Vitamins - may stave off illness

February 22, 2008 // No Comments »

Oh boy - how long have people being arguing over this one. The Medics and the Pharmaceutical lobby say all you need is drugs for health but the alternative view that good quality food and where necessary vitamin and mineral supplementation is the right approach to take. So which one is right - i know what works for me.

• a good Low GI diet first and foremost with minimal processed food
• supplementation of key vitamins and minerals known to be deficient in our diets and lifestyles
• short term use of pharmaceutical drugs only where essential - antibiotics etc. and only for short periods

At last the real research is showing the truth. The pharmaceutical led research into vitamins is always going to be suspect as they ahve a vested interest in proving it doesn’t work and the invariably use synthetics which we know don’t work. See below:

By Steve Connor
Saturday, 16 February 2008

A chronic shortage of vitamins and other “micronutrients” in the diet may be responsible for triggering many of the ills of modern life such as cancer, obesity and the degenerative diseases of ageing.

Professor Bruce Ames, of the University of California, Berkeley, who invented one of the standard tests for cancer-causing chemicals, said many people’s diets were deficient in one or more of the 40 micronutrients essential for a healthy life.

(more…)

Posted in Vitamins, minerals

Strontium: An Alternative Treatment For Osteoporosis

November 26, 2007 // 1 Comment »

This article caught my eye the other day and as i know several people who are potentially at risk from Osteoprosis I thought that it would be a worthy post.

Paul Barton

by Teri Lee Gruss

(NewsTarget) Research spanning a century has shown that strontium, a naturally occurring trace mineral, is an important component of healthy bone tissue. Researchers from around the world have found that, in pharmaceutical doses, it dramatically increases bone density and reduces risk for fractures in women with osteoporosis.

National Osteoporosis Foundation statistics indicate that “osteoporosis causes more than 1.5 million fractures annually: 700,000 vertebral, 300,000 hip, 250,000 wrist and 300,000 fractures at other sites”. [1] Sadly, “an average of 24% of hip fracture patients aged 50 and over dies in the year following their fracture.” [2]

As our population ages in huge numbers, finding a safe and effective treatment for osteoporosis is more important than ever before. Dr. Susan Brown, director of the Osteoporosis Education Project (OEP) in East Syracuse, N.Y., says “Our bone crisis worsens each year, despite intensive public health and disease treatment efforts”. [3]
(more…)

Posted in Vitamins, food, minerals, nutrition

Apricot Kernels - B17 - benefits

November 16, 2007 // No Comments »

I’ve recommended Apricot Kernels and other things as a source of B17 - wrongly called B17 as far as i can figure but that might be changing. Here is a great summary - if a little technical about B17 and what it does. We have seen some fascinating results with Sickle Cell Disease and B1, Apricot Kernels, Millet, and even Apricot Kernel Oil (cold pressed).

Apricot Kernels (B17 – called Vitamin B17 in error)

Apricot Kernels are the richest source of B17 (Laetrile). Ernst Krebs is the world’s leading authority on the relationship between cancer and nitrilosides, and the inventor of laetrile.

• G. Edward Griffin’s book World Without Cancer (American Media, 1974), available from Health World
• Ernst Krebs discussion of The Nature of Cancer
• Ernst Krebs discussion of the Trophoblast Theory of Cancer
• Ernst Krebs discussion of Trophoblasts and Morning Sickness
• Ernst Krebs discussion of the Metabolism of nitrilosides (Vitamin B17)
• Charles Gurchot’s explanation of How Vitamin B17 Works

Apricot kernels are known to prevent and cure cancer, even though the medical establishment has worked night and day and even lied to suppress it. B17 is found in most all fruit seeds such as the apple, peach, cherry, orange, nectarine and apricot. It is found in some beans and many grasses such as wheat grass. The hard wooden pit in the middle of the peach is not supposed to be thrown away. In fact, the wooden shell is strong armor protecting one of the most important foods known to man, the seed. It is one of the main courses of food in cultures such as the Navajo Indians, the Hunzas the Abkhasians and many more. Did you know that within these tribes there has never been a reported case of cancer. (And there are doctors and scientists from the U.S. living within these tribes right now studying this phenomena) We don’t need to make the seed a main course but we do need the equivalent of about seven apricots seeds per day to nearly guarantee a cancer free life. Other foods that contain vitamin B-17 are: bitter almonds, millet, wheat grass, lima beans and more. (The bitter almond tree was banned from the U.S. in 1995.) The kernel or seed contains the highest amounts of  B17.

