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"If you're running low on vitamin D - as an estimated 70 percent of the U.S. population is - your immune system may not be functioning as well as it should. As a result, you may be more vulnerable to infectious diseases than you would if your vitamin D levels were optimal. Worse, you could be at higher than normal risk of a long list of diseases including heart disease and several kinds of cancer. A report recently published journal, Future Microbiology, highlighted research at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, which has shown that vitamin D induces expression of an antimicrobial peptide gene called cathelicidin that is the "first line of defense" in the immune system's response to minor wounds, cuts and bacterial and viral infections. The regulation of cathelicidin by vitamin D could help explain its vital role in immune function. The report noted that vitamin D is a key cofactor in reducing inflammation, in blood pressure control and helping to protect against heart disease. Author Adrian Gombart explains that there is still much to explore about D's mechanisms of action, the potential use of synthetic analogs of it in new treatments, and its duty in fighting infection."

"Let's shine some sunlight on these knowledge deficiencies: * Serum vitamin D levels have been dropping (as chronic inflammation has been increasing) over the last three decades -- has something changed in our diets? * Vitamin D deficiencies occur globally (not restricted to Northern latitudes or winter) -- related to diet? * Women are more vulnerable, because of cultural modesty in some countries, but males are still D-deficient. * A subset of people exposed to ample sunshine are still D-deficient. * Vitamin D deficient individuals also have elevated TNF. * Vitamin D deficiency and inflammation are risk factors in the same diseases. It seems that the simplest conclusion is that chronic inflammation leads to vitamin D deficiency, even though vitamin D deficiency may also contribute to inflammation."

"Berberine, the yellow alkaloid ingredient of several traditional anticancer herbs such as Oregon grape root has an expanding literature confirming its anticancer properties. Here are a few recent studies…Oregon grape root was an ingredient of the controversial Hoxseys formula, and berberine herbs were included in Eclectic anticancer formula. Click Links for PubMed"

"This article was originally published in 2004 in the Chicago Tribune. It's still knocking around on the web in various places but the original seems to have disappeared. You can't have too much of a good thing. Obviously Stephan's recent posts on lard prompted me to put this one up. The imported nutritionist doesn't seem quite as dismissive as you might expect! But notice in the last paragraph that the big bogeyman is protein overload damaging the kidneys! On 60g/d of protein??? Sobor clearly knows nothing about high fat diets, certainly not the one he is commenting so authoritatively about in this case!"

"Let's get the religion out of the way first. I follow an eating pattern loosely based around Dr Jan Kwasniewski's Optimal Diet. I vary from the OD in that I tend to vary my protein sources somewhat more than specified, I think a little omega 3 supplementation is worthwhile, that having a "normal" vitamin D level is probably worth while (though this is an interesting subject) and in that I specifically avoid gluten and most other grains. So I do my own thing somewhat, while still keeping a heavy emphasis on animal fat, egg yolks and trying to keep to real food as far as I practically can. When I say I avoid ketosis because Kwasniewski says avoid ketosis, that's religion. My follow on problem from this that, when you can get hold of the data, Kwasniewski is usually correct. My even bigger problem is that, when you get beyond simple diet information, some of JKs ideas are very far off the wall. And some of the off the wall ones also seem to be correct to me, which is a little uncomfortable! So religion is a real non starter."

"A recent thesis presented at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that eight-year-old children who drink full-fat milk every day have a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) than those who seldom drink milk. The study showed that children who drink full-fat milk every day weigh on average just over 9 lbs less"

As we noted in this article back in July, there are several hormones and neurotransmitters that have noteworthy effects on appetite and eating behavior, and as a result are of much interest with respect to weight gain (or loss) and obesity. The two mentioned in that article were NPY and PYY. The protein leptin is another hormone of this sort. It is often discussed in connection with obesity, because it is believed to increase metabolism and decrease appetite (as a signal of satiety). Another hormone, ghrelin, is produced in the stomach as a signal of hunger, and so it increases appetite.