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Food contains only minute quantities of the substances called vitamins,but they are vital for good health.For example,if you eat a diet of meat,bread,sugar and fat you may become ill with a disease called scurvy.This is caused by a deficiency in vitamin C,which is found in fruit and vegetables.

Evidence continues to pile up that the sunshine vitamin protects against much more than bone-softening rickets. Vitamin D, also found in milk and oily fish, is becoming king, from fighting colds to preventing cancer. \n\nInvestigators at the Medical University of South Carolina shut down part of a National Institutes of Health study that left nursing mothers and infants deficient, even though the mothers received the maximum safe amount of vitamin D allowed by the Institute of Medicine.\n\nBut here's the kicker. New research suggests we're not getting nearly enough, and recommended levels may be woefully inadequate.

Vitamin D's days of obscurity seem pretty much over. Once just an afterthought to most people-relegated to the sides of milk cartons and the pages of medical texts-it's now on the cusp of becoming a full-fledged disease prevention star. Although vitamin D has long been known as an important factor in bone health, a quickly growing body of evidence now shows that it may also help lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and even premature death.[1], [2] Not surprisingly, scientists and the public have started to take note, particularly of vitamin D's potential to protect against cancer

ScienceDaily (Feb. 10, 2009) - Vitamin D is significantly associated with muscle power and force in adolescent girls, according to a new study. Although vitamin D is naturally produced in the body through exposure to direct sunlight, vitamin D deficiency has become widely common in the United States. Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to have a significant negative impact on muscle and bone health, and can lead to conditions including osteoporosis and rickets.

Bioactive vitamin D or calcitriol is a steroid hormone that has long been known for its important role in regulating body levels of calcium and phosphorus, and in mineralization of bone. More recently, it has become clear that receptors for vitamin D are present in a wide variety of cells, and that this hormone has biologic effects which extend far beyond control of mineral metabolism. The active form of vitamin D binds to intracellular receptors that then function as transcription factors to modulate gene expression. Like the receptors for other steroid hormones and thyroid hormones, the vitamin D receptor has hormone-binding and DNA-binding domains. The vitamin D receptor forms a complex with another intracellular receptor, the retinoid-X receptor, and that heterodimer is what binds to DNA. In most cases studied, the effect is to activate transcription, but situations are also known in which vitamin D suppresses transcription. Each of the forms of vitamin D is hydrophobic, and is transported in blood bound to carrier proteins. The major carrier is called, appropriately, vitamin D-binding protein. The halflife of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol is several weeks, while that of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol is only a few hours. The vitamin D receptor binds several forms of cholecalciferol. Its affinity for 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol is roughly 1000 times that for 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, which explains their relative biological potencies

Not enough vitamin D: health consequences for Canadians. Schwalfenberg G. Can Fam Physician. 2007 May;53(5):841-54. Review PMID: 17872747 Conclusion Low levels of VTD are considered a major public health problem in Canada, especially during the winter. Those with risk factors should be screened for low 25(OH)D levels and repletion therapy instituted if needed. Researchers have estimated that the oral dose of vitamin D3 to attain and maintain 25(OH)D levels >80 nmol/L is 2200 IU/d if baseline levels are 20 to 40 nmol/L, 1800 IU/d if levels are 40 to 60 nmol/L, and 1160 IU/d if levels are between 60 and 80 nmol/L.64 We need to ensure that patients have healthy blood levels of 25(OH)D to prevent levels of parathyroid hormone from rising and to maximize absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate. Positive effects on bone are marginal at best unless patients consume at least 800 IU/d of VTD. The emerging and exciting role of the VTD receptor and the actions of VTD in maintaining health in other cell types have become more apparent during the last decade.

Friday, January 16, 2009 The Tokelau Island Migrant Study: Weight Gain Between 1968 and 1982, Tokelauans in nearly all age groups gained weight, roughly 5 kilograms (11 pounds) on average. They also became slightly taller, but not enough to offset the gain in weight. By 1980-82, migrants to New Zealand had become especially heavy, with all age groups weighing more than non-migrants by about 5 kg (11 lb) on average, and 10 kg (22 lb) more than Tokelauans did in 1968.

