REPORTING POINT 04/07
HEALTH NEWS
“Live healthy...live well”
Dedicated to providing pertinent information on health, fitness, and nutrition to foster a culture of wellness among Southwest Airlines flight crews and their families.
by Larry Kline
SWAPA Voice Mailbox 4337/email: livehealthy-livewell@cox.net
Past issues of “Health News” are available at http://health.theballfamily.org. It includes a search engine; just enter a key word to find past articles. LK
EPO – evening primrose oil is made from a small yellow wildflower. It and a similar supplement, borage oil, have been used medicinally for centuries. The oil, pressed from seeds, is rich in linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid (EFA). “Essential” means that we have to consume the nutrient because the body does not produce it. EFAs are plentiful in foods, notably nuts and seeds. These polyunsaturated fats are good fats, unlike the saturated fats that contribute to heart disease.
Evening primrose oil also supplies another fatty acid known as gamma-linolenic acid, GLA. Borage oil, too, is high in GLA as is black currant oil. GLA is synthesized by the body and not an EFA. The body converts GLA to a hormone-like chemical important in processes such as controlling inflammation, clotting the blood, and synthesizing cholesterol. It is not necessary to supplement GLA since the body produces it and no one knows how much is enough. Some diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes, decrease the ability to convert linoleic acid into GLA,
One common use for EPO and borage oil is to relieve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, the kind that produces inflamed joints (as opposed to osteoarthritis, which is cause by wear and tear on the joints). There is some preliminary evidence that it may help, and the Arthritis Foundation considers it worth trying for rheumatoid arthritis. Be sure to talk to your doctor first. Fish oil supplements are another option.
EPO appears to be safe. Some people report stomach upset, headaches, and rashes have been reported as side effects. Borage oil may contain liver toxins. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York warns against taking borage oil as a cancer therapy, even in normal doses, unless it is certified free of these toxins, and lists borage oil along with chaparral and comfrey as known liver toxins. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 11/03.
THE SAD TRUTH ABOUT THE AMERICAN DIET – the average American consumes 74 pounds of added sugar each year – about 23 tablespoons a day. Agricultural Research Service.
HFCS AND YOUR HEALTH – high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), used to sweeten soft drinks and many foods, is partly responsible for the rising rates of obesity and diabetes. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, HFCS now supplies nearly 10 percent of all calories consumed by Americans and perhaps as much as 20 percent of all calories consumed for some people, including children. Those daily excess calories are bad enough, but HFCS may be worse for people than regular sugar, since large amounts can actually impair blood sugar control and stimulate appetite. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 9/04.
DIDYAKNOW? – Many of our health articles refer to grams. To better illustrate what a gram is – 5 grams is about a teaspoon. If you eat a burger with 10 grams of saturated fat listed; you are consuming two spoonfuls of artery-clogging fat. Men’s Health 10/04.
ARE YOU “D”EFICIENT? – Too little vitamin D puts more than bones at risk. Vitamin D is the vitamin that is also a hormone, and the only vitamin people do not have to consume from food, as humans manufacture it when the skin is exposed to the sun. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium; supplementing vitamin D with or without calcium can boost the density of hip and some other bones, though it appears to have little impact on the spine.
Vitamin D actually can keep bones from breaking, but only if you look at studies in which people took enough to get their blood levels high enough. Analysis of several studies shows that people who took 700 to 800 IU a day had a 26 percent lower risk of hip fractures than similar people who took a placebo. The bottom line is that 1,000 IU of vitamin D a day could substantially lower the risk of broken bones in older people. But it is not just vitamin D’s impact on bone that would ward off those fractures.
MUSCLE
Vitamin D affects bone mass and strength, but it also lowers the risk of falling by improving balance and muscle performance. Muscle tissue has receptors that are specifically designed to accept vitamin D, which suggests that the vitamin must have a key role in muscle function.
When researchers gave vitamin D to older women, they saw a increase in protein synthesis, which means an increase in muscle growth and size. Older people with higher blood levels of vitamin D also do better on tests that require muscle strength and balance.
Another study found that among people over 65, those with low blood levels of D were three times more likely to end up in a nursing home than those with high levels. Not only does vitamin D keep bones strong, it also helps prevent falls in older people by maintaining muscle strength, especially in the lower legs.
GUMS
Periodontal disease is the leading cause of tooth loss, especially in older people. It is caused by chronic inflammation, which leads to receding gums, resulting in tooth loss.
Older people given vitamin D (700 IU a day) and calcium (500 mgs a day) for three years had 60 percent less tooth loss than similar people who got a placebo. It appears that vitamin D decreases tooth loss by suppressing inflammation.
CANCER
Vitamin D appears to make cancer cells less abnormal in animal studies, less likely to multiply, and more likely to die. It also seems to bolster the immune system.
Vitamin D may hinder angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels that feed a tumor. There is even some evidence that vitamin D may make cancer cells adhere to the tumor, which could keep them from branching out and metastasizing.
In human studies, the results are mixed. Scientists at Harvard reported a lower risk of colorectal cancer in women with higher vitamin D levels in their blood, but only in those over 60. Other studies revealed lower risk of precancerous polyps in women with higher vitamin D levels, but not a lower risk for men.