 One of the most common nitrilosides is amygdalin. This nitriloside occurs in the kernels of seeds of practically all fruits. The seeds of apples, apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines, and the like carry this factor; often in the extraordinary concentration of 2 to 3 per cent. Since the seeds of fruits are possibly edible, it may be proper to designate the non-toxic water soluble accessory food factor or nitriloside that they contain as vitamin B-17. The presence of nitriloside in the diet produces specific physiologic effects and leaves as metabolites specific chemical compounds of a physiologically active nature. The production by a non-toxic, water-soluble accessory food factor of specific physiological effects as well as identifiable metabolites suggests the vitamin nature of the compound.

 In metabolism, nitriloside is hydrolyzed to free hydrogen cyanide, benzaldehyde or acetone and sugar. This occurs largely through the enzyme Beta-glucosidase produced by intestinal bacteria as well as by the body. The released HCN [hydrocyanide] is detoxified by the enzyme rhodanese to the relatively non-toxic thiocyanate molecule. The sugar is normally metabolized. The released benzaldehyde in the presence of oxygen is immediately oxidized to benzoic acid which is non-toxic. Thus this newly designated vitamin B-17 (nitriloside) could account for:

1. The thiocyanates in the body fluids–blood, urine, saliva, sweat, and tears;
2. For part of the benzoic acid (and subsequently hippuric acid); salicylic acid isomers;
3. For the HCN that goes to the production of cyanocobalamin from hydrocobalamin, or production of vitamin B₁₂ from provitamin B₁₂.

These are the physiological properties of the common nitriloside amygdalin. Before considering the possible antineoplastic activity of this vitamin B-17, let us recall that the benzoic acid arising from it has certain antirheumatic and antiseptic properties. It was rather widely used (in Germany and elsewhere) for rheumatic disease therapy prior to the advent of the ortho-hydroxy addition product of benzoic acid known as ortho-hydroxybenzoic acid or salicylic acid. It was originally obtained from beech-wood bark. As a matter of interest, the para- hydroxy isomer of benzoic acid occurs in the para hydroxybenzaldehyde aglycon (non-sugar) of the nitriloside found in the cereal millet. Millet was once more widely used in human nutrition than wheat. Wheat seed contains little or no nitriloside.

Recall now, that thiocyanate also was once widely used, in both Germany and American medicine, as an effective agent for hypertension. Used as such, as the simple chemical, the dosage was difficult to control. Obviously, this difficulty does not arise from the thiocyanate usually produced in the body through metabolizing B-17 (nitriloside). However, chronic hypotension (the opposite of hypertension) has been reported in Nigerians who eat quantities of the nitriloside-containing manioc (cassava)–especially that of the bitter variety.

Let us pause to reflect upon this question: Might not the rheumatic diseases as well as certain aspects of hypertension be in some cases partially related to a dietary deficiency in nitrilosides? One can hardly deny that the ingestion of a sufficient quantity of nitriloside-containing foods will metabolically yield sufficient benzoic acid and/or salicylic acid isomers to palliate rheumatic disease and certainly to decrease, however temporarily, hypertension as well as to foster the nitrilosation of provitamin B-12 to active vitamin B-12: cyanocobalamin.

Despite all this, are we justified in suggesting that cancer itself might be another chronic metabolic disease that arises from a specific vitamin deficiency–a deficiency specifically in B-17 (nitriloside)?

