Natural sunlight is among the best sources of Vitamin D.

Some “D”pressing news to report on the heart health front, particularly if you’re a senior citizen.  According to a joint study conducted by researchers from Colorado and Massachusetts, the elderly are at greater risk of dying from heart disease when their vitamin D levels are low.

If you feel like you’ve been bombarded with vitamin D news lately, you’re not alone.  The media are great at beating a dead horse, aren’t they?  But this time the “beating” is warranted, as they’ve finally come to the realization that vitamin D really is the “D”fensive vitamin.

Just how defensive?  Well if the Colorado and Massachusetts researchers’ findings are accurate, and there’s no reason to think that they aren’t, if you’re not sufficiently armed with D, you’re three times more likely to die from heart disease.

This truly “D”sturbing finding (OK, OK, I’ll quit with the “D” stuff) was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society after researchers reviewed the health statistics of approximately 3,400 people in their elder years (65 years and older).  In the course of reviewing their blood samples, they found that those with the lowest vitamin D levels were three times more likely to have died than those with high vitamin D levels.  They were also two-and-a-half times more likely to have died from other diseases not including heart disease.

The researchers came from the University of Colorado and Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital.

As I’ve referenced in past articles, health officials have increased the recommended dosage for vitamin D, but only for the youngest among us (i.e. toddlers, young children), not the estimated 24 million elderly currently living in America.  Perhaps this latest report will serve as sufficient justification to up the recommended dosage (400 to 600 IUs is what’s recommended for men and women over 50).

In the meantime, it’s important to expose your skin to the sunlight.  Generally speaking, the elderly are loath to spend all the livelong day in the sun.  But I’m not talking all day; I’m talking about 20 to 25 minutes of direct sunlight exposure (no sunscreen).  That’s all that’s needed to get a sufficient dose of the sunshine vitamin (if possible, stay out in the sun in the 25 minute range rather than 20 minutes; the skin becomes less absorbent of the sun’s rays as we age).

You can get a good amount of vitamin D through the food you eat, but there aren’t many options to choose from.  Pasteurized milk and other dairy products are usually fortified with vitamin D, but that’s not enough for me to start advocating pasteurized milk consumption (see why here).

That pretty much leaves fish as the best option for vitamin D through food.  Salmon—perhaps the most nutritious protein source on planet Earth—has about 350 IUs of vitamin D in a 3.5 ounce portion.  Mackerel is another fish that’s loaded with D (about 345 IUs per 3.5 ounce serving).

Whether it’s through the sun’s rays or the fish that you graze, get this vital vitamin in your system—your life “d”pends on it.

Sources:
sciencedaily.com
dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov

Exposure to natural sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D.

Writing a book about health is a lot like buying a laptop, iPod, or any other piece of advanced technology:  Before you know it, your top-of-the-line machinery has been replaced by something new and more advanced.

I often feel this way when writing books.  For instance, I’m in the process of putting my e-book, “The Mind Killer Defense,” into paperback.  While the information is still relevant with respect to how to keep one’s mind operating at its peak, the latest and greatest info on preventing age-related mental decline continues to unfold, and I have yet to figure out how to mentally transmute that information into my book.

Ah, well. I suppose that’s what this blog is for – to keep you updated on the latest and greatest developments in the health world.

And speaking of the latest and greatest developments, I bring to you this latest ‘D’-velopment:  Supplementing with vitamin D helps prevent age-related mental decline, according to research from the University of Manchester in England.

Vitamin D has been on the frontlines and front pages of health news on what seems like a continual basis, for when in short supply, it’s implicated in physical flameouts like childhood obesity, cardiovascular disease, improper bone development, and tuberculosis.  This latest evidence shows how vitamin D deficiency plays a role in mental flameouts as well.

Coming to this conclusion required the assistance of 3,000 European men between the ages of 40 and 79, all of whom were considered deficient in vitamin D.  Potential factors that could play into the results of the study were all accounted for, like education level, mental health (i.e. depression) and how physically active they were (See that? More evidence suggesting exercise factors into mental health).

When the 3,000 men were given a battery of tests that measured how keen they were in mental agility tasks, the researchers found that, uniformly, those who had the lowest vitamin D levels at the study’s outset performed the worst in testing.  Even after the researchers adjusted their results for contributing factors – like the ones aforementioned – the results were the same!

The study is published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychology .

The link between vitamin D and mental health has been investigated in the past, but this study is the largest of its kind, which tends to give more credibility to its findings.

As I write this piece, the sun is shining and the mercury is rising.  In the “bad news” media, on days like these, we tend to hear how dangerous the sun is and to make sure and wear long sleeves when outdoors.

I’m taking the opposite tact.  Consider this piece to be a reminder of the importance of direct sunlight.  I’m not talking three to four hours on the beach shirtless without sunscreen, but exposing yourself to direct sunlight for at least 20 to 30 minutes per day is the ideal way to get those vitamin D levels churned up.

So go ahead and ‘d’light in the sunshine today for a bright and sustainable mind tomorrow!

Source:
msnbc.msn.com