Vitamin Information Center

(Best Syndication News) Although Vitamin D is important for bone and muscle health, researchers are now saying that it is very important for the heart as well. Linus C Pauling (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) illustrated the importance of vitamin C for health while new researchers at the Mid American Heart Institute in Kansas are recognizing that vitamin D plays a very important role in our wellbeing.

“Vitamin D deficiency is an unrecognized, emerging cardiovascular risk factor, which should be screened for and treated,” said James H. O’Keefe, M.D., cardiologist and director of Preventive Cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, MO. O’Keefe says that a deficiency of the vitamin increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

“Vitamin D is easy to assess, and supplementation is simple, safe and inexpensive,” O’Keefe added. Viactiv, the common calcium supplement recently doubled the vitamin d in their chews.

Half of all adults and 30 percent of the children and teenagers in the United States have a vitamin D deficiency. Data from the Framingham Heart Study suggested that participants below 15 ng/ml were twice as likely to experience a heart attack, stroke or other CV event within the next five years when compared to those with higher levels.

“Restoring vitamin D levels to normal is important in maintaining good musculoskeletal health, and it may also improve heart health and prognosis,” said Dr. O’Keefe. “We need large randomized controlled trials to determine whether or not vitamin D supplementation can actually reduce future heart disease and deaths.”

From the report:

In the absence of clinical guidelines, the authors outline specific recommendations for restoring and maintaining optimal vitamin D levels in CV patients. These patients should initially be treated with 50,000 IU of vitamin D2 or D3 once weekly for 8 to 12 weeks. Maintenance therapy should be continued using one of the following strategies:

1) 50,000 IU vitamin D2 or D3every 2 weeks;

2) 1,000 to 2,000 IU vitamin D3 daily;

3) Sunlight exposure for 10 minutes for Caucasian patients (longer for people with increased skin pigmentation) between the hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Vitamin D supplements appear to be safe. In rare cases, vitamin D toxicity (causing high calcium levels and kidney stones) is possible, but only when taking in excess of 20,000 units a day.

The research and recommendations are published in the December, 9, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC)

By Jeffrey Workmman
Beest Syndication News Health Writer

Nutritional Armor - It would be nice if you could put on armor everyday to protect your body from all those things which would harm it. Cell research has shown that free radical damage causes early aging, and free radicals come from the environment. The good news is that nature holds secrets like the Acai berry which can be consumed and become a natural armor against free radical damage.

When you read Acai facts, it’s hard to believe this amazing fruit has not been used in most health products. The berry contains an intense concentration of flavanoids called anthocyanins known to reduce the occurrence of heart disease. Acai also contains fatty acids which help the body absorb the fat soluble vitamins like A, D and E.

The nutritional armor you wear when using Acai also includes a variety of vitamins and other elements like phytochemicals. There is calcium, fiber and protein also packed into these little berries. You will find minerals like potassium and magnesium which are required by your body’s systems for efficient operation.

Knights on White Horses

When you read the facts about Acai, it’s easy to see that consumption of the berry will give you the ability to fight disease and increase your energy levels. When you put on Acai armor, it’s like having knights on white horses come to your defense. Except in this case the “knights” are essential nutrients and the “white horses” are the antioxidants.

Reading Acai facts presents an interesting story of a plant known to contain exceptional health benefits for years. In South America the Acai berry has been used in fruits drinks as a nutritional supplement. The fact is the berry has up to 30 times the number of anthocyanins as any other dark colored fruit.

Most people have read about the heart health benefits of drinking a glass of dark wine each day. It’s the anthocyanins in the wine which are protecting your cardiovascular system. It’s amazing to think this natural remedy has been hiding in the Amazon for thousands of years.

A summary of Acai facts shows you the tremendous nutritional value of the berry. The berry is turned into a delicious drink that can be used regularly in your daily diet. It makes it easy to insure you are getting the nutritional supplementation you need to stay as healthy as possible. Acai Facts You Never Knew!

Before we dig into the amazing acai facts, let’s take a look at the famous acai story. Legend says that there lived an Amazon Indian girl called “Iaca.” Her father was the chief of the tribe. It so happened that their tribe faced acute shortage of food. Thus, the chief ordered every newborn to be killed in order to let the existing members survive. When the chief’s daughter, Iaca, gave birth to a baby, the tiny life had to be terminated too! Iaca couldn’t overcome her baby’s death and wailed for many days in her hut.

One day, she heard a cry outside. Curiosity got the better of her and she followed the baby’s cry that led her into the forest. She came across a tall, attractive palm tree loaded with dark purple tiny berries. This came as a rude shock to her. Here was so much food for the tribe and she had to kill her baby! This harsh truth struck her like a bolt of lightening and she died right there against the tree.

The next day, the tribesmen found Iaca’s body and the treasure of food too. The rule was removed and the tribe became healthier and stronger after eating the wonder fruit, which was named as “Acai” after the chief’s daughter. Actually, it’s “Iaca” spelled backwards!

Among all the interesting acai facts, one especially intriguing is that out of all the native Indian tribes, only those who consumed acai berries survived; the rest perished due to European germs!

Astounding Acai Facts! Acai juice is known popularly as the “Wine of Amazon.” Acai can’t be transported in its whole fruit form. It has to be processed into freeze dried powder or liquid form. The amount of disease-combating antioxidants found in acai is higher than any other fruit found on the earth. The ORAC value of acai berry is 1026 as compared to spinach’s 150 and broccoli’s 130! Acai berry contains anthocyanins that are 30 times more than that present in red wine! This fruit is rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, and E; minerals like calcium, iron, and phosphorus; protein, dietary fiber, and essential fatty acids like Omega 3, 6, and 9 that are also present in virgin olive oil. This fruit with abundant health benefits and loads of nutrients is dark purple in color and just one inch in diameter!