There are many chronic or metabolic diseases that challenge medicine. Many of these diseases have already been conquered. What proved to be their solution? By solution we mean both prevention and cure. What really cures really prevents. Let us think of some of these diseases that have found total prevention and hence cure. We are speaking of metabolic or non-transmissible diseases. At one time the metabolic disease known as scurvy killed hundreds of thousands of people, sometimes entire populations. This disease found total prevention and cure in the ascorbic acid or vitamin C component of fruits and vegetables. Similarly, the once fatal diseases so aptly called pernicious anaemia, pellagra, beri beri, countless neuropathies, and the like, found complete cure and prevention in specific dietary factors, that is, essential nutrients in an adequate diet.

Let’s go a step further, almost to the border of dogmatism, to advance an axiom in medicine and biology:

No chronic or metabolic disease has ever found cure or prevention, that is, real cure and real prevention–except through factors essential to an adequate diet and/or normal to animal economy.

I would welcome a contradiction to this principle; but even an exception would “prove the rule.”

Does it seem likely, therefore, that cancer will be the first exception to this generalization that to date has not had a single known exception? In my humble opinion, certainly not. But does it follow from this that B-17 (nitriloside) is the specific antineoplastic compound? Logically, by itself, alone, this conclusion that nitriloside is the specific antineoplastic compound does not follow. However, examine the brilliant laboratory studies of Dr. Dean Burk of the Department of Cytochemistry of the National Cancer Institute in Washington. I believe that in light of the experimental evidence that he has produced, you might agree that B-17 (nitriloside) is indeed the antineoplastic compound.*

One might ask, then, whether we suggest that B-17 (nitriloside) or Laetrile is an effective cancer drug. Our reply must be: it is not a drug; it is a food.

