Dr. Joel’s Health and Wellness Catalyst Blog: September, 2016
Know Your D Level: Although not a miracle nutrient, vitamin D
is extremely important for many health issues such as heart disease, cancer,
depression and memory
The list of vitamin D related health issues seems to grow
almost on a monthly basis – bone health, heart disease, blood sugar regulation
and insulin resistance, depression, susceptibility to common cancers and
auto-immune diseases, memory, pain, etc.
How can this be, you say – well, it turns out that vitamin D helps to
regulate and is a co-factor for 10-20 % of all genetic activity, which is a
huge amount and central to almost all of our bodily functions.
** Everyone should know
what their blood level is and be taking it unless they have at least a level of
40 mg/dL.
A good example of the importance of vitamin D comes from a
recent study looking at its important effect in memory and cognition. What was most interesting to me was
that not only was higher level of vitamin D at the beginning of the study associated
with better memory or cognition level, but it was also associated with the
amount of cognitive decline that occurred over time (lower vitamin D level was
associated with greater change or worsening of cognitive measures over the four
year period in which the participants were followed).
Research has tied vitamin D to variety of functions and influences
within the brain that may be important for maintaining healthy
functioning. These include the
vitamin D receptors found in many parts of the brain that affect brain activity
and vitamin D’s promotion of anti-oxidant function which protects tissues from
aging or ‘rust’ damage (very important for maintaining nerve cell function and
overall nervous system activities).
Vitamin D and vitamin D blood levels are also important for
the two leading causes of death in the United States – cancer and heart disease. Benefits of higher levels of vitamin D
have been shown in certain types of cancer - one study from Norway found that
higher levels of vitamin D were associated with longer length of survival in
breast, colon and lung cancer, as well as in lymphoma (Tretli S, et al, 2012).
With regard to heart disease, vitamin D level may be a marker of
and/or contributor to high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, peripheral
vascular disease, irregular heart beat disorders and/or overall death or
mortality – lower vitamin D levels increase risk.
I have also wondered why so many people are vitamin D
deficient and I thought that it might relate to environmental chemicals (in
addition to using so much sun screen and other influences – sun helps to make
the active form of vitamin D) because many of these chemicals are hormone or
endocrine disrupters and vitamin D is also a hormone. A recent study has found a link between the intake of
Bisphenol A - BPA (found in some food can linings and plastic water bottles)
and phthalates (found in some plastics and cosmetics) and vitamin D blood
levels (Johns LE et al, 2016).
It is therefore important to know your vitamin D level (25 hydroxy
vitamin D), take extra vitamin D
if you need it (vitamin D3 – 1000 to 5000 IUs per day) and make sure that your
overall nutrition and lifestyle program is effective for your health history
and current health issues.
1. Wilson VK, et al. Relationship between 25 hydroxyvitamin D and cognitive
function in older adults: the Health ABC study J Am Geriatr Soc 2014;62:3839-53.
2. Tretli S, et
al. Serum levels of 25
hydroyvitamin D and survival in Norwegian patients with cancer of the breast,
colon, lung and lymphoma: a population based study. Cancer Causes Control
2012;23:363-70.
3. Lugg ST, et
al. Optimal vitamin D levels for
cardiovascular disease protection.
Dis Markers Sept 8, 2015;
epublication.
4. Johns LE, et
al. Relationships between urinary
phthalate metabolite and bisphenol A concentrations and vitamin D levels in US
adults: NHANES, 2005-2010. J Clin
Endocrinol Metab 2016 Sep 20 (epublication).
