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Understanding Vitamin D Cholecalciferol
The high rate of natural production of vitamin D3 cholecalciferol in the skin is the single most important fact every person should know about vitamin D because it has such profound implications for the natural human condition.
Vitamin D is a steroid hormone precursor that has recently been found to play a role in a wide variety of diseases. Current research indicates vitamin D deficiency plays a role in causing seventeen varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, and periodontal disease.
This does not mean that vitamin D deficiency is the only cause of these diseases, or that you will not get them if you take vitamin D. What it does mean is that vitamin D, and the many ways in which it affects a person's health, can no longer be overlooked by the health care industry nor by individuals striving to achieve and maintain a greater state of health.
Vitamin D, Sunshine, and Your Health
- If you totally avoid the sun, recent research indicates you need about 4,000 units of vitamin D a day. Which means you can't get enough vitamin D from milk (unless you drink 40 glasses a day) or from a multivitamin (unless you take about 10 tablets a day), neither of which is recommended.
- Most of us make about 20,000 units of vitamin D after about 20 minutes of summer sun. This is about 100 times more vitamin D than the government says you need every day.
- The only way to be sure you have adequate levels of vitamin D in your blood is to regularly go into the sun, use a sun bed (avoiding sunburn), or have your physician administer a 25‑hydroxyvitamin D test. Optimal levels are around 50 ng/mL (125 nM/L).
- If you don't get vitamin D the way Mother Nature intended, from sunshine, you need to take supplemental vitamin D3 cholecalciferol. Since most of us get a lot more vitamin D from sunshine than we realize, most of us need about 2,000 units a day extra.
Expert Opinion Paper on Vitamin D Deficiency
Diagnosis and Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency is a new paper by four vitamin D experts.
Vitamin D Commercials
The Vitamin D Council recently ran a series of commercials on the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara television networks. You can view them on the Vitamin D Council's You Tube Channel.
News Items of Interest
Study Shows More Benefits of Sunshine Vitamin
People with a vitamin D deficiency are likely to die sooner than people whose blood contains higher amounts of the so-called sunshine vitamin, Austrian researchers said on Monday. Read more at The Rueters article..
Low vitamin D levels linked to greater risk of heart attacks in men
Having low levels of vitamin D is associated with a doubling of the risk of heart attacks in men and an even greater risk of dying from the cardiac condition, according to a new study. Read more at The Globe and Mail Article.
A Too-Good-to-Be-True Nutrient?
The Washington Post sums up the research presented at the April 9th vitamin D symposium at UCSD- A Too-Good-to-Be-True Nutrient?.
The Vitamin D Miracle: Is it for real?
The Toronto Globe and Mail printed the best press article ever written about vitamin D. Please take time to comment on the article if you enjoy it - The vitamin D miracle: Is it for real?.
Forbes runs article on Vitamin D
Forbes magazine examines the controversy surrounding Vitamin D while citing recent important research - D is for Debate.
New York Times Article on Vitamin D
The New York Times recently ran a good article on Vitamin D and how it may be named the nutrient of the decade - An Oldie Vies for Nutrient of the Decade.
More about the benefits of sunshine
Vitamin D research is changing the way people think about sun exposure, especially in Canada. The Vancouver Sun recently published this excellent article about the changing perceptions of sunshine exposure- Sun's Benefits Make Comeback.
Video of Professor Michael Holick explaining the vitamin D revolution
Michael Holick, a respected Vitamin D researcher recently gave keynote address about Vitamin D. It is a great overview of the entire situation. Watch the video- The Vitamin D Pandemic and its Health Consequences.
Vitamin D Should Be in Your Medicine Cabinet
Mother Earth News Magazine published a well researched article about the benefits of Vitamin D. Read Vitamin D: Sunshine and So Much More.
Vitamin D and Autism
Now a single theory answers the many unanswered questions surrounding autism. A theory that implies a simple prevention and raises the possibility of treatment.
It's called the Vitamin D Theory of Autism—read about it in our new section, Autism and Vitamin D.
Study Shines More Light on Benefit of Vitamin D in Fighting Cancer
600,000 cases a year of breast and colorectal cancer could be prevented each year by adequate intake of vitamin D, according to Cedric F. Garland DrPH, cancer prevention specialist and vitamin D expert.
Dr. CaNnell InTERVIEW on CBN NEWS
What's the Real Story on Vitamin D? By Gailon Totheroh - CBN News
The list of benefits is so long because vitamin D actually regulates cells, systems, and organs throughout the body.
Cancer Society's Anti‑Sun Ads Decried as Deceptive
The hypothesis that moderate sun exposure curbs cancer risks rests on abundant evidence that vitamin D probably ranks among the most powerful anti‑cancer factors in the human body...