REFERENCES

Baker, J.E., Rainey, D.P., Norris, D.M., and Strong, F.N., p-Hydroxybenzaldehyde and other Phenolics as Feeding Stimulants for the Smaller European Bark Bettle, Forest Sci., 14(1):91-95, 1968.
Blum, M.S., and Woodring, J.P., Secretion of Benzaldehyde and Hydrogen Cyanide by the Millipede Pachydemus crassicutus (Wood), Science, 158: 512-513, 1962.
Briese, R.R., and Couch, J.F., Preservation of Cyanogenetic Plants for Chemical Analysis, J.Agr.Research, 57(2): 81-107, 1937.
Brown, W.E., Wood, C.D., and Smith, A.N., Sodium Cyanide as a Cancer Chemotherapeutic Agent — Laboratory and Clinical Studies, Am.J.Obst. & Gynec., 80: 907-918, 1960.
Browne, J.G., Progress Report on the Work Done on the Hydrocyanic Acid Content of California Grown Lima Beans, Univ. Calif. Coll. of Agr., Agr. Exptl. Station, Project No. 521, p. 770 et seq., June 17, 1932.
Brioux, and Jones, E., The Production of Cyanogenetic Glycosides by Linseed: Measurement of HCN Production, Ann. Agron., 8(4): 468-480, 1932.
Chappel, C., Toxicity Studies on Amygdalin, McNaughton Foundation, Montreal, Canada, 1967, p.2.
Charlton, J., The Selection of Burma Beans for Low Hydrocyanic Acid Content, Memoirs Dept. Agr. India Chemical Series, 9(1), 1926-1928.
Dedolph, R.R., and Hamilton, R.A., The Bitterness Problem in Some Seedling Macadamias (Due to amygdalin — ed.), Hawaii Farm. Sci., 8(1): 7-8, 1959.
Delga, J., Mizoula, J., Veverka, B., and Bon, R., Studies on the Treatment of Cyanide Intoxication by Hydroxycobalamin (Provitamin B-12), Ann. Pharmaceut., 19(12): 740-752, 1961.
Dillemann, G., Hydrocyanic Acid in Hybrids of the Pear with the Quince, Bull. Museum Natl. Hist. Nat., 18: 465-467, 1946.
Doak, B.W., Cyanoglucosides in White Clover, New Zealand J.Agr., 51: 159-162, 1935.
Domingues, J.B., Hydrocyanic Acid in Shoots of Dendrocalamus giganteus (Bamboo), An.Fac.Farm., E. Odontal Univ., Sao Paulo, 13: 169-171, 1955-1956.
Dunstan, W.R., Henry, T.A., and Auld, S.J.M., Cyanogenesis
IV. Occurrence of Phaseolunatin in Common Flax
V. Occurrence of Phaseolunatin in Cassava,Proc.Roy.Soc., 1906, 78B, 145-158.
Dunstan, W.R., and Henry, T.A., and Auld, S.J.M., Cyanogenesis in Plants
II. The Great Millet, Sorghum vulgare, Phil.Trans.Roy.Soc.,199A: 399-410, 1902.
Dunstan, W.R., Henry, T.A., and Auld, S.J.M., Cyanogenesis
VI. Phaseolunatin and the Associated Enzymes in Flax, Cassava, and the Lima Bean, Proc.Roy.Soc., 79B: 315-322, 1907.
Ekpechi, O.L., Dimitriadoo, A., and Fraser, R., Goitrogentic Activity of Cassava (A Staple Nigerian Food), Nature, 5041: 1137, June 11, 1966.
Festenstein, G.U., Substrates for Rumen Beta-Glucosidase, Biochem. J., 70(1): 49-51, 1958.
Flux, D.S., Butler, G.W., Johnson, J.M., Glenday, A.C., and Petersen, G.B., Goitrogenic Effects of White Clover, New Zealand J.of Sci. and Tech., 38(A): 88-102, 1956.
Flux, D.S., Butler, G.W., Rae, A.L., and Brougham, R.W., Relationship between Levels of Iodine and Cyanogenetic Glucoside in Pasture and the Performance of Sheep, J.Agric.Soc., 55(2): 191-196, 1960.
Golse, J., New Method for the Determination of Hydrocyanic Acid and Benzaldehyde in Cherry Brandy, J.Phar.Chim., 12:44-65, 1915.
Greshoff, M., The Distribution of Prussic Acid (HCN) in the Vegetable Kingdom, Report Brit.Assn., 138-144, 1906.
Guignard, L., The Development of Cyanogenetic Glucosides During the Germination of Plants, Compt.rend., 147: 1023-1038, 1908.
Guignard, L., The Presence of Cyanide-Yielding Compounds in the Elderberry, Compt.rend., 141: 16-20, 1905.
Herissey, H., The Cyanogenetic Glycoside Prulsurasin Crystallized from the Leaves of the Cherry Laurel, Compt.rend., 141: 959-961, 1905.
James, M.B., Fleming, J.W., and Bailey, L.F., Cyanide as a Growth-Inhibiting Substance in Extracts of Peach Leaves, Proc.Amer.Soc.Hort. Sci., 69: 152-157, 1957.
Jones, M.B., Seasonal Trend of Cyanide in Peach Leaves and Flower Buds and Its Possible Relation to the Rest Period.Proc. amer.Soc.Hort.Sci., 77: 117-120, 1961.[nee Jones?, rsc]
Liebig, J., and Wohler, F., The Composition of Bitter Almonds,Annalen, 22(1): 1-24, 1837.
Liebig, J., and Wohler, F., Formation of the Oil of Bitter Almonds, Ann.Chim.Phys., 64: 185-209, 1837.
Luh, B.S., and Pinochet, M.F., Spectrophotometric Determination of Hydrogen Cyanide in Canned Apricots, Cherries and Prunes, Food Research, 24: 423-427, 1950.
Martin, J.H., Couch, J.F., and Briese, R.R., Hydrocyanic Acid Content of Different Parts of the Sorghum Plant, Jour.Amer.Soc.Agron., 30(9): 725-734, 1938.
Michajlovski, M., Stukovsky, R., and Nemeth, S., Effects of Feed Composition on the Thiocyanate Content of Cow Milk, Biologica(Broteslavia), 16: 459-468, 1961.
Monekosso, G.L., and Wilson, J., Plasma Thyocyanate and Vitamin B-12 in Nigerian Patients with Neurological Disease, Lancet, No. 7446: 1062-1064, 1966.
McIlroy, “The Plant Glycosides,” Edward Arnold & Co., London, 1951, pp.21-22.
Oke, O.L., Chemical Studies of Some Nigerian Vegetables, Exp.Agr., 1(2): 125-129, 1965.
Osborne, D., Solving the Riddle of Wetherhill Mesa, Natl.Geo.Mag., 125(2): 155-194, 1964.
Perry, I.H., The Effect of Prolonged Cyanide Treatment on Body and Tumor Growth in Rats, Am.J.Cancer, 25: 592-[ff.],1935.
Pobiondek-Eabini, R., The Hydrogen Cyanide Content of Millet, Arch.Tiernarh., 2/3, 71-80, 1951.
Pjoan, M., Cyanide Poisoning from Choke Berry Seed, Am.J.Med.Sci., 204: 350-553, 1942.
Rabati, J., Biochical Study of the Peach Tree, The Presence of Amygdonitrile Glucoside, Bull.Soc.Chim.Biol., 15: 385-395, 1933.
Schroder, J., and Damman, H., Studies of the Amount of Hydrocyanic Acid Obtained from Different Millets, Chem.Ztg., 35: 1436-7 (Chem.Abst. 62 1327).
Stebbins, R.C., Lizards Killed by Millipede (Through HCN-benzaldehyde emission from latter, ed.), Amer.Midland Nat., 32(3); 771-778, 1944.
Weiss, M., Hydrocyanic Acid in Apple Embryos, Flora, 149(3): 386-395, 1960.
Wokes, F., and Willimott, S.G., The Determination of Cyanide in Seeds, J.Pharm. & Pharmacol., 3: 905-917, 1951.
Worth, F.J., A Note on the Hydrocyanic Acid Content in Burma Beans, Memoirs Dept. Agi. India Chem.Series, 7(1), 1928 (cf paper by Browne, J.G.).

