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Many reasons why vitamin D deficiency has become epidemic


http://www.vitad.org/tiki-index.php?page_id=1586

23 of the 40 reasons for Vitamin D deficiency are new

People have gotten far less Vitamin D from the SUN in the past 40 years

  1. Air conditioning - to avoid the hot sun
    air conditioning in home, auto/bus/train, and workplace CLICK HERE
    Air Conditioning probably has decreased vitamin D
    Hypothesis – Air conditioning disease is the result of less vitamin D – China March 2011
  2. Increased use of multi-media indoors - TV, DVD, video games, and internet access
    Teens increasingly indoors - especially if have dark skin
    Vitamin D is essential to the modern indoor lifestyle
    Problems of increased TV watching by toddlers – May 2010
    Analysis of the time people spend outdoors – Dec 2010
  3. More indoor jobs - more office workers, fewer farmers
    Jobs in cities around the world: 30% in 1950, 70% in 2050
    4X more suburban UV than urban UV – Nov 2010
    Urban residents had 2X less vitamin D – 2008
  4. More people living in cities - where there is less UV and they have less opportunity to be outdoors
    Air pollution reduces UV and thus vitamin D
    UVB which produces vitamin D does not reflect off of buildings very well *
  5. Want whiter skin especially women
    Here and Here (Helen of Troy) and Being Fair-Skinned in Today's World
    Suntan: Popularity is fading
    Perhaps not burn from the sun if have enough vitamin D
  6. Fear skin cancer -
    Overview Suntans and melanoma  Tanning from Wikipedia
    Actually you can get enough vitamin D without getting much of a tan, much less get skin cancer
    Melanoma probability increased 2X if have 5 or more sunburns (Not necessarily at the same location as the burn)
    Most sunscreens increase the growth of skin cancer
    Actually you get 1000X more cancer by not having the vitamin D *
    Most sunscreens increase skin cancer - May 2010

