Vitamin Information Center

Everywhere you look this month, someone seems to be talking about Vitamin D. Good Morning America, Parenting Magazine, and numerous news organizations have focused on the possible benefits of the vitamin your body produces itself, yet most people seem to lack.

All this attention has led to some confusion. South Jersey Healthcare outpatient dietitian Deborah Stump helped shine some light on vitamin D last week by answering more than a dozen questions submitted to The Daily Journal’s Healthline.

“It’s a big topic right now,” said Stump. She added that recent studies have linked vitamin D to everything from diabetes to cancer prevention.
What is it?

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and form bone. It also strengthens the immune system.
How do I get it?

Getting vitamin D is as easy as going outside. Your skin turns UVB rays from sunlight into vitamin D. It also is found in most multi-vitamin supplements, stand-alone supplements, and in “fortified” foods such as milk and some fruit juices and cereals.

So, if it’s so easy to get, why are more than half of children and some 65 percent of adults not getting enough?

Turns out, according to Stump, some generally-accepted, healthy habits have had the unintended consequence of restricting vitamin D. The first: sunscreen.

“You need 10-20 minutes of sun exposure three times a week,” she said, adding that the exposure should come between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the sun is strongest. Sunscreen, of course, blocks those rays.

And yes, you have to go outside.

“One question asked if you can get sunlight through glass,” Stump said. “Glass lets about 78 percent of UVA rays through,” she said, “but it blocks all but about 5 percent of the important UVB rays. So, you have to get outside.”

Stump added that people should spend a little more time outside during the winter months, when the sun is not as strong.

Vitamin D took another hit as people moved away from eating saturated fats.

“As people started eating more poly and unsaturated fats, we saw a decrease in vitamin D,” she said.
How much do I need?

This was the most common Healthline question.

The Dietary Reference Intake for vitamin D is 200 International Units per day for kids and adults up to age 50, but that is being hotly debated. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 400 IU per day, and a quick check of a bottle of One-A-Day vitamins says that 400 IU covers 100 percent of my daily requirement.

Stump said even that may not be enough.

“There is a lot of research supporting 800-1,000 IU of Vitamin D per day,” she said.
What’s the use?

So why so much interest in vitamin D? Well, besides forming bone and helping the immune system, Stump said there is an association between vitamin D deficiency and Type 1 and 2 diabetes. Also, there is evidence that vitamin D can fight prostate, breast, and colon cancers as well as fight depression and improve cardio-vascular health.

VIVIENNE PARRY

“VITAMINS may shorten your life” was the most unexpected headline of the week. It arose after the publication of a review of 67 studies involving nearly a quarter of a million people taking antioxidant vitamin supplements (such as A, E and C). Far from showing benefit, it indicated that some, such as vitamin A, seemed to increase mortality.

This is a long way from other stories that suggest the benefits of supplements. Confusing, isn’t it? The problem is that studying the real effect of vitamins is incredibly hard. Focusing on one nutrient in isolation has proved to be a fine way to explain specific symptoms of one disease, such as those typically caused by vitamin deficiency - vitamin C and scurvy, for instance. But it’s not that useful when trying to assess the impact of vitamins on chronic conditions or even on death rates.

This is partly because the way that supplements affect our health can be influenced by many factors, significantly our diet. Drinking tea, for example, can inhibit the uptake of iron from food. Other influences are genes, physical fitness, existing disease, income levels, whether we smoke or drink . . .

And when researchers try to keep track of all these variables, and what foods and supplements we take, there’s another problem: we’re very unreliable witnesses. We either get muddled about what we have or haven’t eaten, or we simply lie when confronted with a nice dietitian with a clipboard.

There’s yet another problem. Costly trials involving enormous numbers of people over long periods of time are required to demonstrate the long-term effect of vitamins. People’s diets and habits can change considerably over these periods, making the results less reliable.