 

Posted in Nitric Oxide, Sickle Cell, Vitamins, cancer, chemicals, diet, heart, hypotension, medicine

Allergy Epidemic!!! - why

September 26, 2007 // 2 Comments »

When i heard this report on the morning news i couldn’t help but ask: Why are we facing an allergy epidemic?

• Is it that our young mums and mums to be aren’t getting the nutrition they need before and after conception?
• could it be that the food we are producing is so heavily polluted with chemicals that it is masking the correct functioning of the immune system?
• could it be that our immune systems are so confused by stress, chemicals and lack of proper nutrition that the essential communication mechanisms no longer work correctly and odd things happen?
• Could it be that our immune systems are coming under such pressure that they simply don’t work as well as they used to?
• could it be that our immune systems are being hoodwinked by the presence of environmental toxins that confuse the identification mechanisms that are so central to correct immune system function?

I suspect that it is all of the above and much more. Please click here to listen to a 3 minute audio of what might be at play here and some ideas about what we might do about it.

Allergy epidemic gets ‘poor care’

Allergies have trebled in 20 years

Poor care and confusing advice is being used to deal with an allergy epidemic in the UK, experts have said. The House of Lords science and technology committee warned there were not enough specialist services and that food labelling was inadequate.

The cross-party group of peers said the UK was lagging behind western Europe.

It also called for advice to pregnant women and young children not to eat peanuts to be withdrawn. The government said the findings would be considered.

It comes after the Commons health committee criticised the lack of services in 2004.

Allergy centres

The number of people suffering allergic reactions has trebled in the last 20 years with a third of the population estimated to suffer at some point in their lives.

The government must now take steps to deal with that problem Baroness Finlay Science and technology committee

Each year over 6,000 people in England are admitted to hospital - a quarter of these with anaphylaxis which is a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction involving breathing difficulties.

