Archive for category Vitamin
Foods High in Vitamin D – Health Benefits Of Vitamin D
Many people do not realize the importance of Vitamin D in human body. They take it as a sunshine vitamin as our body naturally absorbs it when we are exposed to the sun. However in today’s world we generally do not get that much of sun exposure due to spending most of our times in houses, workplaces, cars or shopping malls. Many people develop Vitamin D deficiency for the same reason. Studies have shown that there are some high vitamin D foods also that provide efficient amount of this vitamin. Keeping in mind the health problems that the deficiency of vitamin D can cause to the body you should take proper diet that enables vitamin D intake in sufficient amount.
The most common and widely known source of vitamin D in food is through animal products like milk and eggs. Egg yolk is considered to contain Vitamin D in moderate amount. If you take an egg daily then it will provide you 10% of Vitamin D in your diet. It can also be found in fish oil. Sardine fishes that are found in tins easily nowadays can provide you almost 70 % of Vitamin D daily. Fresh caught tuna in 3 ounces can be taken to supply about 50% of Vitamin D that your body requires daily. Herring and cat fish are also found to be good sources of Vitamin D because they feed on plankton which is a part of sea life and creates Vitamin D from sunlight in good amount. Some other sources of this vitamin are mackerel and sockeye salmon.
Studies have also proved that vitamin D can also be found in dried shiitake mushrooms in excessive amount. These mushrooms are rich in Vitamin D because of sucking sunlight. But for using shiitake mushrooms to supply Vitamin D to the body make sure that you get mushrooms that have dried up under the sun naturally and not by any artificial means. Only shiitake mushrooms dried under the sun will enable you to take benefits from Vitamin D effectively. Read the rest of this entry »
Vitamin D, or Vitamin D Hormone?
Vitamin D deficiency is common in the United States and worldwide. It is known to be important in bone mineral metabolism but now we have information that it does much more.
Vitamins are generally known to be responsible for a single disease and appropriate supplementation should correct the disease. A hormone goes to distant tissues and makes multiple metabolic improvements. That’s vitamin D’s job.
Your levels of vitamin D should be much higher than previously thought. Certainly much higher than noted on the milk carton or vitamin pills in the local drug store. Here is the story for today.
Eight hundred to a thousand IU is needed in general but as we age we need much more. I like liquid formulations best because as you age D is more difficult to absorb. It is probably best to consume that thousand IU daily for consistency in improving all the things Vitamin D will do for you.
For example hip fracture drops 23% and other non-vertebral fractures drop 26%. We know about retarding bone loss as we age but did you that it works on the muscles as well? Lower extremity strength and improved walking were shown in several studies in older people. The risk of falling is improved 22%. It’s nice to have less muscle pain, walk a little faster and get out of a chair quicker than the other seniors. Arthritis is decreased in severity as well.
Many cancers are also significantly diminished in occurrence by increasing vitamin D. These include cancers of the colon, breast, and prostate. Other metabolic disorders include type 1 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, possibly type 2 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
Vitamin D is a potent modulator of activated T and B-lymphocytes, the workhorses of the immune system. Animal models show prevention of rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn’s Disease of the bowel. Research has shown marked improvement in psoriasis as well.
If that isn’t enough, it is generally noted that there is a distinct improvement in well being and energy, often in the first week. All these improvements were reported in Endocrine News, a publication of the Endocrine Society in the August/September issue 2005 beginning on page 10.
It’s remarkable what you can do for yourself when you couple reliable information about health into action for your life. It’s not just good it’s thrilling. It’s the way life is supposed to be. Read the rest of this entry »