Better Body Clinical Nutrition

BLOG

Vitamin D

Tuesday, February 21, 2023 12:17 PM

Article by Kelley Herring at healinggourmet.com 
Photo by Amy Humphries on unsplash.com 
VITAMIN D 
It can dramatically reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. In fact, this substance can wipe out five of the biggest risk factors for heart disease and stroke. It has been shown to:
1. Reverse oxidation
2. Dramatically reduce inflammation
3. Restore flexibility to your arteries
4. Lower blood pressure, and
5. Reduce abnormal or excess blood clotting.
6. It can even cause a rapid and sharp decrease in "bad" cholesterol.
It also helps the pancreas to function better, while increasing your body's sensitivity to insulin. One study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that this substance improved insulin sensitivity by 60 percent! It also lowers abnormally high blood sugar.
Not surprisingly, this compound is a godsend for existing diabetics and a powerful way to prevent the disease.
And the benefits go on, because...
When Vitamin D is circulating in the blood, it can help prevent and treat multiple sclerosis... rheumatoid arthritis... Parkinson's disease... Alzheimer's... allergies... autism... osteoporosis... and more!
It can even improve your mood, prevent depression and increase physical energy. It's been shown to boost lung power and increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. It can help you sleep better and even lose weight.
And if all that is not enough, this substance is critical for fertility, pregnancy and healthy childhood development. It can reduce cavities and gum disease and prevent misaligned teeth. It has a strong influence on the academic abilities (and behavior patterns) of children.
And believe it or not, one study showed that the amount that a pregnant mother gets is the most significant factor determining the future height of the child.
Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels 
Have you ever noticed how you feel happier sitting or walking in the sun? Doesn't it just calm your nerves and lift your spirits to spend time outside on a sunny day? There's a reason for this. Your body needs sunlight like it needs nutrients.
Your physiology is as closely tied to the sun as that of plants. Plants use sunlight to photosynthesize chlorophyll. Your body uses a comparable process to photosynthesize vitamin D.
Your body is intricately designed to interact with the sun. Sunlight and vitamin D touch virtually every aspect of your biochemistry and physiology. You cannot function properly without it.
For all but the smallest, most recent part of our history, we've lived in harmony with the sun. Our ancestors worshiped it as the source of life. The earliest physicians swore by its healing powers.
But, in many ways our modern lifestyle has broken our ancient connection with this source of life. We have moved from the country into the cities. We now work in buildings and travel in cars.
And despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of sunlight and vitamin D, the message from dermatologists, the medical profession and health authorities is still nearly unanimous: We are urged to stay out of the sun and to use chemical sunscreens to protect us from its "dangerous and damaging" rays.
The truth is that if you follow this "no safe level of sun exposure" dogma, you could be putting yourself at greater risk of numerous deadly cancers, depression, bone loss, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune illness and a host of other ailments.
And did you know that dozens of studies, including one review of more than 50 research papers, show that office workers have higher rates of malignant melanoma than construction workers, lifeguards and farmers!
Another review of all of the published research in the International Journal of Cancer revealed that people with "heavy occupational exposure" to the sun have significantly LOWER risk of melanoma. The fact is that those who spend more time in the sun (without burning) have less risk of deadly skin cancer.
We encourage You to Prove it to Yourself
The purpose of this article is not to prove beyond a shadow of doubt the importance of vitamin D in every aspect of health and disease. We don't have the space to detail the results of the hundreds of studies proving the health claims in the first half of this article. That would take an entire book.
However, there is a long list of references below, if you'd like to do more research. But I'd like to encourage you to do a quick exercise...
Take any health concern or disease you can possibly think of and do a Google search with that phrase combined with vitamin D. For example:
• Diabetes vitamin D
• Autism vitamin D
• Heart disease vitamin D
• Cancer vitamin D
Even better, you look at some of these searches at  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov  for links to the actual studies. What you will find is that nearly every health concern you can imagine has a positive association with optimal vitamin D levels.
That's good news. The bad news is that...
Most of the Population (Probably Including You) are Deficient in Vitamin D
Whether it's due to misguided warnings about the danger of sunlight, lifestyles that keep people inside during daytime hours, or simply because they live too far north, the fact is that most people simply do not get enough sunlight to create the vitamin D their bodies need. (The idea is to get sun daily but avoid burning. This means not staying in the sun more than 20 minutes at high noon when the sun is at his strongest. Or get you sun-rays early or later in the day when the sun is lower in the sky for a good 30 minutes) 
Sun exposure is - by far - the best and safest way to optimize vitamin D levels. But for many people, this is simply not possible. Either we're not able to spend enough time outdoors during daylight hours... or we live too far north to produce the vitamin D our body needs. 
