Vitamin D myths, facts and statistics

[Guest guest]

http://www.summertan.com/vitamin_d_and_ultraviolet_light.htm

 

 

Vitamin D myths, facts and statistics

 

*Fifteen facts you probably never knew about vitamin D and sunlight

exposure.*

/(Compiled by Mike Adams, based on an interview with Dr. Michael Holick,

author, The UV Advantage)/

 

Vitamin D prevents osteoporosis, depression, prostate cancer, breast

cancer, and even effects diabetes and obesity. Vitamin D is perhaps the

single most underrated nutrient in the world of nutrition). That's

probably because it's free: your body makes it when sunlight touches

your skin. Drug companies can't sell you sunlight, so there's no

promotion of its health benefits. Truth is, most people don't know the

real story on vitamin D and health. So here's an overview taken from an

interview between Mike Adams and Dr. Michael Holick.

 

1. Vitamin D is produced by your skin in response to exposure to

ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight.

2. The healing rays of natural sunlight (that generate vitamin D in

your skin) cannot penetrate glass. So you don't generate vitamin D

when sitting in your car or home.

3. It is nearly impossible to get adequate amounts of vitamin D from

your diet. Sunlight exposure is the only reliable way to generate

vitamin D in your own body.

4. A person would have to drink ten tall glasses of vitamin D

fortified milk each day just to get minimum levels of vitamin D

into their diet.

5. The further you live from the equator, the longer exposure you

need to the sun in order to generate vitamin D. Canada, the UK and

most U.S. states are far from the equator.

6. People with dark skin pigmentation may need 20 - 30 times as much

exposure to sunlight as fair-skinned people to generate the same

amount of vitamin D. That's why prostate cancer is epidemic among

black men -- it's a simple, but widespread, sunlight deficiency.

7. Sufficient levels of vitamin D are crucial for calcium absorption

in your intestines. Without sufficient vitamin D, your body cannot

absorb calcium, rendering calcium supplements useless.

8. Chronic vitamin D deficiency cannot be reversed overnight: it

takes months of vitamin D supplementation and sunlight exposure to

rebuild the body's bones and nervous system.

9. Even weak sunscreens (SPF=8) block your body's ability to generate

vitamin D by 95%. This is how sunscreen products actually cause

disease -- by creating a critical vitamin deficiency in the body.

10. It is impossible to generate too much vitamin D in your body from

sunlight exposure: your body will self-regulate and only generate

what it needs.

11. If it hurts to press firmly on your sternum, you may be suffering

from chronic vitamin D deficiency right now.

12. Vitamin D is " activated " in your body by your kidneys and liver

before it can be used.

13. Having kidney disease or liver damage can greatly impair your

body's ability to activate circulating vitamin D.

14. The sunscreen industry doesn't want you to know that your body

actually needs sunlight exposure because that realization would

mean lower sales of sunscreen products.

15. Even though vitamin D is one of the most powerful healing

chemicals in your body, your body makes it absolutely free. No

prescription required.

 

 

 

On the issue of sunlight exposure, by the way, it turns out that super

antioxidants greatly boost your body's ability to handle sunlight

without burning. Astaxanthin is one of the most powerful " internal

sunscreens " and can allow you to stay under the sun twice as long

without burning. Other powerful antioxidants with this ability include

the superfruits like Acai, Pomegranates (POM Wonderful juice),

blueberries, etc.

 

 

Diseases and conditions cause by vitamin D deficiency:

 

* Osteoporosis is commonly caused by a lack of vitamin D, which

greatly impairs calcium absorption.

* Sufficient vitamin D prevents prostate cancer, breast cancer,

ovarian cancer, depression, colon cancer and schizophrenia.

* " Rickets " is the name of a bone-wasting disease caused by vitamin

D deficiency.

* Vitamin D deficiency may exacerbate type 2 diabetes and impair

insulin production in the pancreas.

* Obesity impairs vitamin D utilization in the body, meaning obese

people need twice as much vitamin D.

* Vitamin D is used around the world to treat Psoriasis.

* Vitamin D deficiency causes schizophrenia.

* Seasonal Affective Disorder is caused by a melatonin imbalance

initiated by lack of exposure to sunlight.

* Chronic vitamin D deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia

because its symptoms are so similar: muscle weakness, aches and

pains.

* Your risk of developing serious diseases like diabetes and cancer

is reduced 50% - 80% through simple, sensible exposure to natural

sunlight 2-3 times each week.

* Infants who receive vitamin D supplementation (2000 units daily)

have an 80% reduced risk of developing type 1 diabetes over the

next twenty years.

