Vitamin D - A Gene-Regulating Super Nutrient

[Guest guest]

Vitamin D - A Gene-Regulating Super Nutrient

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Byron s, CCN

http://www.wellnessresources.com/tips/articles/vitamin_d_a_gene_regulating_super\

_nutrient/?source=Email & camp=news110608

Vitamin D has long been known to assist healthy bones by helping to

stimulate bone cells to make new bone while enhancing the uptake of calcium

into bones. Its role in boosting immunity, hormone regulation, brain

health, metabolism, diabetes prevention, cancer prevention, and

cardiovascular health are just now becoming clear. The sunshine vitamin

appears poised to claim its crown.

All your body organs and cells have receptors for vitamin D, meaning that

vitamin D communicates all around your body. Your cells use vitamin D to

directly regulate your genes, making it one of the most powerful compounds

in human health. In fact, one study with 2100 female twins showed that

having adequate vitamin D extends life by five years. This is because

vitamin D prevents excessive wear and tear to the telomers that are attached

to the ends of your chromosomes that enable cell division (determining

potential cell lifespan). This is truly a new era of nutritional science.

Vitamin D Basics

Vitamin D3 is produced in your skin when exposed to sunlight. Extra vitamin

D from prolonged sun exposure is converted to non-biologically active

lumisterol, which can also be converted back to D3 when sun exposure levels

drop. Prolonged sun exposure results in tanning (extra melanin synthesis),

which is a natural sunscreen (like clothing) and reduces the amount of

vitamin D3 that is made in the first place. There is no such thing as

getting too much vitamin D3 from the sun.

Vitamin D must be converted into its biologically active form (1,25(OH)2D)

before it goes to work. Your kidneys are the main organ that does this for

your body as a whole, but it is now recognized that many cells have the

enzymes to directly activate vitamin D. For example, cells lining your

lungs and digestive tract can activate vitamin D to help fight infection.

The vitamin D receptors around your body are capable of binding both the

active and inactive forms of vitamin D. Cells that activate vitamin D can

also inactivate it, forming a convenient system of self-regulation based on

a variety of needs.

Once vitamin D is active in cells it has one main job, activating genes. In

other words, the basic role of vitamin D in your body is to help regulate

its functions at the level of gene transcription. Because so many different

tissues and types of cells use vitamin D, it can be assumed that this is a

fundamental need for survival.

Your body places a high value on vitamin D and has made provisions to store

it in your liver and the lining of your digestive tract. This savings

account of vitamin D can be called into action during times of need, such as

the long winter months. It is interesting that deficiencies of vitamin D in

your liver or digestive tract are associated with the poor health of both

organ systems.

When your skin makes vitamin D then the vitamin D turns on antioxidants

within your skin to deactivate the free radicals coming from the sun's UV

radiation. This is a natural defense mechanism (a built in sunscreen). The

new science shows that only 9% of the population has vitamin D receptors

that don't do a good job of this. It is ridiculous to make 100% of the

population think that routine sun exposure is a major health risk when such

advice applies mostly to a small group.

How Much Supplemental Vitamin D Do You Need?

It is widely recognized that vitamin D is low in many Americans. Government

levels for vitamin D dietary intake are 400 IU to 600 IU per day and may be

lacking based on a significant body of vitamin D science. Many vitamin D

researchers believe that 2000 IU are needed on a daily basis, especially in

the winter months in the U.S.

Vitamin D intake of 2000 IU has been safely tested in children ages 10-17.

In fact, only the dose of 2000 IU was able to bring the common vitamin D

deficiency in children up to normal levels.

In a study of overweight African-American children it was found that 57% who

were overweight lacked vitamin D, compared to 40% of the control group.

However, 1 month of vitamin D intake at 400 IU per day failed to bring

vitamin D levels into normal range, indicating that current government

recommendations are inadequate.

A randomized study of 180 pregnant women found that 800 IU of vitamin D per

day improved their blood levels, but only a few of them and their babies

reached normal levels of vitamin D on this dose. In another study with 206

pregnant women only 10% had adequate vitamin D levels. Those with the

lowest D had children who experienced tooth enamel abnormalities and

cavities early in life.

A new study with young healthy men found they needed 700-800 IU of vitamin D

per day in the winter to maintain optimal bone health. You can imagine that

someone older, most woman, or individuals in poor health would need a higher

amount.

Even the Mayo Clinic is churning out press releases telling everyone to take

800-1000 IU of vitamin D per day. They are telling people that Vitamin D

can improve muscle strength and help older people not fall, reduce the risk

of some cancers, help chronic pain, protect against autoimmune disease, and

reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease. Wow - even mainstream medicine

is on the vitamin D bandwagon.

In my view, part of the issue of how much Vitamin D you should take is based

on the symptoms you have that indicate likely deficiency. Keep in mind that

these symptoms may crop up as winter moves along and your vitamin D savings

account is depleted. Thus, I will review some of the key findings of recent

vitamin D research.

Immunity

The front line troops of your immune system (innate immunity) use vitamin D

to help mount an immune response for their foot soldiers. These immune

cells use vitamin D to produce a germ-killing compound called cathelicidin.

Your immune cells then release cathelicidin to kill bacteria, a process that

does not work if there is a lack of vitamin D. The bacteria killing

properties have been known for some time and have even been used to help

kill tuberculosis.

Many chronic skin problems are associated with increased infection. In a

recent small study of patients with atopic dermatitis it was found that

taking 4000 IU of vitamin D per day for 21 days restored their skin's

production of cathelicidin to normal - offering protection from infection.

A new study shows that vitamin D is directly activated by cells in your

lungs to help combat infection. The researchers showed that this not only

boosted the bacteria-killing cathelicidin but also improved the ability of

immune troops to identify invaders.

