Wonder Vitamin?

The news about vitamin D keeps getting better.

Researchers have known for a long time that vitamin D, along with calcium, plays an important role in bone mineralization --- a critical concern of the elderly.

Improving Muscle Tissue and Function

New research is turning up even more encouraging news. Scientists are learning that the vitamin may play an especially important role improving muscle function and muscle strength --- yet another pressing concern for seniors.

“It appears vitamin D not only helps strengthen bones but muscles too,” says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutritionist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science. “It seems that elderly people who take sufficient amounts of the vitamin have less muscle wasting and, consequently, are less prone to falls than people who don’t get adequate amounts.”

Recommended daily allowances for vitamin D were increased several years ago based on the role it serves in enhancing bone mineralizing. These new findings lend even further support. Currently, the RDA increases from 200 to 600 IUs as a person becomes older.

Some in the medical community are even recommending as much as 800 IUs a day.

Warding Off Autoimmune Diseases

The new findings vis-ŕ-vis the elderly are only the tip of the iceberg, Keith says.

Researchers are also finding that vitamin D may play a role in reducing the risk of developing multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune-type diseases.

“It appears our immune cells, much like muscle tissue, are also equipped with vitamin D receptors,” Keith says. “They found that people who consume at least 400 IUs a day of the vitamin showed only a 60 percent risk of developing MS than those who got less.”

While scientists aren’t yet sure what causes MS and related autoimmune diseases, they’re now more convinced than ever that adequate consumption of vitamin D may provide a safeguard.

Safeguarding Against Tooth and Gum Disease

Researchers have known for a long time that vitamin D consumption provided some protection against tooth loss. Until recently, though, they attributed this to vitamin D’s effect in strengthening bone tissue around teeth.

Now, they’ve believe that vitamin D, indirectly contributes to reduced tooth loss by suppressing the autoimmune response and reducing the incidence of gum disease.

A Cancer Safeguard

Scientists are also excited about preliminary findings showing that adequate consumption of vitamin D may mitigate the effects of colon, breast and prostate cancer. Research with laboratory animals reveals that colon, breast and prostate cancer cells revert to normal cell division if grown in vitamin D compounds.

“It’s possible that with adequate amounts of this vitamin, you ensure a proper sequencing of cell division so they don’t continue dividing and dividing,” Keith says.

Some scientists have speculated it may even be possible to develop a vitamin D drug that will cause certain cancers to regress, he says.

Protection Against Type II Diabetes

Finally, researchers also have discovered that people with good vitamin D status appear to face a lower risk of type II diabetes.

In fact, a number of studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to an increased risk of this condition, also known as adult-onset diabetes. One researcher even speculates that vitamin D deficiency may represent a sort of double jeopardy, tipping the balance among people who already are on the verge developing the disease.

The New Wonder Vitamin?

Keith believes the findings associated with vitamin D are producing an optimism in the medical community similar to what occurred with folic acid roughly a decade ago.

“All of these new findings further support the idea that vitamin D requirements should increase with age,” he says.

Keith says the medical community may recommend higher levels in the future and may explore other dietary sources beyond the current milk and diary product fortification.

For younger adults in temperate climates like the South, gaining adequate exposure to vitamin D through skin exposure to the sun isn’t difficult. However, for others, the task can be challenging.

“People who are out in the sun everyday with their arms and faces uncovered probably make quite a bit of vitamin D,” Keith says. “Our biggest worry should be for people who are unable get this daily exposure --- those in colder climates and especially older people.”

[Source: Dr. Robert Keith, Alabama Cooperative Extension System Nutritionist and Auburn University Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, (334) 844-3273.]

Posted by Jim Langcuster at October 28, 2004 10:47 AM | TrackBack