Vitamin Information Center

Dr. Organics - Millions of Americans use supplements to enhance their health every day, studies show. But did you know that some supplements - those that contain artificial coloring, chemicals, sweeteners and other additives - may actually be detrimental to your health?
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Many people consider it unnecessary to take supplements. They believe that we get all the nutrition we need from our food. Maybe that used to be so. Our ancestors didn’t need nutritional supplements. The food they consumed was mostly fresh and unprocessed so, therefore, rich in vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. Continue Reading…

Choosing a multivitamin today can be very stressful as there are hundreds of companies looking to sell them to you. Since not all vitamins are created equal, with different ingredients and daily values (DV), it is important that you know what you are looking at on the label. A good multivitamin should provide 100 percent of the DV of vitamins and minerals, but there are some exceptions. Some you do not need at all, some you only need a little and some you can benefit from more. Continue Reading…

By Sandi Doughton

The Seattle Times

February 24, 2008 6:00 AM

Dreary northern winters are infamous for inducing depression. But being starved for sunlight can do more than kick you into a psychic hole.

A growing body of evidence suggests it can raise your risk of cancer, increase susceptibility to heart attack, diabetes and other disorders, and at least partly account for the region’s sky-high rates of multiple sclerosis.

The reason is vitamin D, an essential nutrient produced in abundance by skin exposed to the sun’s rays. Long dismissed as being important mainly for strong bones, the so-called sunshine vitamin is now recognized as a key player throughout the body, including the immune system. Continue Reading…

Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine” vitamin. It’s been in the news lately because many researchers are concerned about the adequacy and protective factors of the current recommended intake.

First, what is Vitamin D? It’s one of the fat soluble vitamins (the others are A, E and K) found in food or made by the body after exposure to UV rays from the sun. It exists in several forms, each with a different level of activity. The most active form of vitamin D is Calciferol. The liver and kidneys help convert Vitamin D to its active hormone form. So this is how it works:
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Researchers at The Rockefeller University Hospital have begun a clinical study to explore a possible connection between vitamin D deficiency and insulin resistance.

The hypothesis, that raising blood vitamin D levels in an obese, insulin-resistant population will improve the subjects? ability to metabolize sugar, could have eventual implications for patients with type 2 diabetes and their doctors.
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Six-year vitamin E supplementation increased tuberculosis risk by 72% in male smokers who had high dietary vitamin C intake, but vitamin E had no effect on those who had low dietary vitamin C intake, according to a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
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Unless you are lucky enough to live in a location that enjoys year-round sunshine and mild temperatures, you are likely to experience a drop in your Vitamin D levels during the winter. Getting direct sun on your skin is one of the chief ways in which you get vitamin D. With the colder weather, we spend less time outdoors and when we are outdoors, we try to cover as much skin as possible.
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Are vitamin pills good for you or not? Forty years ago, I was taught in medical school that they were useless, because you got all the vitamins you needed in a typical diet. What my teachers meant was that you got enough of the vitamins in your diet to prevent well-recognized vitamin-deficiency diseases. For example, you got more than enough vitamin C in your diet to prevent the disease called scurvy. Continue Reading…

Aboriginal teenagers are turning community perceptions on their head by saying traditional tucker such as stingray and bush plums are their favourite foods, an Australian study says.

Dr Julie Brimblecombe, at the Darwin-based Menzies School of Health Research, says the finding is part of a larger study into food choices in remote communities.
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