 

 

Shocking Vitamin D deficiency statistics:

 

* 32% of doctors and med school students are vitamin D deficient.

* 40% of the U.S. population is vitamin D deficient.

* 42% of African American women of childbearing age are deficient in

vitamin D.

* 48% of young girls (9-11 years old) are vitamin D deficient.

* Up to 60% of all hospital patients are vitamin D deficient.

* 76% of pregnant mothers are severely vitamin D deficient, causing

widespread vitamin D deficiencies in their unborn children, which

predisposes them to type 1 diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis

and schizophrenia later in life. 81% of the children born to these

mothers were deficient.

* Up to 80% of nursing home patients are vitamin D deficient.

 

<http://www.uvadvantage.com>

 

 

What you can do:

 

Sensible exposure to natural sunlight is the simplest, easiest and yet

one of the most important strategies for improving your health. I urge

you to read the book, " The UV Advantage " by Dr. Michael Holick to get

the full story on natural sunlight. You can find this book at most local

bookstores or through BN.com, Amazon.com, etc. /Note: This is not a paid

endorsement or an affiliate link. I recommend it because of its great

importance in preventing chronic disease and enhancing health without

drugs or surgery./ *This may be the single most important book on health

you ever read.* If more people understood this information, we could

drastically reduce the rates of chronic disease in this country and

around the world. Sunlight exposure is truly one of the most powerful

healing therapies in the world, far surpassing the best efforts of

today's so-called " advanced medicine. " There is no drug, no surgical

procedure, and no high-tech procedure that comes even close to the

astonishing healing power of natural sunlight.

 

And you can get it free of charge. That's why nobody's promoting it, of

course.

 

..

 

 

Vitamin D: What's Enough?

 

 

Many people may need much more

 

*Janet Raloff*

 

A few minutes of sun exposure on a summer day can generate huge

quantities of vitamin D in a person's body. A cholesterol-like substance

in the skin absorbs ultraviolet (UV) energy and creates vitamin D. Then,

a cascade of chemical reactions turns vitamin D into a surprisingly

versatile hormone---one that has long been recognized to help the body

absorb calcium from the diet to build strong bones. Recent work,

however, indicates that vitamin D also bolsters muscle strength, insulin

action, immune health, and the body's natural defenses against cancer.

 

Inhabitants of the tropics typically have plenty of vitamin D, says

Robert P. Heaney of Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. However, studies

are now showing that people throughout the industrial world lag far

behind. Many in temperate and colder climates don't reach the doses

currently recommended to protect bone health, much less the far-higher

amounts that research has been linking to additional health-promoting

functions.

 

Some scientists are campaigning for additional vitamin-D enrichment of

foods. Others advocate that people spend more time outdoors to increase

vitamin D--producing sun exposure. Many hold that the boost must come

largely from supplements.

 

What researchers who study vitamin D do agree on is that many people

would benefit from more of the vitamin. At issue is only how much.

 

*Out of the tropics*

 

The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies in Washington,

D.C., currently recommends that people from infancy through age 50 get

200 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day, that those ages 51

through 70 receive 400 IU daily, and that anyone over 70 get a net of

600 IU from sun, food, and supplements.

 

That's easy enough to do if you're, say, a white person working outdoors

during the summer in New Jersey. In shorts and a T-shirt, such a person

can soak up enough ultraviolet rays to produce 12,000 IU of vitamin D

within 20 minutes, notes Reinhold Vieth of the University of Toronto.

 

That production would plummet if the person stayed indoors or slathered

on UV-blocking sunscreen or covered up with clothing when out of doors,

as recommended for protection against skin cancer.

 

Global location and skin color also affect the amount of vitamin D a

person's skin manufactures. UV intensity falls as one moves from the

equator toward Earth's poles, increasing latitude. Evolution compensated

by selecting for increasingly unpigmented skin in northern populations,

says Boston University endocrinologist Michael F. Holick.

 

Melanin pigment protects the skin from the damage of UV rays but also

lowers the skin's production of vitamin D. In the March / American

Journal of Clinical Nutrition/, Holick quantifies this effect:

Fair-skinned people who sunburn easily and rarely tan need just 2 to 10

percent as much sun exposure to produce a unit of vitamin D as do people

with the darkest skin.

 

Season also matters. Holick has found that from the latitude of San

Francisco northward---or from Buenos Aires southward---for 3 to 6 months

a year, no amount of exposure will generate substantial vitamin D in

even the palest skin.