If you have recurring skin problems or if your lungs are a friendly place

for bugs to live (especially a winter-time weak spot) then it is likely you

need more vitamin D.

Autoimmune Problems

Vitamin D has a dampening effect on excessive and inappropriate behavior of

immune cells. It helps reduce the amount of inflammation produced by immune

cells. In fact, a deficiency of vitamin D may be an underlying and possibly

causative issue for almost any autoimmune problem and a theory can be put

forth that vitamin D adequacy is required to prevent your immune system from

going into an improper hyperactive and excessively inflammatory state - a

problem that is at least a part of all diseases of aging.

Studies show the ability of vitamin D to help prevent as well as improve

such issues as arthritis, autoimmune type I diabetes, and inflammatory bowel

disease.

Any person with any autoimmune disease should have their vitamin D levels

tested by their physician and these should be corrected as a first step in

seeking to improve any problem.

It is an interesting point that vitamin D helps both a lacking and

hyper-active immune system work well. A key theme of nutrition is that it

works in your body to promote efficiency of healthy function. In the case

of vitamin D it not only boosts up underperformance, it quiets down

excessive and improper activity. Obviously, no drug has such intelligence.

Cancer

One of the main functions of vitamin D is telling your genes what to do.

Many of these functions relate to cell growth and division. For example,

adequate vitamin D is crucial to the healthy growth of your skin and hair.

In fact, a lack of vitamin D can result in an autoimmune reaction that makes

your hair fall out or in disruptions to consistent skin pigmentation.

Cancer problems imply that cell division has gotten out of control in an

inappropriate way. Just as vitamin D is needed by immune cells so they don't

become hyperactive and inappropriate, so it is that vitamin D may be needed

to help regulate cell growth and differentiation to keep it in a healthy

condition.

A number of precise cell growth factors are favorably influenced by vitamin

D, which is likely to have benefit for many kinds of cancer. Current

vitamin D cancer research has tended to focus on colon, breast, and prostate

cancer.

One aspect of the current research shows that vitamin D is a partner in the

antioxidant defense system of cells, helping to clear them of free radicals

and thereby protecting them from DNA damage that can lead to mutation.

Interestingly, vitamin D is smart enough not to protect cancer cells. That

finding, along with earlier work, led this research group to claim " Our

findings reflect what we see in those studies and demonstrate that vitamin D

not only can be used as a therapy for prostate cancer, it can prevent

prostate cancer from happening. "

Some of the newer colon cancer research finds that vitamin D turns on death

signals in colon cancer cells and works synergistically with calcium to help

prevent colon cancer cells from spreading.

A definitive German study has now proven that low levels of vitamin D in

premenopausal women are associated with an increased risk in breast cancer.

Compared to the women with the highest vitamin D, the increased risk ranged

from 45% - 68%, depending on the amount of deficiency.

Diabetes and Obesity

Vitamin D levels are low in obese adults. It is well known that vitamin D

helps stimulate the release of insulin from your pancreas. A lack of

vitamin D drastically increases the risk for type I diabetes and is likely

involved with the insulin and leptin resistance that eventually causes type

II diabetes. There is a lot more work needed in this area to fully

understand these issues, but here is what we know so far.

The further you live from the equator the higher your risk for getting type

I diabetes. If you live in Finland your risk goes up 400 fold. How vitamin

D protects the beta cells of your pancreas is not known, but it likely

dampens inflammatory immune signals and boosts antioxidant protection - as

it has been shown to do in other areas of your body.

Pooled data from existing studies shows that a child supplemented with

vitamin D is 30% less likely to develop type I diabetes even as an adult.

In a very large Finnish study those infants and children who consistently

took 2000 IU of vitamin D per day had a 78% reduced risk of type I diabetes.

Many overweight people are low in vitamin D and correcting vitamin D

deficiency has been shown to improve insulin resistance, giving vitamin D a

role in also helping to prevent type II diabetes (the most common form in

society).

New research shows that vitamin D is metabolically active within your stored

fat, although we don't know exactly what it is doing. We know from earlier

research that vitamin D helps reduce excess leptin from fat. High leptin

lowers another fat hormone called adiponectin which we know must be at

higher levels to prevent insulin resistance and type II diabetes. While

there is a lot more about this to learn, it does appear that adequate

vitamin D is helpful for healthy metabolism of blood sugar and fat.

If you are struggling with weight or the health of your pancreas it may be

another sign that some extra vitamin D is needed.

Heart Health

Researchers at the University of Michigan have nick named vitamin D " the

heart tranquilizer " because it helps keep your heart from working so hard

and swelling in size. Their findings indicate that vitamin D can help

prevent heart failure.

Vitamin D has been shown to improve blood flow in your extremities, helping

to improve what researchers call peripheral artery disease (PAD). The

researchers evaluated 4839 U.S. adults and found those with the best vitamin

D levels had the least amount of PAD.

Brain Health

Research with animals has shown that low vitamin D during pregnancy causing

brain abnormalities similar to those seen in patients with schizophrenia.

Because vitamin D is involved with gene transcription in the evolving

nervous system a lack of it is bound to cause some kind of problems.

In older Americans low vitamin D is associated with depression. I think just

about everyone feels better when there is more sun.

An interesting study compared vitamin D levels in older Americans to

Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Patients with Parkinson's were 55%

more likely to be low in vitamin D.

Thus, if your hands are a bit shaky and/or your mood is a bit off then maybe

you could use a little more vitamin D.

Summary

Vitamin D does so many things helpful to your health that you absolutely do

not want to run short. Government recommendations for dietary intake of

vitamin D are too low, especially for the winter months when vitamin D is so

important to the function of your immune system.