    Additional reasons for less vitamin D in past 40 years (beyond lack of sun)
  7. Less cholesterol - which the skin needs to produce vitamin D
    Overview of Cholesterol and Vitamin D
    Less cholesterol in diet resulted in less vitamin D in blood (in mice) – Feb 2016
  8. More Obesity
    Obese people need more vitamin D PDF file - 2000
    Map of BMI increase - Feb 2011 with many links
    Obese people spend less time in the sun
    Livers of those who are Obese do not function as well, and so do not provide as much vitamin D
  9. More soft drinks and fructose - uses up Calcium which uses up vitamin D
    surfers in Hawaii (PDF), who drank a large amount of cola soft drink, had low levels of vitamin D
    Too much fructose reduced both serum and active vitamin D in rats – April 2013
    HFCS consumes Magnesium needed by Vitamin D
      note: Fructose also reduces active vitamin D actually getting to cells - not seen by blood tests
  10. Increased consumption of Ultra-processed foods
    Ultra-processed food consumption: 2X increased risk of vitamin D deficiency – Dec 2023
  11. Meat from factory farms - has far less vitamin D than from free-range farms
    eggs, chickens, sheep, pigs (500 IU/teaspoon of lard), farmed salmon has 4X less vitamin D than wild salmon
    Wild game, which has been outdoors all of the time, has much more vitamin D - especially in the organ meats
  12. Eating less fatty meat and eggs in an attempt to reduce cholesterol. fatty meat was discovered to have a liver-activated form of vitamin D in 2014
    Note: Meat eaters haave 8 ng higher vitamin D levels than vegetarians
  13. Drinking low-fat milk which provides only 40% of the vitamin D to the blood compared to whole milk
    6X reduction in consumption of whole milk (1970 ==> 2010), thus 100 IU/glass ==> 40 IU/glass for most people
    Reminder: Most Vitamin D is fat soluble, less fat ==> less vitamin D
  14. More drugs which consume or block vitamin D
    Antiseizure, Prednisone, AIDS drugs, Orlistat, Questran, Dilatin, Phenobarbital, Rifampin, Steroids, Calcium channel blockers
    Cholestyramine, Mineral Oil, , St Johns Wort
  15. More use of polyunsaturated fats decreased bio-availability of vitamin D
  16. More windows: UVA from windows appears to destroy vitamin D (produced by UVB which is blocked by windows)
    More wall space devoted to windows in homes, offices, and public buildings
  17. Increased salt consumption which decreases essential Vitamin D cofactors: Magnesium and Calcium
  18. Fluoridated water decreases Magnesium essential for use of vitamin D - Hypothesis?
  19. Strong magnetic fields reduce vitamin D levels Perhaps from MRI
  20. PCBs increase the chance of deficiency by 3%
  21. Plastics in pregnant women increased risk of deficiency by 22%
  22. Roundup (glyphosate) decreases vitamin D
  23. Flame Retardants also retard active vitamin D
    Flame Retardants were added to US clothing, mattresses, and cushions by 1980
    Doubt that flame retardants are used in developing countries
    Reasons for low vitamin D levels which go back more than 40 years
  24. Less liver eaten - which used to have very large amounts of vitamin D
    A way to get 40X more vitamin D from beef liver back were it used to be
    Iron deficiency is a cause of Vitamin D deficiency
  25. Less Magnesium in foods and drink - Magnesium is needed to utilize vitamin D (as well as build bones)
    Magnesium and vitamin D
    Magnesium deficiency epidemic is similar to the Vitamin D epidemic
    Reasons for lower Mg:
       Use of artificial fertilizers rarely restore Magnesium
           Refined grains and refined sugar have very little Magnesium
       Softened water/bottled water usually have all of the Magnesium removed
       Floridation of water blocks Magnesium
  26. More seniors
    seniors get 4X less vitamin D from the sun than youths (less Cholesterol in skin) *
    more people are now living >50 years
    Seniors tend to be outdoors less+In vicious circle: low D makes for lower D
    Also: seniors appear to not activate vitamin D as well (in liver, kidney, skin, etc)
    More cataract surgery ==> avoid bright light
  27. Excessive clothing (burka, nun habit, . . .)
    especially if also living far from equator or avoiding the hot sun
  28. Have a condition which Consumes vitamin D
    Chemotherapy - (be careful, adding vitamin D increases the impact of some Chemo)
    MS prevented AND treated by vitamin D, a mountain of evidence
  29. Have a condition which Prevents Adsorption in the gut
    Bariatric Surgery, Colon Cancer, IBD UC and CD, Crohn's
    Gluten Intolerance, Celiac Disease, Cystic Fibrosis
    Fat malabsorption syndromes from 1985 PDF file
    (Supplement options if have gut problem: Option 1 - Option 2)
  30. Have a condition which Prevents Conversion to active vitamin D
    Kidney   vicious cycle
    HIV both prevents conversion and consumes vitamin D
  31. Have 1 or more of 6 genes which restrict how much vitamin D gets to cells
    Restrict how much Vitamin D is semi-activated by liver or tissues
    Restict how much semi-activated Vitamin D is carried to kidneys for full activation - not seen by blood test
    Restrict how much Vitamin D is activated by kidneys or tissues - not seen by blood test
    Destroy Vitamin D before it can be used - not seen by blood test
    Restrict activated vitamin D from actually getting into cells - Vitamin D Receptor - not seen by blood test
  32. Have a condition which requires more vitamin D - or time in the sun
    Pregnancy Not just bone. Need lots of vitamin D - Before , During, and After
    Dark Skinned and living far from equator or avoiding the hot sun
    Surgery and trauma many files
  33. Lactose Intolerance or Vegan – and thus not get vitamin D from milk in US and a few other countries
    also reduces Calcium intake, needed to build bones, prevent Myopia, prevent cardiovascular disease
  34. Health reasons to avoid sun (other than skin cancer) burn easily - redhead, etc - there are alternatives
    If avoiding sun you need to supplement with vitamin D – April 2011
  35. Work long hours or night shift  Long hours reduced vitamin D by 8% – April 2011
  36. Live far from equator even more of a problem if the region is also cloudy (Washington State, Scotland)
    10X more SAD in Seattle than Miami
  37. DDT and some other pesticides in our bodies reduce the vitamin D perhaps 3 ng
  38. Smoking reduces Calcium, which reduces vitamin D
  39. Winter births - 11% more likely for adult to be deficient
    Need to take more vitamin D as an adult if born in winter
  40. Myths about vitamin D caused people and researchers to not consider useful amounts
    Myth You can easily take a toxic amount of vitamin D - started in the 1950's by a wrong diagnosis -scared off research and use for 50 years
    Myth Spend 10-15 minutes in the sun three times a week and your vitamin D will be fine. (This myth started out as a hypothesis)
    Myth Eat fish three times a week and your vitamin D will be adequate
    Myth Can get all of your vitamin D needs from food
    Myth Drink a cup of milk every day and your vitamin D will be okay
    Myth A daily multivitamin will meet your vitamin D needs
    Myth You do not develop vitamin D deficiency if you live in a warm, sunny place
    Myth Eating a healthy diet will take care of your vitamin D needs as well
    Myth More Kidney stones if take more vitamin D
    Myth Need lots of Calcium while getting lots of vitamin D ( just the opposite actually)
    Myth No tan is a safe tan (skin cancer can happen in just a few minutes)
    Myth If I sunburn easily I need to stay out of the sum ( No, being sunburned easily is often a sign of being very vitamin D deficient)
    Myth Should reduce cholesterol ( no, actually should increase cholesterol - to produce vitamin D)
    Myth Sunlight alone causes skin cancer (so why does melanoma often occur where the sun does not shine)
    Myth Can get enough vitamin D from the sun to last you thru the winter
    Myth Can get enough vitamin D even if wearing lots of sunscreen
    Myth You can be allergic to vitamin D (allergic reaction is often an indication of low Magnesium)
    Myth Vitamin D2 is almost as good as vitamin D3 (several studies have shown that vitamin D2 DECREASES serum levels of D3)
    See also Vitamin D - Facts and Myths