Allergic reactions are caused by substances in the environment known as allergens, of which the most common are pollen from trees and grasses, house dust mites, wasps, bees and food such as milk and eggs.

Cases of asthma and skin disorders can also be allergy related.

The Lords report called for specialist allergy centres to be set up in each region similar to the models operating in Denmark and Germany.

At the moment there are over 90 clinics, but only six are led by allergy consultants that can treat and diagnose the full range of conditions.

The report said GPs and other health professionals had poor knowledge of allergies and recommended allergy training becomes a more important component of medical training.

Abstaining

The committee also heard evidence that abstaining from eating peanuts in pregnancy and in the early years may be increasing the risk of allergies developing and as a result called for a change to government guidance.

The peers said food warnings - which commonly involve the catch-all term “may contain nuts” - need to be clearer with details of the specific amounts of allergen contained within the product.

The report also called for better training for school staff to deal with allergies.

PEANUT ADVICE   The government currently advises pregnant women and young children not to eat peanuts because of the risk of allergic reactions But the House of Lords committee said this should be withdrawn after hearing evidence from experts that abstaining may increase the risk of developing an allergy The Department of Health says the guidance is based on expert advice, but it will look at it after hearing form a Food Standards Agency allergen review

Committee chairman Baroness Finlay said: “We have a severe shortage of expert medical provision to deal with allergies.

“The government must now take steps to deal with that problem.”

Jules Payne from the British Allergy Foundation agreed with the findings

She said: “The problem is clearly at epidemic levels, which the House of Lords report has recognised.

“It also recognises that there’s an appalling lack of allergy services within the NHS in the UK.

“Now at the moment we’ve got people who wait for months, if not years, for a referral to see an allergy specialist, so that really does need addressing.”

Muriel Simmons, of the Allergy UK support group, welcomed the report, saying allergy services needed improving.

But she added: “Similar recommendations were made in 2004, but there has been nothing in the last three years to suggest that the government is taking serious steps to ease the burden of allergy sufferers.”

A Royal College of Physicians spokeswoman said: “A post-code lottery prevails.”

The government said it was waiting to hear from a Food Standards Agency review before issuing updated guidance about eating peanuts.

But Health Minister Ann Keen added the government would be considering the other recommendations of the report.

She said allergy care had “firm foundations” with more than 90 allergy clinics operating in England and more money was being made available to increase specialist allergy training posts to build on that.

Posted in Vitamins, auto immune, chemicals, diet, food, health, immune system

Why are 25% of Europeans Sick?

September 21, 2007 // No Comments »

I saw this article in the BMJ e mail magazine and it made a question echo in my mind. If we have the right concept and outworking of ‘health care’ then shouldn’t we be seeing less illness? One would think so but why are 1 in 4 people in Europe chronically sick? Maybe its because we don’t have enough pharmaceutical drugs? Maybe we are just living stressful lives or maybe there is something else at play? My own research suggests that it could be something to do with the food we are eating being nutritionally almost empty and we are living in an increasingly polluted environment. If you want to stay free of illness maybe we should turn first to our lifestyles and diets and then seek to combat the effects of the pollutants in the environment. www.sugars4life.com has some answers and more canbe found at www.squidoo.com/plantsugars

Paul barton

BMJ

One quarter of the European Union’s 500 million people are undergoing long term treatment for illnesses ranging from hypertension and arthritis to ulcers and cataracts.

The findings, released last week, are the result of a survey carried out for the European Commission in September and October 2006 into the health of citizens in the 27 EU member states and Croatia.

The commonest long term treatment is for high blood pressure (36% of those being treated), which is particularly prevalent in central and eastern Europe. In Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece it accounts for at least half of people receiving a long term treatment, while the lowest levels of hypertension are to be found in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Long standing problems with muscles, bones, and joints are the second most common type of ailment, accounting for 24% of those receiving treatment. Next are diabetes (15%), depression (10%), asthma (9%), . .

