[Homestead] Vitamin D, your health and mine
Lynn Wigglesworth
lynnw1366 at hotmail.com
Sat Oct 3 08:32:56 EDT 2009
Bev; I get an email newsletter from Dr. Mercola, and by coincidence, today's
article had a link to an older article about vitamin D testing:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/02/23/vitamin-d-deficiency-part-one.aspx
The video portion says basically the same thing as the text portion, so if
you can't download it, you aren't missing anything.
Lynn Wigglesworth
----- Original Message -----
From: "EarthNSky" <erthnsky at bellsouth.net>
To: "Homestead List" <homestead at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 1:32 AM
Subject: [Homestead] Vitamin D, your health and mine
> I've got something to report, and I hope my experience will help someone
> else. I know I can't be the only one. An edited version of this post
> will appear on my blog. http://erthnsky.blogspot.com/
> I've written before that I thought I was Vitamin D deficient. There
> were a few symptoms that I had, but nothing too serious, or so I
> thought. On my own, I started taking fish oil, then switched to cold
> liver oil because it contained more Vitamin D. I've always craved oily
> fish and chicken livers and eggs and other foods that are notoriously
> high in Vitamin D. I eat plenty of dairy and milk, too.
> Back in July, I wrote about Vitamin D on my blog. (July 17) It was
> around that time that I decided to start a trial of taking Vit D
> supplements in the form of Cod Liver oil. This page gives a quick
> overview:
> http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp
>
> I did some reading and discovered that there is quite a controversy over
> the RDA for Vitamin D. We need more as we get older. The relationship
> between Vitamin D, cholesterol, and the melanin pigment in our skin is
> important to understand. Basically, the short story is that the sun's
> UVB rays turn cholesterol into Vitamin D. If you have a lot of melanin
> pigmentation, that blocks the UVB rays and you may be deficient.
> Africans have a lot of pigment, but they also live where UVB rays are
> strongest year around. Black people in the US inherited their genetic
> race from ancestors that lived in Africa, but now, these people live in
> a more northern place where UVB radiation is less and only makes it
> through the atmosphere near the noon hour. Dark skinned people in the
> US could be deficient from not enough sunlight/UVB rays to convert the
> cholesterol to Vitamin D. That might also explain why blacks often
> suffer from high serum cholesterol issues. For fair skinned people like
> me whose ancestors are from the far north, we have very little melanin
> to block UVB, because north of the Arctic Circle, there is very little
> UVB making it to the ground and our bodies don't need to block it.
> However, here in the US, I have the possibility of more sun, more UVB
> than Finland, and yet I don't have the melanin to protect me. It is the
> opposite of an African's problem, but the result is the same. Because I
> am so fair, I don't get enough exposure year around to produce enough
> Vitamin D from my cholesterol.
> So anyway, I started taking about 1500 IU's of cod liver oil a day as
> well as a multivitamin with an additional 400 IU's, and after a few
> weeks, I could swear that I felt a bit less achy from my arthritis pain.
> I seemed to have more energy and was more able to think clearly.
> About that time, I had an appointment with my rheumatologist and I told
> her of my suspicion that I was Vitamin D deficient. She ordered a test,
> as well as a test for bone density since I had had a stress fracture a
> few months prior. The other problem I've had for a few months is gum
> inflammation. I had my teeth cleaned in March and in early April, my
> gums started to bleed. There was a lot of blood, not just pink in the
> sink. I increased my brushing time, rinsed with fluoride washes and
> tried all kinds of stuff, but still, my gums were bleeding at the drop
> of a hat. I could also tell that they were receding a bit around my
> bridge. Things seemed to be changing fast, yet I had no pain or
> tenderness. I went to the dentist, but he had no answer other than it
> could be Vitamin D related but usually gum bleeding was gingivitis
> related. Well, as it turned out, the bloodwork revealed that I was
> indeed Vitamin D deficient. Very much so, even though I had been taking
> the Cod Liver Oil. Normal was 31-100 and my result was 14. Some docs
> think 'normal' should be 20, I've learned, but even with that I was
> deficient. My first thought was no wonder my arms feel like they are
> about to break when I do something like unload the washing machine! No
> wonder the dentist is telling me that I have bone loss and gum
> inflammation! So, my rheumatologist prescribed a Vitamin D supplement
> that I take once a week. It is a little blue gel pill of 50,000 IU of
> Vitamin D. WOW! The RDA is 400 IU and daily supplements are usually up
> to 2000 IU a day.
> I have now taken two of them, the most recent being on Wednesday.
> Yesterday, Thursday, for the first time since April, my gums did not
> bleed when I brushed my teeth. Not a speck of blood, when just a few
> days ago I had to rinse 5 or 6 times just to not taste the blood
> anymore. Better yet, in the last week, I have had less arthritic
> issues, less overall aches and pains, and I seem to be more optimistic
> and more focused in my thinking. I'm now looking forward to seeing how
> good I will feel in a few months. The best part of this...these little
> Vitamin D pills were only $6 for a month's supply, 4 pills.
>
> I'm hoping that I will at least be able to reduce my NSAIDS and pain
> meds, and hopefully, hopefully, I will be one of the lucky ones who
> might be 'healed' to the point that I would not need biologics like
> Enbrel. This morning, I found this UK article, which supports the
> notion that RA might be curable after all.
>
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-508283/Could-vitamin-D-really-cure-arthritis.html
>
>
> Jerry and Leslie, we have talked off list about various RA diets and
> treatments. This article makes a lot of sense as to why diets might
> work for some and not for others. It mentions alkaline diets where you
> reduce acids, too. Dieting could even work for a while and then not
> work again. If you are Vitamin deficient, anything can happen. Also
> Jerry, I recall that your wife is of African heritage, so she may need
> to rethink her own Vitamin D situation and get tested. I've forgotten
> where you live. There are just so many variables, and it is really up
> to us to figure out what might be going on.
>
> I can't believe that this might have been the precipitating factor for a
> lot of my health issues, for a long time, too. And it seems to have
> such a simple, and inexpensive solution. I've tried turmeric and milk
> thistle and other supplements and herbs but the biggest difference in
> pain relief and general well-being has been with Vitamin D
> supplementation. Last year, I went to the ER with a kidney stone. I'd
> never even had a kidney infection or a bladder infection, and out of the
> blue I get a kidney stone. Well, I read that Vitamin D deficiency can
> cause "increased excretion of calcium from renal tubules". If you are
> going to the doc for bloodwork anyway, get them to check your Vitamin D
> levels. You might be surprised. It might keep you from getting cancer
> or even from getting the flu or other viruses.
>
> This page lists some risk groups(including vegetarians) and talks about
> how certain meds can affect your Vitamin D level.
> http://www.the-vitamin-and-supplement-guide.com/vitaminDdeficiencysymptoms.html
>
> I hope everyone takes a few minutes to read these articles. It just
> might save your life or prevent you from having osteoporosis or other
> bone issues later in life.
>
> Bev
>
> --
> Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the ocean's depths, MY son is
> protecting your freedom on the USS Key West, currently deployed
> somewhere in the Pacific and/or Indian Ocean. Go Navy!
> EarthNSky Farm, NW Georgia, USA
>
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