 

Holick composed a map of North America that shows the minutes of

exposure each skin type needs to generate some 1,000 IU of vitamin D

without risking sunburn. For instance, a dark-skinned individual living

in Anchorage can get that amount in 20 to 30 minutes midday in July,

Holick reports in his new book /The UV Advantage/ (2004, with Mark

Jenkins, ibooks). A pale person in Honolulu might do it in 1 minute.

 

*Finding sufficiency*

 

Severe vitamin D deficiency softens bones. In children, the result is

rickets, characterized by malformed legs. Adults may develop a rare

condition called osteomalacia, distinguished by weakened muscles as well

as bones. Seventy-five years ago, when the cause of rickets and

osteomalacia was first recognized, the remedy was vitamin D--rich cod

liver oil. Later, the United States mandated that dairies fortify milk

with 100 IU of vitamin D per 8 ounces, and rickets essentially disappeared.

 

However, rickets has staged a comeback in the U.S. There is no national

count, but according to Laurence Grummer-Strawn of the Centers for

Disease Control in Atlanta, between 1997 and 1999, " 5 per million

Georgia children were hospitalized with rickets due to vitamin D

deficiency. " All were African American, 8 to 21 months old. Numbers

could be higher in more-northern locales.

 

Scientists offer several explanations for rickets' reemergence. Vieth

notes that breast-feeding has had a revival and that mother's milk

delivers little vitamin D. And Holick points out that doctors have been

discouraging parents from letting babies get sun without liberal doses

of sunscreen. The Food and Nutrition Board last reviewed its vitamin D

recommendations in 1997. As part of that effort, a panel of experts

including Vieth, Holick, and Heaney was charged to define how the

vitamin should be monitored in people. The active form wasn't deemed

suitable because it's manufactured in the body on demand, so it doesn't

directly correlate with vitamin D intake and production.

 

The panel concluded that the best way to evaluate a person's vitamin D

status would be to measure concentrations of an inactive form known as

25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-D) that circulates in the blood.

 

However, Heaney adds, " we didn't say how much an individual should

have---because we didn't know. "

 

In North America, a typical 25-D blood concentration is 40 nanomoles per

liter (nmol/l), and scientists long assumed that amount was adequate.

 

Last year, in a roundtable discussion at an osteoporosis conference in

Lausanne, Switzerland, Vieth, Holick, Heaney, and others agreed that an

optimal 25-D blood concentration for most people is 75 to 80 nmol/l.

Most panelists, therefore, recommended that people strive for 800 to

1,000 IU of Vitamin D daily to achieve it.

 

That conclusion rests on a variety of experiments. David Hanley of the

University of Calgary in Alberta cites studies focusing on parathyroid

hormone, one of the factors regulating the natural breakdown of bone

that constantly occurs throughout a healthy body. When a person's 25-D

concentration dips too low, parathyroid hormone concentration in the

blood rises and triggers excessive bone loss. Hanley says that several

studies indicate that most people need 75 to 80 nmol/l of 25-D in their

blood to protect their bones.

 

However, people 70 years old and older may need more than 100 nmol/l of

25-D to hold parathyroid hormone at healthy concentrations. Vieth and

his colleagues reported this finding, which was based on a study of

1,700 people ages 19 to 97, in the January 2003 /Journal of Clinical

Endocrinology and Metabolism/.

 

Low 25-D concentrations may identify apparently healthy individuals who

are at risk for type 2 diabetes as well as for bone problems. In the May

1 /American Journal of Clinical Nutrition/, Ken C. Chiu and his

colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles report that the

lower the 25-D in study participants, the less likely they were to

produce adequate amounts of insulin or to show sufficient sensitivity to

insulin. Chiu's team found that increasing a person's blood

concentration of 25-D from 25 nmol/l to about 75 nmol/l would " improve

insulin sensitivity by 60 percent, " which is a greater increase than

many antidiabetes drugs provide.

 

In people over age 60, 25-D blood concentrations correlate with leg

strength, according to studies by Bess Dawson-Hughes of the Agriculture

Department's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston and her

colleagues. In one study, they examined data from 4,100 adults

representing a cross-section of the U.S. population. People with 25-D

concentrations of 40 nmol/l or less walked more slowly and had more

trouble rising from a chair than did people with concentrations higher

than 86 nmol/l. The results took into account differences between the

groups in age, arthritis, weight, and use of a cane, according to the

team's report in the Sept. 1 /American Journal of Clinical Nutrition/.

