Vitamin D, Magic Mushrooms

[Michaelangelica]

I scared myself so much doing this little bit of research for someone that I had to garden topless yesterday (Winter is a sunny 18C).

I thought some here might also be interested in Vitamin D

Multiple Sclerosis
Sunlight might help MS
It is fascinating that the further you get from the equator, the greater the incidence of MS
See
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:r...ient=firefox-a

It is not clear how sun light effects the expression of a genetic disorder.
Vitamin D is involved in cell differentiation so this might be the clue.
Perhaps is regulates what bits of DNA are turned off or on.
It could, of course, be due to some other variable that we haven't thought of yet
Seehttp://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp

"Active vitamin D functions as a hormone because it sends a message to the intestines to increase the absorption of calcium and phosphorus [3 ].

The major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus [ 3-4]. By promoting calcium absorption, vitamin D helps to form and maintain strong bones.
Vitamin D also works in concert with a number of other vitamins, minerals, and hormones to promote bone mineralization. Without vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen.
Vitamin D sufficiency prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, two forms of skeletal diseases that weaken bones [5-6].


Research also suggests that vitamin D may help maintain a healthy immune system
and
help regulate cell growth and differentiation, the process that determines what a cell is to become [3, 7,8]. "


Surprisingly deficiency of D vitamin is not uncommon (see above article) especially among vegans.
The best source is cod liver oil and of course sunlight.

Osteoporosis and Vitamin D Supplements

Vitamin D deficiency is quite common in cases of hip fractures. A look-back study of 548 patients older than 60 years of age who were admitted at South Glasgow University Hospital in Scotland in the previous 4 years, showed that 97 percent of the patients had vitamin D levels below normal.

From :http://www.raysahelian.com/osteoporosis.html

Where you live is important
If you live in the north, have dark skin, or are rarely outdoors, it's harder for your body to make enough D.
In Canada and the northern U.S. there isn't enough sunshine in winter to stimulate sufficient D production in the skin.
In Boston, Detroit, and Chicago, for example, there's enough sunshine only from April through October; in the southern U.S. there's enough sunshine year round. However, many people stay indoors, or always use sunscreen when outside.
In addition, if you have dark skin, you need longer exposure to sunlight--perhaps up to twice as much--to produce the same amount of D as a light-skinned person, since pigmentation screens out sunlight and reduces D production.
Sunscreen is still a good idea when you're out in the sun for more than short periods.
But experts now argue, sometimes angrily, over whether total sun avoidance is such a good idea after all.

Increasingly, scientific evidence suggests that for many people the optimal dietary intake of vitamin D is higher than the current recommended levels. Thus, the government's new dietary guidelines highlighted recommendations of 1,000 IU a day for older people and other high-risk groups. Some researchers think that levels as high as 2,000 IU a day should be considered.

* http://health.ivillage.com/eating/ev...p87md5,00.html



Herb/plant wise Ergosterol is the basic building block of vitamin D in plants.(Found in wheat:- )
Triticum aestivum L. -- Wheat Seed 12 ppm DUKE1992A
Mushrooms are the best non animal source of vitamin D. But those produced commercially in the dark may have much lower levels than those that receive natural sunlight

The ongoing work so far has found that a single serving of white button mushrooms the most commonly sold mushroom will contain 869 percent the daily value of vitamin D once exposed to just five minutes of UV light after being harvested . If confirmed, that would be more than what's in two tablespoons of cod liver oil, one of the richest and most detested natural sources of the vitamin, according to the National Institutes of Health.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=1853516
Most of our store -bought mushrooms are grown in the dark so would have little/much less Vitamin D

I don't know of any other high plant sources.(cooked greens?)

Lack of vitamin D can also lead to osteoporosis
.
Cholesterol is the basic building block of vitamin D in humans. When ultraviolet light from the sun hits the leaf of a plant, ergosterol is converted into ergocalciferol, or vitamin D2
.http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...rient&dbid=110.
--
Michael

[Michaelangelica]

FROM:http://www.niichro.com/Child/child2.html

Vitamin D and Calcium:

Rickets still exists in some Aboriginal communities.
Dr. Moffatt reported that deficiencies in vitamin D
and calcium are very prevalent in Manitoba and announced
that rickets still exists.

