blood cells and also in epithelial cells which line the respiratory tract, thereby protecting the lungs from infection. [5] Also, vitamin D may modulate the immune response and strengthen immune defenses. One study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that school children who received a 1200 IU/day of vitamin D had a 42% reduction in Influenza A during the winter months versus children who took placebo. [6]

Looking at 31 previous years of statistics on flu activity and the highest months of flu contraction in the United States, December through March are the peak months of activity (February being the most active month). UVB rays from the sun are, for the most part, muted throughout the winter months in most of North America, hence little to no Vitamin D production among the populations.

Do you get enough vitamin D? How often do you go out in the sun? Leave us a comment and let us know!

-Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN, DCBCN, DABFM

References:

  1. Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s Facts and Figures. Fact Sheet.
  2. Annweiler C, Rolland Y, Schott AM, Blain H, Vellas B, Herrmann FR, Beauchet O. Higher vitamin D dietary intake is associated with lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a 7­year follow­up. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2012 Nov;67(11):1205­11. doi: 10.1093/gerona/gls107. Epub 2012 Apr 13. PMID:22503994.
  3. Buell JS1, Dawson ­Hughes B, Scott TM, Weiner DE, Dallal GE, Qui WQ, Bergethon P, Rosenberg IH, Folstein MF, Patz S, Bhadelia RA, Tucker KL. Low serum vitamin D concentrations in Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review and meta­ analysis. J Alzheimers Dis. 2013;33(3):659­74. doi: 10.3233/JAD­2012­121432. PMID: 23042216.
  4. Gerry K. Schwalfenberg. Solar Radiation and Vitamin D: Mitigating Environmental Factors in Autoimmune Disease. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 619381, 9 pages.
  5. Urashima M1, Segawa T, Okazaki M, Kurihara M, Wada Y, Ida H. Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 May;91(5):1255­60. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.29094. PMID: 20219962.
  6. Adit A. Ginde, MD, MPH; Jonathan M. Mansbach, MD; Carlos A. Camargo Jr, MD, DrPH. Association Between Serum 25­Hydroxyvitamin D Level and Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(4):384­390. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2008.560.

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