No, I'm not talking about soccer again.
This is some serious health-related news!
Yep, the well-respected Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI, publishers of Nutrition Action Newsletter) has come out with a huge report on the vary plain-jane Vitamin D.
Vitamin D?!
Yes. Apparently it's about to become the new cat's meow of the nutrition world, and quite possibly deserves to be.
The basic understanding is that when everyone lived near the equator, we got lots of sun, and made lots of Vitamin D, giving us blood levels of 170 units-per-whatever-the-hell.
Now, as we move north, and grow pale to deal with the lack of sun, we have numbers approaching 15-30 units-per-whatever-the-hell.
The known problem is rickets - bone deformities and problems often found first in children. 400units of D a day keeps the rickets at bay.
However, it turns out that to get blood levels up to a respectable 70-90 units-per-whatever-the-hell, we need something like 1000-2000units a day of supplements, milk, and our own body's production.
Which we don't get because everywhere but southern Florida and Arizona does NOT get enough sun to cause D production from September to March or so.
And BTW -- sunscreen kills Vitamin D production, so even in sunny areas we aren't getting enough D.
Run out there, get those supplements, or start slamming down more fish in your diet. Apparently it's been decently proven to be non-harmful in high doses, and definitely harmful in too low a dose!
Or face rickets, heart disease, stupidity, and a host of other things the article mentions. Okay, it doesn't mention stupidity, but it does mention muscle weakness, gum disease, diabetes, arthritis, MS, cancer in the breast, colon, pancreas and prostrate.
Sounds like good enough reason to get started.
Posted by BilFish at October 24, 2006 08:54 AM