When scientists analyzed the foods and supplements consumed by over 125,000 men and women, those who got at least 600 IU a day of vitamin D had a 40 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer than those who got less than 150 IU a day.
INSULIN AND DIABETES
In a study of people 65 or older, a third of whom had pre-diabetes (their blood sugar levels were higher than normal but not high enough to warrant a diagnosis of diabetes), those with the pre-diabetes had a significant reduction in the fasting blood sugar levels when they were given vitamin D (700 IU a day) and calcium (500 IU a day) than if they got a placebo. But the calcium and vitamin D had no effect on people who started the study with normal blood sugar levels.
Other research suggests that vitamin D promotes insulin secretion from the beta islet cells in the pancreas and might influence insulin resistance.
It is well established that the higher the body mass index, the lower the levels of vitamin D. This indicates that vitamin D, which is fat-soluble, is stored in fat cells, leaving less in blood in people who are overweight. It is even more critical for the overweight to get enough vitamin D.
IMMUNE SYSTEM
A vitamin D deficiency hinders the immune system. This explains why sun exposure in sanitariums cured tuberculosis early in the last century. Immune system cells called macrophages have the ability to make the active form of vitamin D, which allow these cells to create peptides that fight bacteria. Vitamin D also decreases the production of T-1 helper cells and enhances the formation of T-2 helper cells. T-1 helper cells are involved in autoimmune disorders like:
-Type 1 diabetes. The common Type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity. Type 1 diabetes, which usually strikes in childhood, is an autoimmune disease that is triggered when the immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Vitamin D cuts the risk of Type 1 diabetes in animal studies and scientists are now studying whether giving infants at high risk of Type 1 diabetes daily doses of 2,000 IU of vitamin D may prevent the disease.
-Multiple sclerosis. Researchers found a 40 percent lower risk of MS in women who took at least 400 IU of vitamin D a day.
-Rheumatoid arthritis. Vitamin D levels are often low in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, which may prevent macrophages from making the active form of vitamin D which could temper an overactive immune system. Tests are ongoing to see if supplementing with 1,000 IU of vitamin D a day can curb the inflammation.
OSTEOARTHRITIS
There are an estimated 43 million Americans – one out of five adults – afflicted with arthritis. The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis. No one knows how to stop cartilage, which is supposed to protect bones, from wearing away, leaving hips, knees, and other joints feeling stiff and sore.
Scientists first found that vitamin D might help in a 1996 study that indicated arthritis of the knees was about three times more likely to progress in people with the lowest blood levels of vitamin D, while another study showed people with low levels of vitamin D were more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the hip.
It is possible that people with low levels of vitamin D have lower quality bone that may lead to bone spurs that could cause arthritis pain.
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
Most health experts agree that it is time to increase the vitamin D intakes that have been recommended, currently 200 IU a day if you are 50 or less, 400 IU if you are 51 to 70, and 600 IU if over 70. Some health professionals are giving 4,000 IU a day to pregnant women and 6,000 IU a day to breastfeeding women in studies that are sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and sanctioned by the FDA. To date, there have been no adverse events in the research and the scientists believe that it would take tens of thousands of units to get toxicity.
The key risk is that too much vitamin D will cause the body to absorb too much calcium, which can cause kidney damage. Another potential risk is that there is a slight increase risk of kidney stones in those who were given 400 IU of vitamin D and 1,000 mg of calcium a day. Many of those in this study were really getting roughly 800 IU of vitamin D and 2,200 mg of calcium a day because they were allowed to take their usual supplements along with the test pills that the researchers gave them.
A light-skinned person out in the sun in a bathing suit, with no sunscreen, can make 20,000 to 30,000 IU in just 30 minutes, while a dark-skinned person or less skin exposed would result much less. The fact is that from November through February, most people in the United States cannot make enough vitamin D from the sun.
NATURAL SOURCES OF VITAMIN D
The skin makes vitamin D when it is exposed to the sun’s UV rays unless you are wearing sunscreen. Depending on location and time of the year, just 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure on the face, hands, and arms at least twice a week will give most people enough vitamin D. Because D is a fat-soluble vitamin, most people can store enough to supply them in the days, or even months, when they do not get any sun. North of a line between Los Angeles and Atlanta, the UV light is too weak to make vitamin D from late fall through early spring.
Good food sources of vitamin D include:
Catfish 570 IU Smoothie 140 IU
Red Salmon 480 IU Oatmeal 140 IU
Multivitamin 400 IU Slim-Fast shake 140 IU
Pink salmon 290 IU Light tuna 130 IU
Shrimp 170 IU Soymilk 120 IU
Milk 100 IU
BOTTOM LINE
It is easier to get vitamin D from a supplement or fortified food than to worry about getting too much or not enough from the sun. Most people should try for 1,000 IU of vitamin D a day from a combination of milk, other foods, calcium supplements, and multivitamins. If you decide to take a vitamin D supplement, look for vitamin D3 (also called cholecalciferol), not vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), which is about 25 percent less potent.
It is safe to take up to 2,000 IU a day, but if you may be prone to kidney stones, check with your doctor before taking more than 1,000 IU a day. For those approaching mandatory retirement age (60), 800 to 1,000 IU is a safe, reasonable intake to maintain health. Nutrition Action Health Letter 11/06, University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 12/06, University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 10/05.