Lets look at vitamin D deficiency from another point of view

People were evolved under conditions which have since changed

  • People were outdoors everyday (so we could slowly adjust to the annual increase of UVB without sunburn)
  • The bright sun was available throughout the year (this assumes during the last 20,000 years that most people lived within 30 degrees of the equator)
  • That each person would not live very long (seniors get far less vitamin D from the sun than youth)
  • That people were not obese (obese people need at least 2X more vitamin D, which is secreted away in their fat)
    If there was any weight gain, it happened near harvest time when there was lots of vitamin D and that added weight/vitamin D was gone before the next harvest
  • People ate animals which lived out of doors, so there was lots of vitamin D in the meat, especially the organ meats
    Also, the animals generally ate green grass, etc. had lots of vitamin K2, which is a vitamin D cofactor

Much of the above information is in a chart, which also shows the vicious cycles

Low D ==> get a disease, which further reduces the vitamin D levels
Possible Vitamin D Interactions

CLICK HERE for Overview Deficiency of vitamin D which contains the chart about


Some diseases associated with low vitamin D have had big increases in the past few decades

Autism

updated from http://autisminnb.blogspot.com/2011/01/autism-speaks-cdc-autism-prevalence.html

Diabetes

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/dmany/fig1.htm

Obesity in US from WikiPedia

Obesity WikiPedia.gif

Increase in Childhood Cancer in recent decades

Childhood Cancer Increase

Decrease in cholesterol which the skin needs to make vitamin D in past 40 years

Cholesterol down 10 percent - CDC

Author  Thomas O.  Feb 2012

The perfect storm


see wikipage: http://www.vitad.org/tiki-index.php?page_id=2289

 

 

A few things INCREASE vitamin D levels

  1. Many statins increase vitamin D levels
  2. Oral contraceptive use associated with higher levels of vitamin D – thesis June 2012 but this idea is contested.

See also Vitamin D Life

So, many health problems due to less sun

Less Sun Less D Less Health

Short URL = http://is.gd/lowvitamind

Many reasons why vitamin D deficiency has become epidemic        
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