Supplement Diet with Vitamin D
If you are trying hard to lose pounds and to keep your bones strong, but you still are overweight and suffer from IBS, consideration of additional Vitamin D is a good idea. There is a fascinating study at Penn State that started in May, because the incidence of autoimmune diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBS) has increased in developed countries over the last 50 years. Their proposal states that decreased outdoor activity and increased pollution and diets that lack adequate Vitamin D have combined to create large fluctuations in Vitamin D status in developed countries and especially in populations that experience winter. The Vitamin D hypothesis proposes that Vitamin D regulates the development and function of the immune system and that change in Vitamin D status affect the development of the resultant immune response and the development of diseases like IBS.
The study goes on to say that because of low dietary Vitamin D intake and malabsorption of many nutrients, Crohn's patients have low circulating Vitamin D levels that are detrimental for their health. This study gives Crohn's patients 1000 IU of Vitamin D/d to determine whether this dose is well tolerated, if it induces an increase in circulating Vitamin D levels and has any other additional health benefits (improved bone markers, Crohn's disease activity scores, inflammatory markers).
Michael Holick, a Vitamin D expert in the Department of Endocrinology, Nutrition, and Diabetes at Boston University Medical Center New England Journal of Medicine recently reviewed the abundant and convincing laboratory and clinical research that supports the role of adequate Vitamin D levels both in bone health and in cutting the risk of chronic disease, including many cancers. Here are two of his points to keep in mind:
1. Unfortunately, most Americans are Vitamin D and calcium deficient. For individuals that are elderly, at high risk for obesity and those who have little or no sun exposure you may be particularly deficient. Studies were conducted in both Europe and in the U.S., and preliminary estimates of insufficiency in Vitamin D levels among those studied range from 40 percent to 100 percent of participants.
2. To avoid Vitamin D deficiency, Holick recommends that most adults take 800 to 1,000 IU of Vitamin D daily. Under certain circumstances—like pregnancy, obesity, or particular forms of kidney or gastrointestinal disease—the ideal dose might double.
Remember to stop by the Co-op for a wide variety of dosages (in additional to vegan) Vitamin D2 & Vitamin D3.
The study goes on to say that because of low dietary Vitamin D intake and malabsorption of many nutrients, Crohn's patients have low circulating Vitamin D levels that are detrimental for their health. This study gives Crohn's patients 1000 IU of Vitamin D/d to determine whether this dose is well tolerated, if it induces an increase in circulating Vitamin D levels and has any other additional health benefits (improved bone markers, Crohn's disease activity scores, inflammatory markers).
Michael Holick, a Vitamin D expert in the Department of Endocrinology, Nutrition, and Diabetes at Boston University Medical Center New England Journal of Medicine recently reviewed the abundant and convincing laboratory and clinical research that supports the role of adequate Vitamin D levels both in bone health and in cutting the risk of chronic disease, including many cancers. Here are two of his points to keep in mind:
1. Unfortunately, most Americans are Vitamin D and calcium deficient. For individuals that are elderly, at high risk for obesity and those who have little or no sun exposure you may be particularly deficient. Studies were conducted in both Europe and in the U.S., and preliminary estimates of insufficiency in Vitamin D levels among those studied range from 40 percent to 100 percent of participants.
2. To avoid Vitamin D deficiency, Holick recommends that most adults take 800 to 1,000 IU of Vitamin D daily. Under certain circumstances—like pregnancy, obesity, or particular forms of kidney or gastrointestinal disease—the ideal dose might double.
Remember to stop by the Co-op for a wide variety of dosages (in additional to vegan) Vitamin D2 & Vitamin D3.