 

A third recent study of 25-D links low blood concentrations to

colorectal cancer in women. Diane Feskanich of Brigham and Women's

Hospital in Boston and her coworkers compared blood tests from 193

cancer patients with those of age-matched women who were cancerfree. All

the women were participating in the long-running Nurses' Health Study.

In the September / Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention/, the

researchers report that women in the highest 25-D group---with about 100

nmol/l---had only about half the cancer risk of women in the lowest

group, averaging 40 nmol/l.

 

*Silent epidemic*

 

Few people have the blood concentrations of 25-D that researchers

recommend. For instance, Hanley described findings from 200 Calgary

adults at the Experimental Biology meeting in Washington, D.C., last

April. A third of the study's population showed less than 30 nmol/l

during at least part of the year. " The average level of 25-D through the

four seasons was in the low 60s [nmol/l], " Hanley told /Science News/.

If 80 nmol/l is taken as the cutoff for adequate 25-D, " virtually 100

percent of the population is vitamin D--deficient at least part of the

year, " he says.

 

In the March 2003 /Nutrition Reviews/, Mona Calvo of the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration coauthored a review of five studies on vitamin D

status in Canada and the United States. They described data indicating a

high incidence of vitamin D insufficiency in almost all populations.

 

In one of those studies, Calvo notes, 42 percent of African American

women were 25-D deficient, compared with just 4 percent of their white

counterparts. That study defined deficiency as concentrations below 37.5

nmol/l. Calvo says that she prefers to use 80 nmol/l as the minimum

adequate blood concentration of 25-D.

 

*The remedy?*

 

Some researchers propose that fortified milk and other foods can cover

vitamin D shortfalls. However, the current diet offers, at most, 200 to

400 IU per day. Furthermore, Calvo has new data showing that " African

Americans do not consume [vitamin-D] fortified foods. " She suspects that

many blacks avoid milk, the most highly enriched food, because they have

difficulty digesting it.

 

Harold L. Newmark of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., and his

colleagues propose a new food-enrichment scheme in the Aug. 1 / American

Journal of Clinical Nutrition/. They argue that the best way to help

vulnerable groups get enough vitamin D would be to mandate fortification

of grain-based products, such as wheat flour, corn meal, and pasta.

 

Newmark and his colleagues estimate that the cost could be as low as 7

cents per person per year if U.S. foods were fortified to the maximum

amount allowed by law. They calculate that this would increase vitamin D

daily dietary intake by 50 to 200 IU.

 

Vieth and Holick are among the scientists who advocate increasing

" sensible " outdoor activity so people can boost their sun exposure and

thus vitamin D supply.

 

The amount of sun required would pose virtually no increased cancer

risk, Holick says. " We evolved in sunlight, and so our whole system is

dependent on some exposure to sunlight, " he says. In fact, " our health

depends on it, " he adds.

 

Most researchers recommend that people get much of their vitamin D

intake from supplements and recommend that they boost daily vitamin D

intakes to around 1,000 IU.

 

Holick says that physicians could measure 25-D in blood and prescribe

increasing doses of the vitamin until 80 nmol/l is reached. Such

personalized prescriptions could take into account lifestyle and

pigmentation. For instance, Heaney's research in Omaha indicates that

elderly, dark-skinned women could require up to 2,000 IU of vitamin D to

keep 25-D concentrations around 80 nmol/l.

 

Linda D. Meyers, director of the Food and Nutrition Board, which sets

the government's recommended daily intake values for all vitamins and

some minerals, agrees that " it really is time to look at those [intake

standards] again for vitamin D. " The standard probably needs to be

higher, she acknowledges.

 

In December, the board will begin discussions with nutrition experts on

which nutrients need to be reevaluated. Considering the wealth of data

that has been coming out, " I'm thinking vitamin D might even offer a

case study to help us, " says Meyers.

 

" [Vitamin D] deserves to be in the first group reexamined, " she told

/Science News/. " It really is time to look at that one again. "

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks for posting on this. Vitamin D deficiency is one of the

deficiencies that can slip up on people and cause a cascade of health

problems. People are inclined to think they're getting enough D

because this deficiency isn't publicized. Also, if they drink milk,

they think they're getting enough because the milk carton says it's

vitamin D fortified.

 

Once again the Chinese are proven correct in their idea of balance.

Limit sun exposure during the middle of the day when the sun is the

most intense (especially if fair-skinned), but don't totally eliminate

exposure.

 

Victoria

[Guest guest]

Re: Vitamin D myths, facts and statistics

[pls don't shoot the messenger...]