Rickets is a bone disease of children that is caused by a lack of vitamin D.
Symptoms include poor growth of skull bones, delayed teething, deformed
chest, potbelly, bow legs, and swollen wrists and ankles. Giving a concentrated supply of vitamin D in addition to an adequate diet is a standard treatment for rickets. Calcium supplements may also be prescribed to help restore the normal calcium. Any deformities usually disappear if the condition is treated in the early stages. 6



In 1986, 48 rickets cases were reported in Manitoba over a 15-year period. Forty of these were from Aboriginal communities with almost half coming from the Island Lake area. In the 1990s, studies of calcium intake of northern populations showed an intake of 50 per cent or less of the recommended amounts. These findings are not surprising because dairy products, which are a good source of calcium, are not widely used and not very available there.



Dietary calcium is needed during growth for bone development
and for maintenance of skeletal integrity later in life to prevent
osteoporosis, which is the loss of normal bone density, mass
and strength, leading to increased porousness and vulnerability
to fracture.7



The community of Garden Hill in the Island Lake area has a
particular problem with rickets. In the 1980s, a survey in two
of the communities in this area showed that the majority of children had vitamin D levels well below the normal range.
In 1993-94, the incidence appears to have been in a range of
85 per 1,000. Dr. Moffatt concluded that this is a community whose members have very low vitamin D stores in the body.



Treating rickets:


To treat the problem of rickets, "Stoss Therapy" was
introduced in Garden Hill, in which mothers were given
100,000 units of vitamin D at the diagnosis of pregnancy.
Babies were given 100,000 units at the age of 1 month
and again at 4 months. The result of that program actually
has been the virtual elimination of rickets from this community.
The only cases seen have been in children whose mothers either missed the program or refused to take part in it. As a result, since
1995 there haven't been rickets cases in this community, since 1995. To determine community and risk factors that might be responsive to change, three Manitoba Aboriginal communities were recently looked at and compared:

Garden Hill (high incidence of rickets)
St. Theresa Point (lower incidence)
Norway House (no rickets cases)

Surprisingly, the percentage of women in Norway House
with blood levels of vitamin D below accepted standards
was almost 80 per cent. This was in the summer, when the level
should have been the highest due to increased exposure
to sunlight.

The body produces Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin,
when exposed to the sun's ultraviolet light.8

Dr. Moffatt thinks that what is probably happening in these
two communities, one with high incidence and the other
with none, is common to other northern communities:
high geographic latitude with decreased exposure to sunlight
and therefore few external sources of vitamin D and calcium.

He speculated, "The curve is shifted just enough in Norway
House to avoid seeing rickets. The breastfeeding rates are
lower in that community and that is almost certainly a risk
factor as well." He added that in many other northern
communities, there might be vitamin D deficiency in many people,
including pregnant women who may be passing on very
low supplies to their infants.



Consequences of low vitamin D levels:

The following have been linked to vitamin D deficiency:

Osteoporosis results in the long term, because of the
small bone masses accumulated prior to birth and early in childhood.

Vitamin D may play a role in resistance to infection.

There is potential of baby bottle tooth decay.

There is scientific evidence that decreased insulin production may exist in the presence of low vitamin D stores.

Some cancers have been potentially associated with vitamin D definciency.

In regard to baby bottle tooth decay, a low level of calcium
in the blood can cause both tetany and poor tooth development. At birth, even a short period of calcium deficiency, called
hypocalcemia, can affect the development of tooth enamel.



Hypocalcemia is a condition in which abnormally low amounts of calcium in the blood. It is extremely serious in newborn babies; particularly those fed on cow's milk. In babies, hypocalcemia causes vomiting and breathing problems. In severe hypocalcemia, the patient may suffer a seizure, or tetany, with muscular spasms of the hands, feet and jaw. 9


There is a high rate of tooth decay in northern Aboriginal communities. Noting that educational programs have not been very successful in reducing this problem, Dr. Moffatt stressed the need for a method of prevention.

He believes that the problem is related to deficiencies of
vitamin D and calcium and that improvement will be seen
with better nutrition. He concluded that such deficiencies
in these communities are probably widespread.

[Michaelangelica]

There is a video here for those with broadband
http://www.abc.net.au/health/minutes...m?clip=story12

Vitamin D could help prevent falls

27 May 2004

I once thought that all vitamin D was good for was your bones. But over the years, vitamin D has been associated with all sorts of things including lower rates of various cancers.

Now there's a new finding which some experts have suspected for a while. Vitamin D may prevent falls in the elderly - yes, the falls themselves, irrespective of whether vitamin D prevents a fracture once you've hit the floor – which it probably does.

Fall prevention is important as people age, as falls cause hospitalisation, nursing home admission and death.

