This month's Life Extension Magazine has a compilation of recent study results that make it clear that this vitamin (actually a hormone made in the body from cholesterol) is decidedly THE critical factor in preventing viral infections, such as the flu and common cold, as well as those that cause chronic conditions such as hepatitis and inflammatory-based conditions such as atherosclerosis and autoimmune diseases. Insufficient vitamin D (D3 - the biologically active form) levels are linked to virtually every age-related dysfunction known. The purpose of this article to get the word out, to those not aware of Life Extension Foundation's (LEF) work, magazine or website, that this one dietary supplement has more bang for the buck than virtually any other.
Given that you eat just about any healthy diet, the one element of health that is consistently deficient in the general population of most of the world is the level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D found in our blood. Levels required to optimize immune function and down-regulate the natural tendency of inflammation to rise with age have been credibly established by numerous studies to be > 50 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter of blood), with some authorities suggesting that greater advantages may become evident at levels above 70 ng/ml. The primary reasons for this wide spread deficiency are that we largely spend our daylight hours indoors, live too far north or south of the equator, and wear too much clothing. With age, the conversion of sunlight to vitamin D becomes increasingly less efficient, compounding the problem for the elderly.
Scope of the deficiency:
LEF offers the 25-OH Vitamin D test as a lab service. They have analyzed the results of over 13,000 member's tests, spread over an 18 month period, to find that a 85% of initial tests revealed results less that the 50 ng/ml optimal target. In fact, 38% of members were below 30 ng/ml; a level now considered the tipping-point for normal immune function. Consider that these are people highly motivated toward optimizing health and are big vitamin/supplement takers, yet had sup-optimal vitamin D levels across the population. Numerous recent studies for the general public showed far lower values that these. And until recently, the medical community considered deficient levels to be below 12 ng/ml, values now know to be grossly deficient and dangerous to general health. The 'normal' reference range used by most laboratories at present has been increased to 30 - 100ng/ml.
"About 70 percent of the population of the United States has insufficient levels of vitamin D," said Adrian Gombart, a principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. "This is a critical issue as we learn more about the many roles it may play in fighting infection, balancing your immune response, helping to address autoimmune problems, and even preventing heart disease." Vitamin D deficiency peaks at the end of winter because of the prolonged lack of sunlight, and is far more severe in dark skinned peoples.
Competition with Vitamin A:
Another outcome of LEF's research was evidence that preformed vitamin A (retinol) competes with vitamin D's function and can diminish its effectiveness. The age old standard for vitamin D during winter has been the tablespoon of cod-liver-oil (CLO). However, comparison of CLO of yesteryear and that of today shows that it has higher levels of vitamin A (4000 to 10000 IU) and lower levels of vitamin D (400 to 1200 IU). This ratio makes CLO less desirable as a vitamin D source. Vitamin products with high levels of retinol (very common today, averaging 4395 IU in a cross-section of popular products) can hamper vitamin D function, leading to the same conditions seen in vitamin D deficiency. This does not apply to beta-carotene, however. As a result of these findings, LEF is reducing the amount of retinol in its Life Extension Mix and boosting the vitamin D content.
The growing scope of vitamin D's protective power:
One compelling new study just done by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center in Utah, and presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association, followed for more than a year nearly 28,000 patients ages 50 or older with no prior history of cardiovascular disease. It found that in patients with very low levels of vitamin D - compared to those with normal levels - 77 percent were more likely to die, 45 percent were more likely to develop coronary artery disease, and 78 percent were more likely to have a stroke.
Vitamin D is now seen as one of the most critical nutrients for overall health, with impacts on issues ranging from the health of our immune system to prevention of heart disease and even vulnerability to influenza,. But it's also one of those most likely to be deficient - especially in late winter when production of the "sunshine vitamin" grinds to a halt for millions of people in the United States, Europe and other northern (and southern) countries.
LEF is now telling its members that they should be taking from 5000 to 10000 IU daily to achieve optimal blood levels. This author has been taking 5000 IU daily for the last almost 3 years. This winter I have kicked it up 10000 IU in an effort to get closer to the 70 ng/ml level, based on 25-OH vitamin D test result of 54 ng/ml at the end of summer. My results have been spectacular in that I have not had a single viral or bacterial infection in those 3 years. So I urge you to visit the LEF website (www.lef.org) and find the article in the January 2010 issue, read it and heed it as well. It should be posted on the site by the 25th of this month.
Good Living - Frank
