Vitamin D Supplementation VERY Effective

More evidence showing the dangers of vitamin D insufficiency, as a large new study shows that people with low blood concentrations of the vital nutrient are at an increased risk for dying of any cause. Any cause? Yes, and even more startling was that by boosting low levels with vitamin D supplementation cut peoples' risk of dying by half.

According to the latest study, which looked at 10,899 patients at the University of Kansas Hospital, found that 70% were deficient in vitamin D and they were at significantly higher risk for a variety of heart diseases, including. D-deficiency also nearly doubled a person's likelihood of dying, whereas correcting the deficiency with supplements lowered their risk of death by 60%.

Rickets

These numbers highlight previous research that has shown many North Americans to have insufficient blood levels of vitamin D. Rickets due to vitamin D deficiency has been well understood for many years, but how much D levels play in overall health and well-being is just becoming to be understood more fully. Levels under 30 ng/ml are below what's necessary for good health.

According to the latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, an estimated 25-57% of adults are vitamin D insufficient, and other studies have suggested the number is as high as 70%.  Cardiologists from the University of Kansas study found that people with deficient levels of vitamin D were more than twice as likely to have diabetes, 40% more likely to have high blood pressure and about 30% more likely to suffer from cardiomyopathy (diseased heart muscle) than people without D deficiency.

"We expected to see that there was a relationship between heart disease and vitamin D deficiency; we were surprised at how strong it was," said Dr. James L. Vacek, a professor of cardiology at the University of Kansas Hospital and Medical Center.

"It was so much more profound than we expected."

Vacek believes that so many people are deficient because we should get 90% of our vitamin D from the sun and only 10% from food. We need sunlight to make vitamin D in our bodies, so 20 minutes per day minimum exposure is necessary to maintain proper blood levels. With the fear of skin cancer looming, many have taken to using sunscreens to reduce sun exposure. 

Experts say that in the Northern United States and Canada the sun isn't strong enough during winter months to make sufficient vitamin D, even if the weather was warm enough to expose the skin for a long time. To combat this, adults should get their vitamin D levels checked by their doctors and take vitamin D supplements. 

This study comes at an opportune time as many in the medical field have dismissed previous vitamin D research as inconclusive, particularly the role supplements can play in a return to health from those deficient. I have wondered why so many doctors and medical policy stiffs have been so adamant at denying the research results on vitamin D, and the only thing I can think of is they just despise being wrong. I don't think its a pharmaceutical conspiracy like many tend to, but hanging on to old beliefs is the only way I can make sense of  the blindness in light of some pretty solid data. I mean I can understand skepticism, but previous studies have been fairly well done, and they are vast in number. 

I just think the old guard will never accept that they were wrong about supplementation from the start, no matter how well-intentioned they might have been; and I think many are wrong to advocate minimal sun exposure for the masses. Some increases in skin cancer can be from chronic pharmaceutical use, particularly those that are immunosuppressive. 

It was easy to blame the sun, but that was also wrong. The sun is the most life-giving source in the solar system. Avoiding it is just unwise. This latest vitamin D study is simply more evidence supporting the principle.