The theory behind vitamin D preventing falls is that it may actually strengthen muscles in its own right.

So a group in Boston brought together all the trials of vitamin D and falls and found that it reduced the risk of a fall by about 20 per cent, and that 15 people aged around 70 needed to take vitamin D for anything up to three years for one person to avoid a fall.

Most of the research was in women so the effectiveness in men isn't known, nor is whether there should be calcium supplementation as well.

But it could be a cheap and relatively safe solution as long as you don't take huge amounts.

[Michaelangelica]

ANTARCTIC RESEARCHERS RISK BONE LOSS (Health & Medical News, 19/7/06) Scientific researchers spending winter in Antarctica might be at increased risk of osteoporosis unless they take vitamin D supplements, new research suggests.
http://abc.net.au/science/news/healt...sh_1690741.htm

Why do we get more colds in Winter?
Is it because of less vitamin D (less sunlight=less vitamin D?)
Vitamin D, Linus Pauling Institute - 23 Jul
Vitamin D in the form of 1,25(OH)2D is a potent immune system modulator. The VDR is expressed by most cells of the immune system, including T cells and ...
lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminD/ - 57k

[Michaelangelica]

Shedding light on suicide and schizophrenia: hormonal changes and vitamin deficiencies are implicated - Patterns - vitamin D deficiency - Brief Article
Psychology Today, May-June, 2002 by Anna Schneider-Mayerson

Find More Results for: "schizophrenia vitamin D catalyst "
Blood, Sweat and Tears...
Hypochlorhydria: A...

MORE REASONS TO LOVE AND HATE OUR favorite star. Sunlight is positively, if counterintuitively, linked to an increased risk of suicide, while too little sun causes vitamin D deficiency, a factor newly implicated in schizophrenia.

Suicides peak in May and June in the Northern Hemisphere and in November and December in the Southern Hemisphere.
Indeed, the risk increases between 8 and 50 percent in each of the 20 countries surveyed by Dimitrios Trichopoulos, M.D., a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. "My suspicion is that sunlight affects suicide risk through hormonal factors like melatonin," says Trichopoulos. Melatonin is suppressed by sunlight and is known to play a role in mood regulation. The hormones cortisol, serotonin and tryptophan may be affected by sunlight, as well.

There is also a seasonal pattern in the births of schizophrenics. Studies confirm a 10 percent increase in these births in the Northern Hemisphere between February and April.
This trend, coupled with findings that children of dark-skinned immigrants to northern countries have high rates of schizophrenia, led scientists to surmise a shortage of sunlight as a possible factor in the illness.

Shedding light on suicide and schizophrenia: hormonal changes and vitamin deficiencies are implicated - Patterns - vitamin D deficiency - Brief Article Psychology Today - Find Articles


Supplements for babies may be helpful too

Objective: Based on clues from epidemiology and animal experiments, low vitamin D during early life has been proposed as a risk factor for schizophrenia

Conclusion: Vitamin D supplementation during the first year of life is associated with a reduced risk of schizophrenia in males. Preventing hypovitaminosis D during early life may reduce the incidence of schizophrenia.

ScienceDirect - Schizophrenia Research : Vitamin D supplementation during the first year of life and risk of schizophrenia: a Finnish birth cohort study

[Michaelangelica]

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.

Vitamin D Revolution Underway -- Vanquishes Both Major Causes of Mortality; Will Modern Medicine Follow?

Humanity is on the verge of a gigantic leap forward in health promotion, says health journalist Bill Sardi ( Bill's Sardi Knowledge of Health ).
Rapid-fire discoveries point to a single vitamin D pill that may vanquish cancer and heart disease, the two leading causes of mortality in the U.S., as well as quell autoimmune disease (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus), diminish the occurrence of diabetes, reduce obesity, and effectively treat multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia and high blood pressure, plus conquer the common cold and even defeat tuberculosis, an infectious lung disease that affects one-third of the people of the world.

San Dimas, CA PRWEB) February 21, 2007 -- Literally leading medicine "out of dark ages" is the sunshine vitamin --- vitamin D. Long mischaracterized as a vitamin that can be toxic if taken in amounts that exceed what is found in common multivitamins, and mistakenly said that vitamin D must be chemically altered to produce a man-made version that does not induce over-calcification, most physicians, pharmacists and dietitians have been incorrectly trained to warn the public away from higher doses of vitamin D.

Most multivitamins provide no more than 400 IU (international units) of vitamin D, and the National Academy of Sciences says 2,000 IU is the safe upper limit, with toxicity beginning around 10,000 IU. In many European countries, consumers cannot purchase more than 200 IU of vitamin D in a pill.

