solar power for optimal health

solar power for optimal health

Vitamin D Deficiency: A Silent Epidemic

You might not know this, but according to reliable statistics, 30-40 percent of American children and 40-50 percent of adults are at risk for vitamin D deficiency. The reason for this epidemic is not surprising when you think about it. Vitamin D deficiency is usually a result of insufficient exposure to sunlight. There are remarkably few foods, oily fish being one exception, that are rich sources of vitamin D. There are also age-related changes in the skin that need to be considered. As you age, your body's ability to make vitamin D declines. Perhaps we are too preoccupied with our cholesterol numbers to entertain the notion that a vitamin D deficiency could have far ranged affects on your health. At one time, all we knew about vitamin D was that we needed minimal levels to prevent a bone disease known as rickets. Since then, research has uncovered a laundry list of health conditions that are linked to vitamin D levels.

Recently, there has been increasing interest in the role that Vitamin D plays in over all health, and topics of discussion are varied. Vitamin D deficiency is being linked to everything from the common cold to cancer. Researchers at the University of Colorado followed 19,000 people to determine if Vitamin D levels could predict the common cold. Researchers found an inverse relationship to vitamin D levels and the incidence of the common cold. The data showed that participants with the lowest levels of Vitamin D were more likely to have recently suffered from a cold or respiratory infection, than those with vitamin D levels within the acceptable range. This relationship was even more impressive in people with asthma or COPD. People with the lowest amount of vitamin D showed a six fold increase in asthma and a three-fold increase in COPD, than those with the highest vitamin D levels.

In a paper presented at a conference of the American Association for Cancer Research, vitamin D researchers from University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine summarized studies that showed the same inverse relationship between vitamin D and cancer. The conclusion of these scientists was that adequate levels of vitamin D could prevent up to 39% of all cancers, with the biggest impact on breast cancer, colon cancer and the most aggressive types of prostate cancer. Additionally, the report noted that adequate levels of vitamin D could significantly reduce the incidence of juvenile-onset diabetes, an auto-immune disease, also known type I diabetes.

Vitamin D and Breast Cancer

High concentrations of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), a biomarker of endogenous and dietary vitamin D, are associated with a significantly reduced risk of breast cancer for pre-menopausal women, according to findings published in the well-respected, International Journal of Cancer.

According to Dr. Jenny Chang-Claude of the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, the anticancer properties of vitamin D are well established. There is mounting evidence that shows vitamin D can influence normal cell differentiation while inhibiting cell proliferation through the regulation of apoptosis, a process of programmed cell death for a normal cell.

Vitamin D deficiency is an important topic. More than half of the American population is suspected to have less than adequate levels of vitamin D in their blood. I covered this issue on my radio show, The Natural Health Hour, in an interview with Dr. Marc Sorenson. Dr. Sorenson literally wrote the book on Vitamin D. His latest book, Vitamin D3 and Solar Power for Optimal Health, is the first book written on vitamin D for the layman. Dr. Sorenson analyzed more than 800 medical and scientific resources during the course of his research on the book and traced 105 diseases that are linked to inadequate vitamin D.

 

As Sorenson said in a recent interview, "Due to the misguided efforts to frighten the public out of sunlight, we find ourselves in the middle of a health crisis," said Sorenson. "As we have become indoor dwellers, melanoma rates have skyrocketed along with many other diseases. I'm here to help reverse that trend."

 

Click here to listen to: Vitamin D Deficiency: A Silent Epidemic

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