Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

According to most studies, if you are over the age of 50 and don’t spend adequate time in the sunshine, you may be vitamin D deficient. Plus, as you may know, it can be difficult to get sufficient amounts of vitamin D from enriched foods. And now, more and more doctors just like me are questioning the outdated standards for healthy vitamin D supplementation.

In a new article published in the journal Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology,1 16 doctors and professors have challenged the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board’s (FNB) recommendations for the daily allowance of vitamin D.

“The 1997 FNB recommendations offend the most basic principles of pharmacology and toxicology, leading us to conclude that the current official guidelines and limitations for vitamin D intakes are scientifically indefensible,” the article’s authors state.

The medical panel also stated, “children with chronic illness such as autism, diabetes and/or frequent infections [should take adequate] doses to maintain their vitamin D [levels] in the mid-normal of the reference range (65 ng/mL) — and should be so supplemented year around.”

According to the report, less than 1% of American children currently have such levels of vitamin D. The panel recommends healthy children take 1,000 IU/day of vitamin D for every 25 pounds of body weight.

Now, two MORE doctors are promoting the positive health benefits of vitamin D — and warning of the dangers of having a deficiency of this essential nutrient.

John H. Lee, M.D., of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute and the University of Missouri in Kansas City, said that people with a vitamin D deficiency face an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease. And a whopping 57% of adults suffer from a deficiency in the United States alone!2

In the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Lee and his colleagues said low levels of vitamin D can be linked to:

• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• Stroke
• Diabetes
• Diabetes-related cardiovascular disease
• Blood vessel disease
• High blood pressure
• And more!

To further support these claims, John P. Forman, M.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, studied 1,484 healthy women. Forman and the researchers found that in those patients with the lowest levels of the protein that measures vitamin D in the blood, 66% of them had high blood pressure!3

In order to avoid high blood pressure and other dangerous health risks associated with vitamin D deficiency, I recommend increasing your intake of healthy food sources such as milk, salmon, mackerel, tuna and oatmeal. Plus, try to increase your time spent in the sunshine –about 10 to 15 uninterrupted minutes, two to three times a week.

If you are older, you may no longer be able to efficiently produce adequate levels of vitamin D from sun exposure and food sources alone. But be cautious when taking supplements. Cod liver oil which many people take for its vitamin D content may cause serious side effects like joint aches, skin rashes, mouth ulcers, digestive problems, and headaches when taken in large doses.1 Vitamin D3 supplements (cholecalciferol) may be preferable because they are the most effective at maintaining serum vitamin D levels.

I suggest you also supplement with omega-3 fish oils, vitamin A, vitamin E and alpha linolenic acid (ALA) — all super nutrients scientifically proven for their help in promoting bone, heart and brain health.

Best,

Michael Cutler, M.D.

References

1. John J. Cannell, et al.  Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2008;117:864-870.
2. John H. Lee, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2008 52: 1949-1956.
3. John P. Forman et al. Hypertension. 2008;52:828-832.

[Ed. Note: Michael Cutler, M.D. is a Board-Certified family physician with more than 17 years of clinical experience. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Tulane Medical School. Dr. Cutler's practice focuses on integrative solutions to health problems, and behavioral and nutritional medicine. For more information, visit www.truehealth.com.]