 

http://healthtruthrevealed.com/full-page.php?id=11404635412 & & page=article

 

Crusador: Does Vitamin D help magnesium work more

effectively and if so, should people consume more of

this vitamin while supplementing with magnesium?

 

Vitamin D has been getting a lot of press lately. Yet

one of the early things that I learned about nutrition

is how vitamin D is added to so many commonly consumed

items, and furthermore, how easy it is for the body to

make its own if you provide an average of 30 minutes

of sun exposure daily to just the face, hands and back

of the neck.

 

The positive effects ascribed to vitamin D of late are

due to a lack of total nutrition. In other words,

with optimum nutrition there is no need for

supplemental vitamin D. In fact, vitamin D

supplementation is more likely to be of harm long term

than of actual value. We don’t have time or room to

get into that.

 

I heard a nutrition researcher almost 30 years ago –

who was a big believer in supplementation – say that

the only one who needs vitamin D supplements is a dark

skinned nun living in the far north.

 

I have never recommended vitamin D supplementation for

anyone through four decades of my personal experience.

 

- - -

 

It's The Law - Rat Poison Must Be Added to Milk

 

In 1932, Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations required

 

that 400 units of rat poison be added to every quart

of

milk sold in America.

 

A brochure produced by the Ministry of Environment in

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, reveals the

rat-posion link:

 

" SAFE AND SENSIBLE PEST CONTROL "

 

The brochure represents a series of " safe and

sensible "

pest control measures, according to the Canadian

Health

Minister. Canadian health officials believe that

Vitamin

D-3 is the most effective and ecologically sound

method

of dealing with rat and mouse infestation.

 

Information on milk cartons reveal that two

ingredients

fill the container: Milk and Vitamin D-3. Vitamin D-3

is

used to kill rats! Why is it added to milk for our

children

to drink in the name of good health?

 

According to the Canadian brochure, products

containing

Vitamin D-3 (calciferol) kill by vitamin overdose

after 3-4

days. The Vitamin D-3 actually mobilizes excessive

amounts

of calcium from an animal's bones.

 

And you thought that Vitamin D-3 in milk helped to

absorb

calcium. Another dairy industry myth!

 

Don't try this at home. When the animal dies within

your walls,

its putrefying body will add the most unpleasant

bouquet to your

environment. The offensive smell may last for months.

 

Many methods of mice and rat control are discussed. I

prefer

the most foolproof of methods: Don't let them eat your

food.

Store all foods in refrigerators or tamper-proof

containers.

With no food supply, mice and rats go elsewhere to

dine.

 

How soon we forget! Children are taught in first grade

that

Vitamin D is the " sunshine vitamin. " Vitamin D is a

steroid

hormone and is synthesized in one's body after skin is

exposed

to sunlight. Once the body has made enough, it will

produce

no more. Too much Vitamin D can be toxic and

result in bone loss.

 

In 1963, the journal Pediatrics (Volume 31) revealed:

 

" Consuming as little as 45 micrograms of Vitamin D-3

in young

children has resulted in signs of overdose. " (one

gallon of milk

contains 1600 IU, or 40 micrograms).

 

Robert Cohen

http://www.notmilk. com

 

Vitamin D in Milk - Is it Really the Law?

 

On April 30, 1992, the New York Times reported:

 

" Food and Drug Administration rules require that each

quart (of milk) contain 400 international units of the

 

vitamin (D). One unit is 25 nanograms, or 25

billionths

of a gram. The F.D.A. requires that milk be tested

twice

a year but leaves enforcement of the rules to the

states. "

 

http://tinyurl. com/3ah4c7

 

Since the NY Times prints " all the news that's fit to

print " one would accept such news as being a

well researched fact.

 

It has always been my understanding that federal law

required milk manufacturers to add Vitamin D to milk.

 

In an osteoporosis article, about.com reports:

 

" United States law requires fresh milk to be fortified

 

with vitamin D. "

 

http://tinyurl. com/2w6yvd

 

Anybody else?

 

Ahealthyme.com reports:

 

" The government mandates that milk, along with

some breads and cereals, be fortified with D... "

 

http://tinyurl. com/37grdb

 

A nutrition letter written by a licensed dietician

says:

 

" ...Cow's milk is required by law to be fortified with

 

vitamins A and D.

 

http://tinyurl. com/2qnh4d

 

Even the United States Department of Agriculture

(USDA)

is confused and misinformed when it comes to Vitamin D

milk requirements. USDA administers the giveaway

Woman/Infant/ Children (WIC) program. On their own

website, USDA reports:

 

" All milks authorized in the WIC Program must meet the

Food

and Drug Administration' s standard of identity for

milk...

