Vitamin Information Center

Large sectors of the U.S. population are deficient in vitamin B6, according to a new study conducted by researchers from Tufts University and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The researchers warned that signs of deficiency emerged even among those meeting or exceeding the recommended dietary intake, and among those taking supplements.

“Across the study population, we noticed participants with inadequate vitamin B6 status even though they reported consuming more than the Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin B6, which is less than two milligrams per day,” researcher Martha Savaria Morris said.

The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin B6 is 1.3 milligrams per day for people between the ages of 19 and 50, 1.5 milligrams per day for women over the age of 50 and 1.7 milligrams per day for men over 50.

Researchers analyzed blood samples from 7,822 people of all ages, down to one year old, who participated in the 20043-04 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They measured blood levels of pyridoxal 5′- phosphate (PLP), the biologically active form of the vitamin.

Eleven percent of those taking vitamin B6 supplements had PLP levels indicating deficiency, while 25 percent of those not taking supplements were vitamin deficient.

Male smokers, non-Hispanic African-American men and people of both sexes over the age of 65 were more likely to be vitamin B6 deficient. Women of childbearing age were also at increased risk for deficiency, especially those who had a history of oral contraceptive use.

Among women who did not take vitamin B6 supplements but did take oral contraceptives, 75 percent came up deficient in the vitamin.

The scientists called for more research into this connection, noting that it is possible that vitamin B6 is stored in a different way in women who take oral contraceptives, thus making blood concentration a less useful marker.

Foods rich in vitamin B6 include nuts, vegetables, whole grains and meats.

Sources for this story include: www.foodnavigator-usa.com.

An abundance of vitamin C in the diet may help lower a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.

In a study of middle-aged and older men and women, those with the highest blood levels of vitamin C were significantly less likely to develop diabetes over 12 years than those with the lowest levels, researchers found.

Fruits and vegetables are the main source of vitamin C in Western diets, and blood levels of vitamin C are good markers of fruit and vegetable intake, Dr. Nita G. Forouhi, at the Institute of Metabolic Science at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, England, and colleagues note.

The current findings “re-endorse the public health message of the beneficial effect of increasing total fruit and vegetable intake,” the investigators wrote in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Forouhi’s team followed 21,831 healthy men and women who were 40 to 75 years old for the development of type 2 diabetes. At study entry, all participants provided detailed health and lifestyle information, as well as blood samples, which investigators used to determine vitamin C levels.

Over the course of the study, 423 men and 312 women developed type 2 diabetes, an overall rate of 3.2 percent.

According to the investigators, the likelihood of developing diabetes was 62 percent lower in men and women with the highest circulating vitamin C levels, relative to men and women with the lowest vitamin C levels.

Factoring out other characteristics associated with diabetes risk, such as older age, gender, family history, alcohol intake, physical activity, smoking status and body weight did not significantly alter these associations.

These data offer “persuasive evidence of a beneficial effect of vitamin C and fruit and vegetable intake on diabetes risk,” Forouhi and colleagues conclude.

Low levels of vitamin D may put older people at a higher risk of depression, a study has found.

Researchers also estimated that 13 per cent of all people aged over 65 could be depressed.

The study, carried out by scientists in Amsterdam and published in Science Daily, found that a deficiency in vitamin D causes high blood levels of the parathyroid hormone, which has been linked to depression.

Of the 1,282 older people aged between 65 and 95 studied, 169 had a minor depressive illness and 26 were majorly depressed. Those with depression were found to have 14 per cent lesser vitamin D in their blood levels.

Over half of the women and 38.8 per cent of the men studied had insufficient vitamin D levels.

The authors of the study write: “Decreased vitamin intake may be secondary to depression, but depression may also be the consequence of poor vitamin D status.”

Decreased outdoor activity and different housing or clothing habits were all believed to decrease vitamin D.

However, a healthy dose of sun exposure can relieve minor feelings of depression.