Eliminate sugar, sweets, starches, grains and you will drop the pounds - so says The No-Grain Diet. This diet is based on the idea that meals high in grains, sweets, and starches promote elevated insulin levels, causing you to become hungry soon after you have just eaten. This is referred to as a "grain addiction" - when the cravings trigger you to eat more of the "wrong foods" and a harmful cycle ensues. The No Grain Diet also claims to help to reverse diabetes and help prevent other chronic diseases.

A recently completed study from researchers at Colorado State University supported by the Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has demonstrated that AHCC(R) (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) enhances host resistance by boosting protective immune responses specific to the West Nile Virus. Since its discovery in the United States in 1999, infections caused by the West Nile Virus have become a major public health concern. West Nile Virus is caused by people being bitten by mosquitoes infected with the virus. According to the CDC, there have been 28,018 reported cases with 1,092 deaths since 1999. In 2003, the highest number of cases was reported at nearly 10,000. Currently there is no effective treatment for the disease.

Botanical.com\n\n...on the world wide web since 1995 \nHome of the electronic version of "A Modern Herbal" by Maud Grieve.\n\n"Mothers may still want their favorite sons to grow up to be President, but . . . they do not want them to become politicians in the process" (John F. Kennedy).

It doesn't matter how brainy you are or how much education you've had - you can still improve and expand your mind. Boosting your mental faculties doesn't have to mean studying hard or becoming a reclusive book worm. There are lots of tricks, techniques a

Vitamin D deficiency is the cause of common obesity. Foss YJ. Med Hypotheses. 2009 Mar;72(3):314-21. Epub 2008 Dec 2. PMID: 19054627 doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2008.10.005 Common obesity and the metabolic syndrome may therefore result from an anomalous adaptive winter response. The stimulus for the winter response is proposed to be a fall in vitamin D. The synthesis of vitamin D is dependent upon the absorption of radiation in the ultraviolet-B range of sunlight. At ground level at mid-latitudes, UV-B radiation falls in the autumn and becomes negligible in winter. It has previously been proposed that vitamin D evolved in primitive organisms as a UV-B sensitive photoreceptor with the function of signaling changes in sunlight intensity. It is here proposed that a fall in vitamin D in the form of circulating calcidiol is the stimulus for the winter response, which consists of an accumulation of fat mass (obesity) and the induction of a winter metabolism (the metabolic syndrome). Vitamin D deficiency can account for the secular trends in the prevalence of obesity and for individual differences in its onset and severity. It may be possible to reverse the increasing prevalence of obesity by improving vitamin D status.

"The major factor which stimulates weight gain in winter months is vitamin D. Human bodies get vitamin D from sunlight; as the hours of sunlight become less with the onset of fall, so our levels of vitamin D decrease. Low levels of vitamin D affect the brain's production of the hormone leptin. Leptin plays a vital role in controlling appetite and metabolism; so as the amount of vitamin D in our bodies decreases so does the leptin, and this causes an increase in our appetite and a change in our metabolism. Researchers at Aberdeen University found that obese people had 10% less vitamin D than people of average weight. The study also found that excess body fat absorbed vitamin D so the body couldn't use it. Scientists now believe that there is a direct correlation between obesity and low levels of vitamin D.

"Susceptible strains of rodents fed high-fat diets overeat, gain fat and become profoundly insulin resistant. Dr. Jianping Ye's group recently published a paper showing that the harmful metabolic effects of a high-fat diet (lard and soybean oil) on mice can be prevented, and even reversed, using a short-chain saturated fatty acid called butyric acid (hereafter, butyrate). The butyrate-fed mice remained lean and avoided metabolic problems. Butyrate increased their energy expenditure by increasing body heat production and modestly increasing physical activity. It also massively increased the function of their mitochondria, the tiny power plants of the cell."

Artemisinin (pronounced /ɑːtə'misinən/) is a drug used to treat multi-drug resistant strains of falciparum malaria. The compound (a sesquiterpene lactone) is isolated from the plant Artemisia annua. Not all plants of this species contain artemisinin. Apparently it is only produced when the plant is subjected to certain conditions, most likely biotic or abiotic stress. It can be synthesized from artemisinic acid.[1] The drug is derived from a herb used in Chinese traditional medicine, though it is usually chemically modified and combined with other medications. Artemisinin is under early research and testing for treatment of cancer, primarily by researchers at the University of Washington.[7][8] Artemisinin has a peroxide lactone group in its structure. It is thought that when the peroxide comes into contact with high iron concentrations (common in cancerous cells), the molecule becomes unstable and releases reactive oxygen species. It has been shown to reduce angiogenesis and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in some tissue cultures.

