Vitamin D3…Is the USDA recommended amount right?…How much is?

Video discusses vitamin d3 and the government recommended amounts (USDA)…Is that enough or not?

Vitamin D and depression: how SAD!

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of winter-time depression experienced by people those who live in northern latitudes such as those of New York, Seattle, all of Canada, and Northern Europe.

I believe it is primarily a disorder of sunlight/vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D, when administered in late winter, produces a positive effect on mood in only five days.[1]

One theory for this is that vitamin D stimulates the brain to produce more serotonin.

In a wintertime experiment, serum vitamin D levels doubled in six months through supplementation and dramatically increased scores on a wellbeing assessment.[2]

Two groups were given either 1,000 IU or 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily. And although both groups improved, the higher dose produced better results.

In another investigation, researchers studied the association between vitamin D levels and the risk of mood disorders in the elderly.

The results were impressive. Those whose vitamin D levels were deficient—defined as less than 20 ng/ml—had 11.7 times the incidence of depression when compared to those whose vitamin D levels were highest.

Usually an association is considered meaningful when a measured factor correlates to a 50% increase or decrease.

In this case, the correlation between vitamin D deficiency and risk of mood disorders was a staggering 1,169 percent![3]

In addition, the researchers measured cognitive ability (mental capabilities).

In two of four tests, those with vitamin D deficiency exhibited cognitive performances that were 5.22 times and 3.22 times poorer than those who were not deficient.

Everyone that has ever ventured outside on a sunny spring day after a long winter, or even visited a tanning bed during winter, know how much the mood is elevated by the experience.

It is likely that the combination of light and vitamin D produce the effect.

Keep your vitamin D levels high this winter!

[1] Lansdowne, A. et al. Vitamin D3 enhances mood in healthy subjects during winter. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1998;135:319-23.
[2] Vieth, R. et al. Randomized comparison of the effects of the vitamin D3 adequate intake versus 100 mcg (4,000 IU) per day on biochemical responses and the wellbeing of patients. Nutr J 2004;3:8.
[3] Wilkins C. et al. Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated With Low Mood and Worse Cognitive Performance in Older Adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry;2006;14:1032–1040).

Vitamin D, U.S. needs how much? Why?

Video talks about the need for proper amounts of vitamin D. How and why?

Sarah Palin’s tanning bed, part 3. Will the tanning bed kill her, or will the vitamin D save her life?

Sunlight exposure and tanning have been vilified by many (but not all) dermatologists some of who call them “cancer machines.”

There are movements afoot to make it illegal for those under the age of 18 to even use them.

Perhaps we will soon see the “sunlight police” patrolling the beaches and arresting those who do not wear sunscreens.

Don’t laugh, it could happen. As I have already indicated in previous blogs, melanoma is the excuse for this madness, but melanoma is more common in those who stay out of the sunlight.

This is all woefully ill-advised.

Hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved by maintaining high levels of vitamin D, which tanning beds produce in abundance.

Every beneficial effect of vitamin D that is produced by sunlight (ultraviolet light or UVB) exposure is also produced by the use of high-quality tanning beds. And is it really UV light that causes melanoma?

In my last “Sarah-Palin” blog, I presented evidence that as we have moved out of the sunlight by opting for indoor jobs, there has been an incredible 25-fold increase in melanoma.

I also pointed out that 78% of melanomas occur on areas of the body that are seldom exposed to sunlight. What’s more, the risks associated with UV overexposure do not appear to be related to regular, non-burning exposure.

Remember that the key to safe tanning of any kind is NEVER BURN. The following is a list of tanning-bed benefits:

1. Tanning-bed use dramatically increases serum-vitamin D levels and bone mass.[1]
2. Whereas a daily 400 IU vitamin D supplement does not maintain healthful levels, tanning bed use increases vitamin D levels by 150% in only seven weeks.[2]
3. Tanning-bed use reduces chronic pain.[3]
4. Sun lamps are now being recommended by at least one British physician for use by pregnant women who will give birth in a winter month. The recommendation is being made to protect the unborn child from osteoporosis during adulthood.[4]
5. High quality tanning beds, because they provide UVB to both sides of the body simultaneously, stimulate the production of up to 15,000 IU of vitamin D in less than ten minutes.[5] Ten minutes of tanning-bed exposure can be done on a lunch break. That means they are more efficient than summer sunlight. Of course, those with darker skin will require a longer time to produce the same amount of vitamin D.
6. Tanning beds may be used regardless of outside weather, time of day or time of year.
It appears that Sarah is on the right track. We will shortly present specific research regarding tanning beds and melanoma. You may be surprised. Stay tuned!

[1] Tangpricha, V. et al. Tanning is associated with optimal vitamin D status (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration) and higher bone mineral density. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80:1645-49.
[2] Holick, M. et al. Boston University. “Effects Of Vitamin D And Skin’s Physiology Examined.” Science Daily 21 February 2008 .
[3] Kaur, M. et al. Indoor tanning relieves pain. Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed 2005;21:278.
[4] Bukhari, M. et al. 108. Sun Lamps help Unborn Babies Beat Osteoporosis. Quoted in London Times April 27, 2008.
[5] Grant, W. Personal communication with the author, June, 2006

Does vitamin D deficiency relate to anxiety and panic?

If you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, you should read the following and then assure that your blood-vitamin D levels are optimal. Your 25(OH)D, or calcidiol, level should be between 50-60 ng/ml.

Anxiety is pandemic in the USA, and according to a 2007 research study, vitamin D deficiency correlates very closely to anxiety in people who suffer from fibromyalgia.[1]

Also, two studies of mice with abnormal vitamin D receptors in the brain found an increase in anxiety, aggression, poor grooming, maternal pup neglect and cannibalism.[2] [3]

Though more research is needed before drawing definitive conclusions, it is likely that vitamin D plays a part in this disorder.

I discussed in an earlier blog the evidence for vitamin D deficiency as a cause of brain and nervous-system disorders, and anxiety fits that category.

The mice studies just cited also make one wonder if the horrible increase in both paternal and maternal child abuse is not due in part to the fact that the American Academy of Dermatology and others of the “sunscare” industry have done such a good job in frightening people out of the sunlight, thereby creating our critical, widespread vitamin D deficiency—food for thought.

[1] Armstrong, D. et al. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with anxiety and depression in fibromyalgia. Clin Rheumatol. 2007;2):551-4.
[2] Kalueff, A. et al. Increased anxiety in mice lacking vitamin D receptor gene. Neuroreport 2004;15:1271-74.
[3] Kalueff, A. et al. Behavioral anomalies in mice evoked by Tokyo disruption of the vitamin D receptor gene. Neurosci Res 2006;54:254-60.