Posted in Vitamins, diabetes, diet, food, health, heart

Vitamin D is good for us Official - At last

September 12, 2007 // No Comments »

This article is saying what we intrinsically have known to be true but just lacked the science - at last someone has done enough to shut up the doubters and the Pharmaceuutical lobby for ever.

Paul@sugars4life.com

www.sugars4life.com 

www.squidoo.com/plantsugars 

TORONTO – People who take vitamin D supplements appear to have a lower risk of death from any cause, an analysis of numerous studies has found, adding to the weight of evidence suggesting that the “sunshine nutrient” confers widespread health benefits.
In an analysis of data pooled from 18 randomized controlled trials, researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the European Institute of Oncology found that subjects who took at least 500 international units of vitamin D daily had a seven per cent lower risk of death, on average, compared with control groups given a dummy pill.

The 18 clinical trials involved a total of more than 57,000 subjects, who were followed for almost six years. Most of the studies, with participants mainly over age 65, were investigating the role of vitamin D in keeping bones strong and preventing fractures.
In the nine trials that collected blood samples, participants who took supplements had an average 1.4- to 5.2-fold higher blood level of vitamin D than those who did not, the analysis shows.

Previous studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency may be linked to a higher risk of dying from cancer, heart disease and diabetes — illnesses that account for 60 per cent to 70 per cent of deaths in high-income countries, the authors say. “If the associations made between vitamin D and these conditions were consistent, then interventions effectively strengthening vitamin D status should result in reduced total mortality,” the authors write.

Researchers can’t say for sure what it is about vitamin D that seems to improve health and apparently prolong life. “It’s still a little bit obscure,” co-author Dr. Philippe Autier, chief of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Agency for Research on Cancer, said yesterday from Lyon, France. “There’s one area of research quite recently that showed that vitamin D had the possibility to delay, to retard, the progression of certain diseases, essentially cancer and some cardiovascular diseases.”

Laboratory studies have shown vitamin D can halt the growth of cells, Autier said. “Cancer is characterized by the proliferation of cells. It looks like the vitamin D was able to . . . put a control on this.”

Source: http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/National/2007/09/11/4486352-sun.html
_______________________

Vitamin D might be factor in longer life
Analysis of research hints moderate dose lowers risk of death
By Stephanie Desmon
Sun reporter
September 11, 2007

Vitamin D is good for your bones, doctors have said for years, but new research suggests that taking a vitamin pill a day might extend your life. The findings, published yesterday in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, add to the growing medical literature about the benefits of what is sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” because it is produced by the skin in response to sunlight.

Recent studies have linked vitamin D deficiencies to higher risk of cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis. It could play a role in reducing heart disease and preventing pre-eclampsia in pregnant women. “It’s very new to see [the effects of] vitamin D on organs different than the bones,” said Dr. Philippe Autier, a co-author of the study. “These are very ordinary doses. You don’t need four or five pills a day. …

“You should probably get rid of all the other” vitamins in the medicine cabinet, Autier said by phone from Lyon, France, where he is a researcher at the International Agency for Research on Cancer. “At this point, that’s where we are. This is quite real.”

Consumers are getting used to being told about new benefits of vitamins.
Yesterday, a team led by Johns Hopkins scientists reported that vitamin C inhibits the growth of some tumors in mice. In recent years, vitamin E, beta-carotene and other antioxidants were praised as having miracle properties, but when more research was done, they lost some of their luster. One trial last year showed that patients with neck cancer who received large doses of vitamins C, E and beta carotene experienced fewer side effects of cancer treatments, but in the end they died at twice the rate of those who didn’t get vitamins.

Past experience means there “is some need to be cautious” about vitamins, said Edgar Miller, associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins and an antioxidant researcher:
“I think there is enough evidence to recommend vitamin D supplements in most women, certainly who are older and have dietary deficiencies. How high a dose? We don’t know. Is there a threshold of benefit beyond which there’s harm? That’s something that needs to be studied.” Still, he said, “everything seems to be lining up very well with vitamin D.”