"Here's a page or so (p163-4) from John Yudkin's book "Pure White and Deadly", 1972 edition. Yudkin begins the chapter with an apology for talking about such uncomfortable disagreements in public. But he liked the truth. This quote covers opinion from Prof John Yudkin and Dr Meyer Friedman. You can hear their dislike of Keys. Keys was the architect of what has become the current world obesity epidemic and never one to let the truth get in the way of a good idea, as with his six nations "fat causes heart disease" study. Unfortunately Meyer's list of those easily misled did not include gullible politicians who set food policy. Keys was a very successful politico, with intense conviction of his own correctness. Fine if he had been right, which he wasn't."

"So why is Dr Vieth so frustrated? You might think he'd have cause for celebration. But for him and other vitamin D researchers around the world, the good news comes with a bitter aftertaste. They believe they can prove vitamin D could help millions live longer and be healthier and yet they have not been able to convince their own governments. In the US and Canada, official vitamin D policy is set by the Institute of Medicine. And in the opinion of Vieth, the current recommendations - 200 International Units per day for people under 50, 400 for people aged 51-70, and 600 for those 71 and older - are outrageously low. Bruce Hollis, professor of paediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina, calls 400 IU a day "a joke". That's because the best research suggests that to achieve the higher vitamin D blood levels associated with disease prevention, most adults in the US would need to take 1,000-2,000 IU a day: five to 10 times more than the current official recommendation for adult In 1999, Reinhold Vieth (pictured right) published a review of vitamin D research in response to the IOM conclusions. In it, he argued that there was no evidence that amounts lower than 20,000 IU a day could be toxic. "Throughout my preparation of this review, I was amazed at the lack of evidence supporting statements about the toxicity of moderate doses of vitamin D," Vieth wrote. Studies have since shown 10,000 IU a day of vitamin D to be safe. While any substance will become toxic in excess, vitamin D researchers today accept that the current vitamin D recommendations could be more than quadrupled with no fear of toxicity.!

Table of Contents Ch. I Is calcidiol an active hormone? 1 Ch. II Vitamin D as a neurosteroid hormone : from neurobiological effects to behavior 29 Ch. III Inhibitors of vitamin D hydroxylases : mechanistic tools and therapeutic aspects 67 Ch. IV Vitamin D analogues as anti-cancer therapies 145 Ch. V Paricalcitol : a vitamin D2 analog with anticancer effects with low calcemic activity 169 Ch. VI Vitamin D use among older adults in U.S. : results form national surveys 1997 to 2002 181 Ch VII Vitamin D deficiency in migrants 199 Vitamin D is a fat-soluble steroid hormone precursor that contributes to the maintenance of normal levels of calcium and phosphorus in the bloodstream. Strictly speaking, it is not a vitamin since human skin can manufacture it, but it is referred to as one for historical reasons. It is often known as calciferol. The major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. It promotes bone mineralisation in concert with a number of other vitamins, minerals and hormones. Without vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, soft or misshapen. Vitamin D prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults -- skeletal diseases that result in defects that weaken bones. This book gathers international research on the leading-edge of the scientific front.

"(NaturalNews) New research published in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) has found that the "Western" diet, typically high in sugar and fat, may be responsible for activating genes that signal the body to become fatter. According to scientists, the body's response to high amounts of energy-dense food is to activate the kappa opioid receptor which triggers increased fat storage. Researchers arrived at this conclusion by conducting an experiment on two groups of mice. One group had its kappa opioid receptors genetically deactivated while the other remained intact. Both groups were fed diets high in fat and sugar for 16 weeks. At the end of 16 weeks, the group with the deactivated receptor remained lean while the control group gained significant weight. Besides limiting their bodies' ability to store energy-dense food in their fat stores, the mice whose receptors had been deactivated were noted to also have a limited ability to assimilate and store nutrients from the foods they ingested. Traci Ann Czyzyk-Morgan, one of the study's researchers, indicated that the findings prove the hypothesis long held by many in the scientific community that the kappa opioid receptor may be responsible for causing widespread obesity in Western countries. She and others continue to encourage people to avoid diets high in fat and sugar. "

Many in the medical profession are beginning to recognize that people who take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are becoming vitamin D-deficient.