Meanwhile, the waters are muddied by the booming supplements business, which is worth £330million a year in the UK alone, the financial health of which is dependent on persuading us that our health is in jeopardy without its wares. Ironically, those most likely to be seduced by the marketing hype are those with the least need for supplements: health- conscious middle-class types.

So what does this latest review mean for us? It certainly doesn’t mean that those of us taking multivitamins are going to suffer an early death - they were not covered in the review. For those of us who take supplements of individual antioxidants, the picture is still far from clear. What we can say is that if there are benefits in taking single antioxidant supplements, they are very small indeed.

Stopping them is unlikely to affect your health adversely and will have a positive effect on your bank balance.

t’s Nutrition Month, time to reflect that you are what you eat—and sometimes more, depending on exercise, or lack thereof.

Tanya Reid, dietitian at Digby General Hospital, and Leona Willman, one of two cooks who run the hospital cafeteria, have complimentary ideas on food.

Sitting around a table decorated with shamrocks for the approaching St. Patrick’s Day, both are promoting the idea of balanced meals and healthy preparation.

Willman wants people in the community to realize they can have meals in the cafeteria from noon to 1 p.m., and she has some advice for those who think good taste and hospital food are mutually exclusive terms.

“You should ask the people who dine here. It’s all cooked here and there are some regulars who come to the hospital for the full dinner. A couple from the Islands come in for the dinner whenever they’re in town.”

While staff and hospital visitors are frequent diners in the 40-seat cafeteria, Willman is anxious to spread the word about the Meals of Wheels program. A taxi driver picks up meals for delivery in town seven days a week and the price is a reasonable eight dollars that includes the delivery charge.

“My concern is what people in the community have for their meals,” said Willman. “There are people who need our Meals of Wheels service but don’t know about it.

“They don’t have to be elderly to take advantage of the service. Shut-ins or people unable to cook for themselves can, too.”

Some people buy their dinner in the cafeteria and then get soup to take home for supper, and some pick up the entire meal because the cafeteria does a take-out business, she adds.

With her dietician’s concern for nutrition, Reid is keen on the kitchen’s food preparation, and its lack of a deep fryer.

“Baking and steaming are much better than frying,” she says.

Tailor quantity to individual

But when she looks at growing problems in North America with obesity, she says the answer isn’t simply cutting out some food types—like the low carb diet of a few years ago.

A nutritionally balanced diet requires moderation, she says. “It’s all about quantity and a diet that’s tailored to the individual.”

In that diet, however, she’d like to see an emphasis on fruits and vegetables—low in calories, high in fibre and essential nutrients—and the most important of the four food groups.

Since moderation is the key, she doesn’t have any objection to the menu of the day in the cafeteria: baked haddock with mashed potatoes and carrots. And because it’s Friday, it’s also ‘cheat day’ for the staff, so a hotdog and french fries are available. As the kitchen doesn’t have a deep fryer, the fries are baked.

Nutrition needs a boost for over-50s

Men and women over the age of 50 need a daily vitamin D supplement.

The need for vitamin D increases after the age of 50. In addition to following Canada’s Food Guide, everyone over the age of 50 should take a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 µg (400 IU). Vitamin D and calcium are important for bone strength and to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures in older adults.

Can I meet my vitamin D needs through food?

Canada’s Food Guide recommends having 500 mL (2 cups) of milk every day for adequate vitamin D. After the age of 50, vitamin D needs are higher than can be obtained from food and a daily supplement is recommended in addition to following Canada’s Food Guide.

Can I meet my vitamin D needs from sun exposure?

Men and women over the age of 50, have a reduced capacity to produce vitamin D through sun skin exposure. Therefore, it is recommended all adults over the age of 50 take a daily vitamin D supplement.

Being active makes a person healthy and strong. It is not just for people who have a weight problem but for everyone who likes to stay fit.

There is a lot a person can do such jog or walk every morning, play basketball or any other sport with friends but if a person wants to have muscles and look lean, then one can sign up and workout in a gym. Continue Reading…