But Reinhold Vieth Ph.D., researcher at the University of Toronto, notes that blood levels don't even measurably rise till 4,000 IU is consumed and toxicity begins at 40,000 IU only after many weeks of use.

To demonstrate just how ridiculous the warnings of vitamin D overdose have been, says Sardi, a person standing in the summer sun for an hour at noontime in a Southern latitude (Arizona, Florida) in swim trunks would naturally produce about 10,000 IU of vitamin D through skin exposure.
Sun poisoning from vitamin D overdose has never been reported.

Vitamin D and heart disease

It is increasingly becoming apparent that it is excessive calcium, and not cholesterol, that causes hardening of the arteries and heart attacks,

MORE AT:-
Vitamin D Revolution Underway -- Vanquishes Both Major Causes of Mortality; Will Modern Medicine Follow?

The full referenced text version of this press release can be viewed at Bill's Sardi Knowledge of Health

[Chacmool]

Very useful info, Michaelangelica! Thanks!

[Michaelangelica]

Thanks Chacmool.

This was a show on the ABC this week

SCHIZOPHRENIA UPDATE (Catalyst: 15/03/2007)
In the year 2000, Quantum met a couple of QLD scientists who had a
bizarre theory, which linked schizophrenia to a lack of sunlight. They
believed that mums who didn't get enough sunlight during pregnancy could
result in a vitamin D deficiency - which in turn could affect their
baby's brain development.
Catalyst: Schizophrenia Update - ABC TV Science

They say they have proved the case for animals.
Now to extrapolate that research to humans.
To be on the safe side you would think Mum's organisations should be told about this?
I wonder how this could be done?

I wonder too, how the mental health of David Hicks is a after being locked up for 23 hours a day?

[MsShadowDancer]

Thx M for your posts as the more they research the more they find connections with what one eats and general habits. Vitamin D is activated and can be metabolised with sunlight. There are also many connections with S.A.D., seasonal affective disorder,in the colder months or lack of exposure to sunlight and the lack of sun exposure. Recently I was reading some other articles about schizopgrenia and deficiencies of mineral/vitamin and the frequency of this disorder showing a common deficiency.

Even in SIDS there have been correlation with autopsies showing a significant deficiency of Vitamin C...so with all the shortages/deficiencies it is prudent to take a supplement to help cover any holes in the diet. Take care, SD

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by MsShadowDancer

Even in SIDS there have been correlation with autopsies showing a significant deficiency of Vitamin C...so with all the shortages/deficiencies it is prudent to take a supplement to help cover any holes in the diet. Take care, SD

Interesting thanks
For pensioners, like me, supplements are too expensive
Although I once went to an orthomolecular specialist and was taking a handful of supplements three times a day. After about 3 months I certainly felt healthier but a lot poorer

SIDS must be the worst thing that could happen to any body.
My baby daughter had a fit caused by high temp. caused by a cold. she looked limp and dead.
I yelled for my wife for help Rushed her to hospital etc
This is common in babies they say. just put the baby in a tepid bath! I wish they would warn every new parent though
I could not talk for a week because my throat was raw from yelling for help.
My wife was a paddock away but at first thought my yell was from a wounded animal.
This from a guy who didn't want babies.

So how do babies get C? It is water, not fat, soluble so would it be in fatty breast milk?

I was a bit amazed by the research that showed mushroom Vit D shot up 4? times after exposure to a bit of sunlight. Most mushrooms here are grown in caves; so you wonder how much D they contain. Maybe there is a lot more vit. D deficiency out there than we realise..
I read the US FDA is going to ask mushroom growers in the Stales to give mushrooms a burst of sunlight before harvesting them. I wonder how long "D" lasts in supermarket shelves?

You can buy 'mushroom -growing kits' here at nurseries
I grew one one once.Fun, and probably well worth the money.

If I was in Canada or a Guantanamo Bay Cell I would take a supplement or eat lots of field mushrooms.
But even in Australia now people, more and more, are avoiding the sun for fear of skin cancer.

This was interesting:-

What is Mushroom Mania?

Mushroom Mania is a free food service campaign, conducted by the Australia Mushroom Growers to help the dining sector of the food service industry sell more mushrooms dishes.
Special Offers

Mushroom Mania

Just joined their 'mushroom lover's club.'
Yet another newsletter
mushroom recipe library
The web caters for everyone doesn't it?