TORONTO — A new U.S. study contradicts the notion that high blood levels of vitamin D might help protect men from developing prostate cancer - a finding that is likely to add to the public’s confusion over the possible benefits of the sunshine nutrient. Laboratory studies of cells have suggested that high doses of vitamin D may reduce prostate cancer from developing, but international research that has looked at the disease and the effect of vitamin D in different groups of men has shown inconsistent results.

In the study by the National Cancer Institute, researchers compared vitamin D concentrations in the blood of 749 men diagnosed with prostate cancer with those of 781 men without the disease.

Vitamin D concentration was measured in a blood sample taken at enrolment in the study and participants were followed for up to eight years.

“Our main findings are higher levels of vitamin D were not associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer,” lead author Jiyoung Ahn said Tuesday from Bethesda, Md. “However, we did see some evidence of an increased risk of aggressive disease associated with the higher concentration of vitamin D.”

But Ahn stressed that the latter finding was not statistically strong and more research is needed to determine whether too much vitamin D actually increases the risk of a prostate cancer being more aggressive.

The study was published online Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Commenting on the study, Reinhold Vieth of Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital said he is not surprised by the NCI researchers’ results, but he suggests the link between prostate cancer risk and vitamin D is related to seasonal changes in the amount of the nutrient in the body.

“What I think happens is that this phenomenon of higher risk relates not just to a flat-out how high is your vitamin D,” said Vieth, who specializes in vitamin D research. “The thing that causes risk with regards to cancer … is fluctuation.”

Vitamin D, required for proper cell growth and regulation, is made when the skin is exposed to sunlight. But people in northern countries such as Canada become deficient in the nutrient during winter months when the sun’s rays are at their weakest.

“Higher vitamin D is good because it seems to make cells behave properly,” said Vieth.

But when levels drop as fall and winter set in, the body’s cells have to adjust to having less of the nutrient - and it is this continual adjustment that may upset the way cells proliferate, he said.

The bigger the fall in vitamin D levels, the harder it is for cells in the body - in this case, prostate cells - to adjust, he said, noting that tumours can arise when regulation of cell growth goes awry.

Vieth said the public has good reason to be confused about the role of vitamin D in cancer prevention, particularly when it comes to prostate cancer, because there has been so much conflicting research.

Until more is known, he said, there is no simple answer.

The best way to avoid the seasonal vitamin D yo-yo is to maintain a stable level in the blood by taking dietary supplements year-round, he said, suggesting that 1,000 IUs daily for adults would be an adequate amount.

Last June, the Canadian Cancer Society recommended that adults consider taking a vitamin D supplement of 1,000 IUs daily during fall and winter, while darker-skinned and older people should think about taking the little white pills year-round.

Health Canada currently recommends 200 IUs for adults 19 to 50 years of age. Last September, it released a statement saying recommendations by various organizations to boost intake were premature, and a comprehensive review was needed before it would revise its own recommendations.

New research has suggested that vitamin C could be effective in curing cancer.

Doctors reported yesterday that three cancer patients who were given large intravenous doses over a period of several months had their tumours shrunk and their lives extended.
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In human beings, coenzyme Q10 is the most common occurring form of coenzyme Q, needed by and found in every cell in the body. Perhaps its primary function is to ensure the production of adequate energy within the cell mitochondria, but coenzyme Q10 is also a powerful anti-oxidant, and is particularly important because it is the only fat-soluble anti-oxidant which can be manufactured within the body. Like other fat-soluble anti-oxidants, such as vitamin E, coenxyme Q10 is vital for the protection of fatty structures within cells from the damage and degeneration which may be caused by oxidative reactions and free radical activity.
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Yes - a blood test called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which, though expensive ($20 to $100 a pop), is covered by insurance. Your level should be at least 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood and not more than 100. If your level is way below that, say around 18, you need to take 1,200 international units or more a day of vitamin D supplements, either the type called D2 or D3, said Dr. Michael F. Holick, an endocrinologist and leading vitamin D researcher at the Boston University School of Medicine. Continue Reading…