All authorized milks must also be pasteurized and

contain

400 International Units of vitamin D and 2000 IU of

vitamin

A per quart... "

 

http://tinyurl. com/3exerj

 

In fact, if you perform a Google.com search for

Vitamin

D requirements you will find hundreds of authorities

citing

uncited government laws requiring that Vitamin D be

added

to milk. Hundreds of authorities cannot be wrong, can

they?

 

In fact, they are.

 

I looked and looked and looked and finally found the

actual law in question. It isn't a law. It's not even

a commandment. Nowhere in government statutes is there

a requirement for milk processors to add Vitamin D to

milk. The addition of Vitamin D is not even a

suggestion.

FDA admits that the addition of Vitamin D is purely

a " voluntary " act on the part of manufacturers.

 

Why did milk processors begin adding Vitamin D to

milk? Because of a pre-WW II rickets scare. Today,

rickets is virtually a non-existent disease. The

people

who do get rickets are the ones locked in basements

and closets. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone which is

manufactured in human skin after exposure to sunlight.

 

The actual law (from FDA's website):

 

" Vitamin addition to milk is optional.(Refer to 21 CFR

131.110)

The standard for 'milk' allows for the optional

addition of

vitamins A and D. However, if vitamins A and D are

added,

they must be present at levels required in the

standard, i.e.,

2000 IU for vitamin A and 400 IU for vitamin D per

quart.

(Refer to 21 CFR 131.110(b))

 

http://tinyurl. com/3d7nng

 

So, when I reported in a Notmilk letter that the

government

required that rat poison be put in milk, I was

incorrect.

 

http://health. groups.. com

notmilk/message/ 2851

 

Vitamin D is used as a rat poison to cause rapid

bone loss and subsequent rodent death.

 

In fact, bone loss from milk supplementation results

in

increased osteoporosis. That may very well be the

dairy

industry's clever plan. You be the judge.

Supplementation

with Vitamin D is " optional. " This voluntary action

costs

millions of dollars. Why would dairy processors

voluntarily

spend millions of dollars per year doing something

that

is not required? Their behavior is more than

unnecessary.

It is deceptive and dangerous. There ought to be a

law.

 

Here are the Vitamin D scientific facts you should

know:

 

http://www.notmilk. com/v.html

 

So, what is there to be done? I fight too many

different

battles on so many different fronts, I could not do

justice to this single issue. Perhaps one of my

readers

wishes to take the baton from my hand and continue the

relay race? Step one would be to initiate an

investigation

by filing a " Citizen Petition " with the Food and Drug

Adminstration. Step two would be to write your book.

Step

three would your media tour on Oprah and other talk

shows.

Any takers? Contact me, please.

 

Robert Cohen

http://www.notmilk. com

 

 

--- Chinese Traditional Medicine wrote:

 

> 2a. Re: Vitamin D myths, facts and statistics

> Posted by: " victoria_dragon "

Thanks for posting on this. Vitamin D deficiency is

one of the

deficiencies that can slip up on people and cause a

cascade of health

problems. People are inclined to think they're

getting enough D

because this deficiency isn't publicized. Also, if

they drink milk,

they think they're getting enough because the milk

carton says it's

vitamin D fortified.

 

Once again the Chinese are proven correct in their

idea of balance.

Limit sun exposure during the middle of the day when

the sun is the

most intense (especially if fair-skinned), but don't

totally eliminate exposure.

 

Victoria

[Guest guest]

Yes, there will always be opposite views on any subject, including the

validity TCM!

You're gonna have to make up you own mind...aren't you?

 

A couple of point to keep in mind:

 

1. One cannot overdose on vitamin D from Sun exposure!

 

2. Any nutritional supplement... even herbs can be or can become a

poison or a source of imbalance if taken beyond its therapeutic dose or

if improperly prescribed! Many experts claim that most people

don't drink enough water... ah but wait, an excesses of water can kill

you, too! :-)

 

3. Personally, I would not take, lab synthesized vitamin D for

supplementation... Sun exposure in Summer or Cod liver oil in winter,

is as far as I would go! Also it is very important to have your blood

levels of vitamin D checked if you are looking to supplement orally to

make sure that you are not building toxic levels.

 

dar wrote:

>

>

> Re: Vitamin D myths, facts and statistics

> [pls don't shoot the messenger...]

