Friday, June 21, 2013

What About Vitamin D!

By Mac Carter


This vitamin is fat soluble and has been the center of attention in recent years. Vitamin D helps bones in absorbing calcium in the small intestines and is essential for bone growth and maintaining bone density.

Numerous studies have supposed that vitamin D 3 is absorbed better and is more efficient in increasing and maintaining the vitamin D level in the blood.

The best way to diagnose vitamin D deficiency is to measure 25 (OH)-D and not 1, 25 (OH)-D. It has been suggested that improving vitamin D levels in healthy individuals can boost immunity and help to lower the risk of autoimmune diseases, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, etc.

The researchers have also suggested that increasing daily dietary vitamin D intake decreases the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Sunscreen could decrease the absorption of UV-B and subsequently cause a lower level of 25-OH-D. For instance, sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 8 can drop vitamin D3 synthetic capacity by 95%, and SPF 15 can cut it by 98%.

There have been puzzling endorsements in past years from different organizations about the amount of vitamin D necessary to prevent deficiency, including the recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force conclusion that the benefits and harms of daily supplementation with larger than 400 IU of vitamin D3 and greater than 1,000 mg of calcium to avert fractures are not clearly understood.

A recent research study has found that the amount of vitamin D varies from 9% to 146% of the amount recorded on the label. Only one thirds of the tested sample of supplementary pills met the US Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention standards.

According to the US Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention standards, compounded pills of vitamin D supplements should contain 90% to 110% of the active ingredient. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate the vitamin D supplements. The accurate amount of nutrients in these pills is not measured before they hit the market.




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