History of Vitamin D

Early in the 20^th century an investigator found that cod liver oil could prevent rickets in puppies. The nutritional factor in the oil that promotes skeletal calcium deposition was named "vitamin D," alphabetically after already-named vitamins A, B, and C. Rickets was thought to be another vitamin-deficiency disease, and the curative agent, a steroid hormone, was mislabeled a "vitamin."

Now, a century later, a wealth of evidence suggests that rickets, its most florid manifestation, is the tip of a Vit D insufficiency/deficiency iceberg. A lack of Vit D can also trigger infections (influenza and tuberculosis), autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease), cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Today, medical professionals and researchers believe Vitamin D to be implicated in so many more processes in the body than was originally considered. Vitamin D is especially critical to healthly cardiovascular function.

"There are a whole array of studies linking increased cardiovascular risk with vitamin D deficiency. It is associated with major risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and stiffening of the left ventricle of the heart and blood vessels. Inflammation is really important for heart disease, and people with vitamin D deficiency have increased inflammation."

Dr. James H. O'Keefe, director of preventive cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City

Prominent Physician Discusses Vitamin D

Courtesy Mercola.com

Impact of Vitamin D on Good Health

Practitioners of conventional medicine (i.e., most MDs) are just beginning to appreciate the true impact of Vit D deficiency. In 1990, medical journals published less than 20 reviews and editorials on Vit D. In 2006 they published more than 300 reviews and editorials on this vitamin/hormone. July 19, 2007, even the New England Journal of Medicine, the bellwether of pharmaceutically-oriented conventional medicine in the U.S., published a review on Vit D that addresses its role in autoimmune diseases, infections, cardiovascular disease, and cancer [N Engl J Med 2007;357:266–281].

Up until 1980, doctors thought that Vit D was only involved in calcium, phosphorus, and bone metabolism. Then two investigators proposed that Vit D and sunlight could reduce the risk of colon cancer. [Do Sunlight and Vitamin D Reduce the Likelihood of Colon Cancer? GARLAND and GARLAND Int. J. Epidemiol..1980; 9: 227-231]

A growing body of evidence indicates that they were right and that Vit D can prevent a whole host of cancers – colon, breast, lung, pancreatic, ovarian, and prostate cancer among them.

Colon cancer rates are 4 to 6 times higher in North America and Europe, where solar radiation is less intense, particularly during the winter months, compared to the incidence of colon cancer near the equator. People with low blood levels of Vit D and those who live at higher latitudes are at increased risk for acquiring various kinds of cancer.

Many epidemiological, cohort, and case control studies prove, at least on a more likely than not basis, that Vit D supplements and adequate exposure to sunlight play an important role in cancer prevention. [Am J Public Health 2006;96:252–261].

Health Day News - Low Vitamin D Boost Risks of Hip Fractures

(HealthDay News) -- Low levels of vitamin D can boost older women's risk for hip fracture by more than 70 percent, University of Pittsburgh researchers report.

The finding adds weight to the recommendation that people maintain adequate intake of vitamin D, which is primarily made by the skin when it is exposed to sunlight.

The fracture-vitamin D link "has been observed for 15 years," noted Dr. Michael F. Holick, director of the Vitamin D Skin and Bone Research Laboratory at Boston University. "The good news is it's consistent, the higher your vitamin D status, the lower the risk of your developing a hip fracture."

The new report appears in the Aug. 19 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Hip fractures can be devastating for older individuals. In fact, 50 percent of older people who suffer a hip fracture will end up in a nursing home and 20 percent will die within the first year due to complications such as a pulmonary embolism resulting from the fracture, Holick said.

For this study, a research team led by Jane A. Cauley from the University of Pittsburgh collected data on 800 women aged 50 to 79. Researchers followed the women for up to nine years to determine their risk for hip fractures.

They found that the risk of hip fracture rose 33 percent with every 25 nanomoles per liter drop in vitamin D levels. Women with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 71 percent increase risk for hip fractures compared with women with the highest levels of vitamin D, the researchers report.

"We conclude that low serum vitamin D concentrations are associated with an increased risk for hip fracture in community-dwelling women. The mechanism of association is unclear," the authors wrote.

Holick notes that vitamin D is essential for the body's absorption of calcium, a key component of bone health. "If you don't have adequate vitamin D, you cannot efficiently absorb calcium," he said. "Vitamin D also helps maintain bone health by keeping bone cells active."

Preventing hip fracture is another good reason to keep your vitamin D levels up, Holick said. "To get vitamin D levels to where they need to be to reduce the risk of hip fracture, you need to be taking at least 1,000 international units of vitamin D a day from a supplement," he advised.

Dr. John Jacob Cannell, executive director of the nonprofit Vitamin D Council, agreed that most people are not getting enough of the nutrient.

"Women need to know their vitamin D status," Cannell said. "They need to ask their doctor for the right test," known as the 25 hydroxy D test. "Women should strive to keep your vitamin D levels above 125 nanomoles per liter, year round. To do that, they are going to require supplements."

Cannell recommends that before they get a blood test for vitamin D, women take 2,000 international units of vitamin D a day for three months.

In addition to reducing the risk of bone fractures, another function that Vitamin D performs is clearing calcium out of the arteries. If fact studies show that arterial plaque is 50% calcium with only 3% cholesterol. [International Journal Cardiology 1991 Nov; 33 (2):191-8]  Hmmm. Kinda makes you wonder what all the hoopla over cholesterol is all about, doesn't it?

Considering that arterial plaque has over 16 times more calcium than cholesterol wouldn't we want to be supplementing with a highly assimilatable form of Vitamin D instead of all these dangerous cholesterol drugs? It may amaze you to discover that Vit D is an anti-calcifying agent. [Nephrology 2007 Oct;12(5):500-9]

Type and Dosage

If you have studied supplements even minimally you know that there are glaring differences in quality and type of vitamins that you can purchase over the counter.

For instance people sometimes will go for the cheaper form of supplements such as calcium. Some calcium supplements are the same as eating chalk. They do nothing beneficial for your body.

Another problem with supplements is the form and the ability to assimilate. Ask anyone who works with port-a-potties and they will tell you about the phenomenon of piles and piles of vitamin tablets and pills they find in those things when they clean them out.

Additionally it is becoming increasingly evident and generally known that our water supply is contaminated with all forms of over the counter and prescription drugs. As evidenced with the port-a-potties and considering the water supply contamination, one might conclude that many supplements and drugs in  pill and tablet form are simply passing through the body doing no good whatsoever and eventually breaking down long after they leave the body.

Liquid supplementation provides the most benefit in that it is much more able to be assimilated by the body. So carefully consider which form of supplementation you are putting into your body.

Excellent Source of Liquid Vitamin D

Every dose of Cardio Cocktail includes 5000 iu of vitamin D in liquid form. This formulation was put together by ForMor Intl's medical advisory board which includes Medical Doctors, Naturopaths, Nutritionist and natural health professionals.

Isn't it time to take another look at your vitamin cabinet, revisit your intake of Vit D and consider the benefits of Cardio Cocktail?

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