>

> http://healthtruthrevealed.com/full-page.php?id=11404635412 & & page=article

> <http://healthtruthrevealed.com/full-page.php?id=11404635412 & & page=article>

>

> Crusador: Does Vitamin D help magnesium work more

> effectively and if so, should people consume more of

> this vitamin while supplementing with magnesium?

>

> Vitamin D has been getting a lot of press lately. Yet

> one of the early things that I learned about nutrition

> is how vitamin D is added to so many commonly consumed

> items, and furthermore, how easy it is for the body to

> make its own if you provide an average of 30 minutes

> of sun exposure daily to just the face, hands and back

> of the neck.

>

> The positive effects ascribed to vitamin D of late are

> due to a lack of total nutrition. In other words,

> with optimum nutrition there is no need for

> supplemental vitamin D. In fact, vitamin D

> supplementation is more likely to be of harm long term

> than of actual value. We don't have time or room to

> get into that.

>

> I heard a nutrition researcher almost 30 years ago --

> who was a big believer in supplementation -- say that

> the only one who needs vitamin D supplements is a dark

> skinned nun living in the far north.

>

> I have never recommended vitamin D supplementation for

> anyone through four decades of my personal experience.

>

> - - -

>

> It's The Law - Rat Poison Must Be Added to Milk

>

> In 1932, Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations required

>

> that 400 units of rat poison be added to every quart

> of

> milk sold in America.

>

> A brochure produced by the Ministry of Environment in

> Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, reveals the

> rat-posion link:

>

> " SAFE AND SENSIBLE PEST CONTROL "

>

> The brochure represents a series of " safe and

> sensible "

> pest control measures, according to the Canadian

> Health

> Minister. Canadian health officials believe that

> Vitamin

> D-3 is the most effective and ecologically sound

> method

> of dealing with rat and mouse infestation.

>

> Information on milk cartons reveal that two

> ingredients

> fill the container: Milk and Vitamin D-3. Vitamin D-3

> is

> used to kill rats! Why is it added to milk for our

> children

> to drink in the name of good health?

>

> According to the Canadian brochure, products

> containing

> Vitamin D-3 (calciferol) kill by vitamin overdose

> after 3-4

> days. The Vitamin D-3 actually mobilizes excessive

> amounts

> of calcium from an animal's bones.

>

> And you thought that Vitamin D-3 in milk helped to

> absorb

> calcium. Another dairy industry myth!

>

> Don't try this at home. When the animal dies within

> your walls,

> its putrefying body will add the most unpleasant

> bouquet to your

> environment. The offensive smell may last for months.

>

> Many methods of mice and rat control are discussed. I

> prefer

> the most foolproof of methods: Don't let them eat your

> food.

> Store all foods in refrigerators or tamper-proof

> containers.

> With no food supply, mice and rats go elsewhere to

> dine.

>

> How soon we forget! Children are taught in first grade

> that

> Vitamin D is the " sunshine vitamin. " Vitamin D is a

> steroid

> hormone and is synthesized in one's body after skin is

> exposed

> to sunlight. Once the body has made enough, it will

> produce

> no more. Too much Vitamin D can be toxic and

> result in bone loss.

>

> In 1963, the journal Pediatrics (Volume 31) revealed:

>

> " Consuming as little as 45 micrograms of Vitamin D-3

> in young

> children has resulted in signs of overdose. " (one

> gallon of milk

> contains 1600 IU, or 40 micrograms).

>

> Robert Cohen

> http://www.notmilk. com

>

> Vitamin D in Milk - Is it Really the Law?

>

> On April 30, 1992, the New York Times reported:

>

> " Food and Drug Administration rules require that each

> quart (of milk) contain 400 international units of the

>

> vitamin (D). One unit is 25 nanograms, or 25

> billionths

> of a gram. The F.D.A. requires that milk be tested

> twice

> a year but leaves enforcement of the rules to the

> states. "

>

> http://tinyurl. com/3ah4c7

>

> Since the NY Times prints " all the news that's fit to

> print " one would accept such news as being a

> well researched fact.

>

> It has always been my understanding that federal law

> required milk manufacturers to add Vitamin D to milk.

>

> In an osteoporosis article, about.com reports:

>

> " United States law requires fresh milk to be fortified

>

> with vitamin D. "

>

> http://tinyurl. com/2w6yvd

>

> Anybody else?

>

> Ahealthyme.com reports:

>

> " The government mandates that milk, along with

> some breads and cereals, be fortified with D... "

>

> http://tinyurl. com/37grdb

>

> A nutrition letter written by a licensed dietician

> says:

>

> " ...Cow's milk is required by law to be fortified with

>

> vitamins A and D.