Autier’s analysis looked at 18 trials involving vitamin D supplements that included more than 57,000 patients and evaluated doses ranging from 300 international units to 2,000 international units. Most commercially available supplements contain 400 to 600 IU. Over an average of nearly six years, those who took vitamin D had a 7 percent lower risk of death from all causes than those who did not.

Some scientists say more years of study would give better clues as to how large a role vitamin D plays in decreasing mortality. Others point out that while there was a statistically significant 7 percent drop in mortality in Autier’s analysis, because of the size of the study that only accounted for a difference of 117 people who died in the control groups as compared with those who took vitamin D supplements.

Some vitamin D researchers believe that as people have spent more and more time
indoors, as opposed to the long stretches spent outdoors and uncovered in agrarian times, they have developed serious vitamin D deficiencies. They say levels that are considered normal in the United States are one-fifth of the levels of 10,000 years ago.
Dr. Cedric F. Garland, a cancer prevention specialist at the University of California, San Diego, said some cancers - rare in agrarian times - can be blamed on vitamin D deficiencies, something researchers have just begun to understand in the past few years. “We just never realized the deficiency was there,” he said.

Garland said the link between the sunshine vitamin and cancers can be seen in new data released by the United Nations, which show cancer incidence rates in 177 countries in the world. As you move farther from the Equator, cancer levels rise, he said.
“Sunny latitudes have markedly lower incidences of cancer of the colon, breast, ovary,” he said. “It’s such a powerful association with both hemispheres. It leaves no other logical explanation.”

The most severe vitamin D deficiencies are associated with rickets, a disease that weakens the bones, though it is not common as it was before scientific advances were made in the early 20th century. In 1922, a Johns Hopkins researcher isolated the rickets-fighting compound in cod liver oil, a fairly new treatment at the time, and labeled it vitamin D.

Getting enough vitamin D isn’t easy. About 10 minutes in the sun during peak hours - hold the sunscreen - should be more than enough to produce the currently recommended level. But many fear the sun’s harmful rays - or are stuck behind desks during the heat of the day. African-Americans might need even more exposure, as the pigmentation in their skin makes it harder to process sunlight into vitamin D and leaves them more vulnerable to deficiencies.

Fish, liver and egg yolk are the only foods that naturally contain vitamin D, though some other foods are fortified with it. Still, to get 800 IU of vitamin D from fortified milk you would have to drink two quarts a day.

“It’s impossible to get enough in your diet,” said Dr. Elizabeth Streeten, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who runs the metabolic bone disease program there. She has long been telling her patients to take 1,000 IU or more daily. And her relatives, too. Alongside their other gifts, she said. “I’ve been trying to give bottles of vitamin D to my family for holidays for years.”

There is little evidence of vitamin D toxicity at levels under 10,000 IU a day, several said. The upper limit recommended by the National Academy of Sciences is 2,000 IU, and Garland said there might be a push to extend that to 4,000 IU. He expects to see even more good news because the research “is rapidly accelerating.” “It seems like each month or two there’s something new that’s found,” he said.

Dr. Joan Lappe is an osteoporosis researcher at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. She is studying the effects in 1,200 rural postmenopausal women of calcium and calcium plus vitamin D supplements on osteoporosis-related fractures. In a study published this summer, she and her colleagues found that after four years, those who took calcium and vitamin D had a 60 percent lower risk of developing cancer, compared with the placebo group. The calcium-only group had a 47 percent reduced risk.

Most studies have been done in older women, often unhealthy women. Lappe said she wants to see further studies - in men, in younger people - but right now, she thinks the “data strongly suggest vitamin D [is helpful] in preventing cancer.”

“It’s such a simple thing,” she said. “Imagine taking a vitamin to prevent cancer. It’s almost too good to be true.”

Source: www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.hs.vitamind11sep11,0,4937265.story

Posted in Vitamins, diet, health