If this applies to you, you should consider taking a Vitamin D3 supplement. We encourage you not to wait. Schedule a visit today to test if you need vitamin D. 
REFERENCES
1. Hobday, R. (1999). The Healing Sun: Sunlight and Health in the 21st Century. Scotland: Findhorn Press. p. 67.
2. John EM, Schwartz GG, et al. "Vitamin D and Breast Cancer Risk: The NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study, 1971-1975 to 1992," Cancer Epidem Bio & Prev 1999; 8: 399-406
3. Klerman, GL, Weissman, MM. (1989). Increasing rates of depression. JAMA. 261(15):2229-35.
4. Elwood JM, Jopson J. Melanoma and sun exposure: an overview of published studies. Int J Cancer. 1997 Oct 9;73(2):198-203.
5. Elwood JM, et al. (1985). Cutaneous melanoma in relation to intermittent and constant sun exposure - the western Canada melanoma study. Int J Cancer. 35:427.
6. Elwood, JM. (1992). Melanoma and sun exposure: contrasts between intermittent and chronic exposure. World J Surg.16:157.
7. Garland, FC, et al. (1990). Occupational sunlight exposure and melanoma in the U.S. Navy.  Arch Environ Health. 45:261.
8. Elwood JM, Jopson J. (1997). Melanoma and sun exposure: an overview of published studies.  Int J Cancer. 73(2):198-203.
9. Luscombe, CJ, et al. (2001). Exposure to ultra-violet radiation: association with susceptibility and age at presentation with prostate cancer. Lancet. 358: 641-2.
10. Luscombe, CJ, et al. (2001). Exposure to ultra-violet radiation: association with susceptibility and age at presentation with prostate cancer. Lancet. 358: 641-2.
11. Manolagas, SC. (1987). Vitamin D and its relevance to cancer. Anticancer Res. 7:625.
12. DeLuca HF, Ostrem V. (1986). The Relationship between the Vitamin D System and Cancer. Adv Exp Med Biol. 206:413.
13. Pell, JP, Cobbe, SM. (1999). Seasonal variations in coronary heart disease. Q J Med. 92(12): 689-96.
14. Timms PM, et al. (2002). Circulating MMP9, vitamin D and variation in the TIMP-1 response with VDR genotype: mechanisms for inflammatory damage in chronic disorders? QJM. 95(12):787-96.
15. Van den Berghe, G. (2003). Bone turnover in prolonged critical illness: effect of vitamin D. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 88(10):4623-32.
16. Krause R, Holick MF, et al. "Ultraviolet B and blood pressure," Lancet 1998; 352(9129): 709-10
17. Johnson, JR, et al. (1935). The effect of carbon arc radiation on blood pressure and cardiac output. American Journal of Physiology. 114:594.
18. Lind L, et al. (1988). Reduction of blood pressure by treatment with alphacalcidol. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. Acta Med Scand. 223(3):211-7.
19. Scragg, R. (1981). Seasonality of cardiovascular disease mortality and the possible protective effect of ultra-violet radiation. Int J Epidemiol. 10(4):337-41.
20. McDonagh, EW. Photoluminescence: UV lght irradiation in the laboratory. The Healing Power of Light. http://www.lightparty.com/Health/HealingLight.html
21. Ken-ichi, A. (2004). Disruption of Nuclear Vitamin D Receptor Gene Causes Enhanced Thrombogenicity in Mice. J Biol Chem. 279(34): 35798-802.
22. Rauschkolb EW, et al. (1971). Effects of Ultraviolet Light on Skin Lipid Metabolism. J Invest Derm. 56:387.
23. Altschul, R. (1955). Ultraviolet Irradiation and Cholesterol Metabolism. Arch Phys Med. 36:394.
24. Need, AG, et al. (2005). Relationship between fasting serum glucose, age, body mass index and serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D in postmenopausal women. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 62(6):738-41.
25. Pittas, AG, et al. "Vitamin D and calcium intake in relation to type 2 diabetes in women," Diabetes Care 2006; 29: 650-56
26. Chiu, KC, et al. (2004). Hypovitaminosis D is associated with insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction. Am J Clin Nutr. 79(5):820-5.
27. Borissova, AM, et al. (2003). The effect of vitamin D3 on insulin secretion and peripheral insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients. Int J Clin Pract. 57(4):258-61.
28. Kime, ZR. (1980). Sunlight. Penryn, CA: World Health Publications. p. 34.
29. Laurens, H. (1939). The Physiologic Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation. JAMA. 11:2385.
30. Miley, G. (1939). Ultraviolet Blood Radiation: Studies in Oxygen Absorption. American Journal of Medical Science. 197:873.
31. Pincussen, L. (1937). The Effect of Ultraviolet and Visible Rays on Carbohydrate Metabolism, Arch Phys Ther X-Ray Radium. 18:750.
32. Dhesi, JK, et al. (2004). Vitamin D supplementation improves neuromuscular function in older people who fall. Age Ageing. 33(6):589-95.
33. Dhesi, JK, et al. (2002).  Neuromuscular and psychomotor function in elderly subjects who fall and the relationship with vitamin D status. J Bone Miner Res. 17(5):891-7.
34. Shi, H, et al. (2001). 1alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 modulates human adipocyte metabolism via nongenomic action. FASEB J. 15(14):2751-3.
35. Wortsman, J, et al. (2000). Decreased bioavailability of vitamin D in obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 72(3):690-3.
36. Gallagher, JC. (2004). The effects of calcitriol on falls and fractures and physical performance tests. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 89-90(1-5):497-501.
37. Dijkstra SH, et al. "Seizures in foreign newborns due to maternal vitamin-D deficiency," Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 2005; 149(5): 257-60
38. Feron F, et al. (2005). Developmental vitamin D3 deficiency alters the adult rat brain. Brain Res Bull. 65(2):141-8.
39. Eyles, D, et al. (2003). Vitamin D and brain development. Neuroscience. 118(3):641-53.
40. Mercola.com. Let the sun shine in (especially when pregnant). 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It is very precise and scientific. However, if I were to analyze you using Nutrition Response Testing before it was explained to you, you might find it strange, or simply not believable – only because it is probably very different from anything you may have experienced before.