Brazilians have been relishing on acai fruit for decades. A cold bowl of these rejuvenating berries for breakfast daily is your way towards a healthy and youthful life in the future. Chomp Chomp!

The fact is that using the Acai berry will increase your energy, improve organ function, strengthen the immune system and fight free radicals. It’s hard to find a single product which can accomplish so much in one drink. Read the facts and see for yourself all of the health benefits.

Dr. Robert Heaney, professor of internal medicine at St. Louis University School of Medicine, says 40 percent of his patients get too little vitamin D. He fears the condition could result in health problems as people age.

That corresponds with the 40 percent of Americans and more than 500 million worldwide who get too little vitamin D to stay healthy, according to the World Health Organization.

Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin” because people normally would get most of what they need from exposing their skin to the sun. UVB rays turn cholesterol in the skin into vitamin D.

And that’s the snag. As scientists find that vitamin D helps conditions from bones to heart health, physicians are rethinking the guidelines for sun exposure — to the chagrin of doctors who believe that’s an invitation to more skin cancer.

Fish oils, fish and fortified dairy products are the main vitamin D sources in food. “But you can eat fish every day of the week and be deficient in vitamin D,” Heaney says. “Vitamin D is difficult to get from food.”

Indeed, the American Vitamin D Council cites research that 10 to 15 minutes in the sun makes up to 12,000 IU (international units) of vitamin D. A sunburn can make up to 50,000. A multivitamin may have 400 IU, which is the recommended daily amount of vitamin D for adults, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. John Cannell, founder of the American Vitamin D Council, says vitamin D is much more valuable than a tool to build bones and teeth. Researchers say vitamin D affects more than 1,000 genes, including ones that resist illness such as colds and even cancer.

“We never put together before that we get colds in the winter and not in the summer when we get more vitamin D in the summer,” Cannell said.

THE SNAG

Doctors who fight skin cancer fear that young people will start sunbathing — and sunburning — again, or use tanning beds to up their dose of vitamin D.

Dr. Susan Bayliss, professor of dermatology at the Washington University School of Medicine, recommends food supplements over increased sun

exposure. UVB and UVA sun rays remain culprits for skin cancer.

“The dilemma is that if you have really fair skin and red hair and freckles, it’s probably better to take your vitamin D in by mouth and put your sunscreen on,” says Bayliss, who also is director of pediatric dermatology and practices at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the Center for Advanced Medicine.

People with more pigment (melanin) in the skin can tolerate more sun, she says.

AUSTRALIA’S DILEMMA

Heaney says that Australians, who have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, years ago heeded the word about skin cancer and got out of the sun. But in only a few years, the rate of rickets — a disease of softened bones and bowed legs caused by vitamin D deficiency — increased.

Physicians who advocate more sun say vitamin D made with sunshine never reaches toxic levels. “Vitamin D gets to the useful level, then the sunshine destroys the surplus,” he says.

ELSEWHERE

As health experts wonder what to do with the new findings, they are examining vitamin D intake standards.

For example, the one-size-fits all approach is obsolete. Vitamin D intake recommendations change the closer you live to the equator. People who live in St. Louis don’t get the same amount of sun as southern neighbors, but we do get more sun that our northern states.

The Canadian Cancer Society, for example, last year raised its recommendation for daily vitamin D supplement intake to 1,000 IU per day, more than twice the 400 IU recommended daily for U.S. adults.

SUNSHINE

For some, getting more sun is a back-to-basics measure.

Dr. John Morley, head of geriatrics at St. Louis University, says, “In our nursing homes, people are supposed to be on 800 IU a day,” he said. Still, “about 40-50 percent are vitamin D deficient by the criteria you have to measure the vitamin D. For people 25, that’s not so important and can be corrected. But at 60 or 65 you’re more likely to have falls and deterioration in your functional status, more injuries, hip fractures.”

Nursing homes where he consults now put residents in the sun about 30 minutes a day. The policy led to fewer falls and fractures as well as better health and mood.

“Even with lousy sunlight, if you get people out a half-hour a day, and they’re not covered up and they get some sun, they’ll do OK,” Morley says. “Since we’ve been doing that, we’ve noticed a marked decrease in fractures in the nursing homes, and we now have a rule in the nursing homes, you have to check the vitamin D and make sure the people get (the vitamin) and calcium at an appropriate level.

“But so many people don’t get any sunlight, and that’s particularly true with older people.”

SAFE STEPS

Physicians agree on some issues:

– Vitamin D is essential and needs to be maintained and monitored.

– Sunbathing for a long time in direct summer sun is still a bad thing. “You can get outside, even wearing a hat and expose the arms,” says Dr. Veronica McGregor, an endocrinologist with St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in West County. “About 10 to 15 minutes two or three times a week. It doesn’t take much sun to get adequate vitamin D.”

– Check food labels on supplements because not all vitamin D is the same, Heaney says. You’ll find two types. The best is “cholecalciferol,” the form that occurs naturally and exists mainly in fish oils. It can be synthesized. The second type, “ergocalciferol, is an inexpensively produced vitamin D but may be only 30 percent as effective as the other form. A label that doesn’t specify is probably the lesser form, Heaney says.

– Cod liver oil is the best single source of vitamin D besides sunshine. One tablespoon can deliver 340 percent of the daily recommended vitamin D.

– Don’t rely on fortified dairy products. “Those levels were established (decades ago) to address problems with rickets in children,” Heaney says. “They don’t supply enough for an adult.”

– Tanning beds aren’t the answer. They may not be balanced properly between UVB and UVA rays. Too much UVA is not beneficial.

– Talk to your doctor about a vitamin D test. People most likely to have deficiencies are people who get little sun and anyone who has a family history of bone-density problems.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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