>

> http://tinyurl. com/2qnh4d

>

> Even the United States Department of Agriculture

> (USDA)

> is confused and misinformed when it comes to Vitamin D

> milk requirements. USDA administers the giveaway

> Woman/Infant/ Children (WIC) program. On their own

> website, USDA reports:

>

> " All milks authorized in the WIC Program must meet the

> Food

> and Drug Administration' s standard of identity for

> milk...

> All authorized milks must also be pasteurized and

> contain

> 400 International Units of vitamin D and 2000 IU of

> vitamin

> A per quart... "

>

> http://tinyurl. com/3exerj

>

> In fact, if you perform a Google.com search for

> Vitamin

> D requirements you will find hundreds of authorities

> citing

> uncited government laws requiring that Vitamin D be

> added

> to milk. Hundreds of authorities cannot be wrong, can

> they?

>

> In fact, they are.

>

> I looked and looked and looked and finally found the

> actual law in question. It isn't a law. It's not even

> a commandment. Nowhere in government statutes is there

> a requirement for milk processors to add Vitamin D to

> milk. The addition of Vitamin D is not even a

> suggestion.

> FDA admits that the addition of Vitamin D is purely

> a " voluntary " act on the part of manufacturers.

>

> Why did milk processors begin adding Vitamin D to

> milk? Because of a pre-WW II rickets scare. Today,

> rickets is virtually a non-existent disease. The

> people

> who do get rickets are the ones locked in basements

> and closets. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone which is

> manufactured in human skin after exposure to sunlight.

>

> The actual law (from FDA's website):

>

> " Vitamin addition to milk is optional.(Refer to 21 CFR

> 131.110)

> The standard for 'milk' allows for the optional

> addition of

> vitamins A and D. However, if vitamins A and D are

> added,

> they must be present at levels required in the

> standard, i.e.,

> 2000 IU for vitamin A and 400 IU for vitamin D per

> quart.

> (Refer to 21 CFR 131.110(b))

>

> http://tinyurl. com/3d7nng

>

> So, when I reported in a Notmilk letter that the

> government

> required that rat poison be put in milk, I was

> incorrect.

>

> http://health. groups.. com

> notmilk/message/ 2851

>

> Vitamin D is used as a rat poison to cause rapid

> bone loss and subsequent rodent death.

>

> In fact, bone loss from milk supplementation results

> in

> increased osteoporosis. That may very well be the

> dairy

> industry's clever plan. You be the judge.

> Supplementation

> with Vitamin D is " optional. " This voluntary action

> costs

> millions of dollars. Why would dairy processors

> voluntarily

> spend millions of dollars per year doing something

> that

> is not required? Their behavior is more than

> unnecessary.

> It is deceptive and dangerous. There ought to be a

> law.

>

> Here are the Vitamin D scientific facts you should

> know:

>

> http://www.notmilk. com/v.html

>

> So, what is there to be done? I fight too many

> different

> battles on so many different fronts, I could not do

> justice to this single issue. Perhaps one of my

> readers

> wishes to take the baton from my hand and continue the

> relay race? Step one would be to initiate an

> investigation

> by filing a " Citizen Petition " with the Food and Drug

> Adminstration. Step two would be to write your book.

> Step

> three would your media tour on Oprah and other talk

> shows.

> Any takers? Contact me, please.

>

> Robert Cohen

> http://www.notmilk. com

>

> --- Chinese Traditional Medicine

> <Chinese Traditional Medicine%40> wrote:

>

> > 2a. Re: Vitamin D myths, facts and statistics

> > Posted by: " victoria_dragon "

> Thanks for posting on this. Vitamin D deficiency is

> one of the

> deficiencies that can slip up on people and cause a

> cascade of health

> problems. People are inclined to think they're

> getting enough D

> because this deficiency isn't publicized. Also, if

> they drink milk,

> they think they're getting enough because the milk

> carton says it's

> vitamin D fortified.

>

> Once again the Chinese are proven correct in their

> idea of balance.

> Limit sun exposure during the middle of the day when

> the sun is the

> most intense (especially if fair-skinned), but don't

> totally eliminate exposure.

>

> Victoria

>

>

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I would think that if you are taking a lot of Vitamin D, year after

year, then even if you are getting a lot of summer sun exposure, your

body wouldn't be converting it efficiently (because it has gotten

'lazy' from all the supplementation). So then you need to keep

ramping up the dosage.

 

I am not saying we shouldn't take Vit. D, mind you, only that it is a

kind of damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.