Quite frankly, if you want to get healthy and stay healthy, it is important that you understand what Nutrition Response Testing is, and what our recommendations are based on.


Otherwise, you are less likely to follow through and actually do what you need to do to get well. To put it simply, if you don't follow through, you won't get well. And if you are not going to get well, why do it in the first place?


The results we have been having with Nutrition Response Testing are often in the 90% and better range. The only reason we are here is to help you get well. That is why I want to make sure you get the correct understanding of what Nutrition Response Testing is right from the start.


Let's get started

In medical practice there are two key parts: the diagnosis (identifying and/or naming the “disease” or syndrome) and the treatment (drugs, surgery, etc.).


In Nutrition Response Testing we do not diagnose or treat disease - but we also have two parts: the analysis and the personalized health improvement program (using designed clinical nutrition).


Simply put, first we do an analysis, and then we design a natural health improvement program to help you handle what we find in our analysis of your body and condition.


First the Analysis

The analysis is done through testing the body's own neurological reflexes and acupuncture points. The neurological reflexes are derived from the part of the nervous system whose job is to regulate the functions of each and every organ. The acupuncture points are selected from the ancient Chinese system of acupuncture, which is thousands of years old.


Nutrition Response Testing is a study of how the different points on the surface of the body relate to the state of health and to the flow of energy in each and every organ and function of the body.


Interestingly, since the human anatomy has not changed significantly in thousands of years, the utilization of these reflexes and specific points have become extremely useful in our practice because they are so accurate!


Think about it

Each Nutrition Response Testing reflex represents a specific organ, tissue, or function, and indicates the effect that energy, or the lack of energy, is having on the body. By testing the Nutrition Response Testing reflexes, we have a system of monitoring your body at each visit that has proven to be extremely accurate clinically, and that helps us identify exactly what the body needs and how well we are meeting that need.


Doesn't this sound like something you would want for yourself in order to predict, with certainty, what is needed and wanted by the body to get you to the next stage of improved health?


How do we access the Nutrition Response Testing™ reflexes in order to get this information?


If I were to hook you up to an electro-cardiograph machine and take a reading, that would make perfect sense to you, right?


What is actually happening during this procedure? Electrical energy from the heart is running over the wires. This electrical energy makes the electrocardiograph record the energy pattern in the form of a graph or chart. I could then study this graph and tell you what it all means.


Here is what we do with Nutrition Response Testing. Instead of connecting electrodes to the specific points being tested, the Nutrition Response Testing doctor contacts these points with his/her own hand. With his other hand, he/she will test the muscle of your extended arm. If the reflex being contacted is active, the nervous system will respond by reducing energy to the extended arm, and the arm will weaken and drop. This drop signifies underlying stress or dysfunction, which can be affecting your health.


Call us at 512-961-1866 to schedule your visit, or to reserve a seat at one of our Free Health Seminars to find out more.