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Effects of vitamin D and calcium supplementation on falls: a randomized controlled trial. Bischoff HA, Stähelin HB, Dick W, Akos R, Knecht M, Salis C, Nebiker M, Theiler R, Pfeifer M, Begerow B, Lew RA, Conzelmann M. J Bone Miner Res. 2003 Feb;18(2):343-51. PMID: 12568412 A single intervention with vitamin D plus calcium over a 3-month period reduced the risk of falling by 49% compared with calcium alone. Over this short-term intervention, recurrent fallers seem to benefit most by the treatment. The impact of vitamin D on falls might be explained by the observed improvement in musculoskeletal function.

A critical review of Vitamin D and cancer: A report of the IARC Working Group on vitamin D William B. Grant Dermato-Endocrinology. Volume 1, Issue 1 January/February 2009 Pages: 25 - 33 The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released a report, Vitamin D and Cancer, on November 25, 2008. The report focused on the current state of knowledge and level of evidence of a causal association between vitamin D status and cancer risk. Although presenting and evaluating evidence for the beneficial role of UVB and vitamin D in reducing the risk of cancer, it discounted or omitted important evidence in support of the efficacy of vitamin D. The report largely dismissed or ignored ecological studies on the grounds that confounding factors might have affected the findings. The report accepted a preventive role of vitamin D in colorectal cancer but not for breast cancer.

Nutrients, endpoints, and the problem of proof. Heaney RP. 2008 W. O. Atwater Memorial Lecture J Nutr. 2008 Sep;138(9):1591-5. PMID: 18716155 To sum up, I think that there would be general agreement to the effect that nutrition is important, despite the fact that the still growing number of failed trials of individual nutrients might suggest that no nutrient actually made much of a difference, a conclusion that is absurd on its face and ought to have alerted us to the possibility that there was something wrong with how we were investigating the matter. To provide the proof needed to sustain revised intake recommendations, we shall have to find a design better suited to nutrients than the randomized controlled trial as currently implemented, and we need to develop a series of global indices, nutrient by nutrient, which better capture the polyvalent nature of most nutrients. Perhaps it would be useful for the ASN, in collaboration with concerned governmental entities such as the USDA, to convene a workshop to address these structural issues. Such deliberation may well be arduous and frustrating, but it is terribly important and, in my view, well worth the effort.

ScienceDaily (Aug. 10, 2009) - Next time you're making a cuppa, new research shows it might be wise to opt for a white tea if you want to reduce your risk of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or even just age-associated wrinkles. Researchers from Kingston University teamed up with Neal's Yard Remedies to test the health properties of 21 plant and herb extracts. They discovered all of the plants tested had some potential benefits, but were intrigued to find white tea considerably outperformed all of them.

Comment: Although lower risk associated with vitamin D exposure was shown most consistently for ER+/PR+ tumors, the result might simply reflect that this tumor subtype was the most common. Nonetheless, these findings support vitamin D's beneficial effects on breast cancer risk, regardless of hormone-receptor status. Sun exposure and dietary intake (Table 1) are key sources of vitamin D.

Woah! Fast paced instructions for making a blueberry crumb cake. Impressive How-To video. Caution: this treat might leave you stranded at the kitchen table, wanting more but not daring!

I'm always on the lookout for foods rich in vitamin K2 MK-4, because it's so important and so rare in the modern food system. I heard some internet rumors that marrow might be rich in fat-soluble vitamins. Google let me down, so I decided to look through the rat studies on K2 MK-4 in which they looked at its tissue distribution. I found one that looked at the K2 MK-4 content in different tissues of rats fed vitamin K1. Marrow was rich in K2, along with testes. It contains 10-20 times more MK-4 than liver by weight, and more than any of the other organs they tested (serum, liver, spleen, kidney, heart, testes, marrow, brain) except testes. They didn't include values for salivary gland and pancreas, the two richest sources.

Effect of low dose vitamin K2 (MK-4) supplementation on bio-indices in postmenopausal Japanese women. Koitaya N, Ezaki J, Nishimuta M, Yamauchi J, Hashizume E, Morishita K, Miyachi M, Sasaki S, Ishimi Y. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2009 Feb;55(1):15-21. PMID: 19352059 These results suggest that supplementation with 1.5 mg/d MK-4 accelerated the degree of OC gamma-carboxylation. The concentrations of serum lipids and other indices were not different between the groups at either intervention period. Thus, the additional intake of MK-4 might be beneficial in the maintenance of bone health in postmenopausal Japanese women.

Healthy elderly French women living at home have secondary hyperparathyroidism and high bone turnover in winter. EPIDOS Study Group. Chapuy MC, Schott AM, Garnero P, Hans D, Delmas PD, Meunier PJ. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1996 Mar;81(3):1129-33. PMID: 8772587 These results show that vitamin D status of a French aged population in good health and living at home depends mainly on lifestyle. Like institutionalized women, old women living at home exhibit clear evidence of senile hyperparathyroidism in the winter, secondary in part to a reduced 25OHD level and associated with biological signs of increased bone turnover. The maintenance of PTH within the normal range for healthy adults by vitamin D and calcium treatment might constitute an approach for the prevention of bone loss in the entire

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol changes after continuous egg consumption in healthy adults. Mayurasakorn K, Srisura W, Sitphahul P, Hongto PO. J Med Assoc Thai. 2008 Mar;91(3):400-7. PMID: 18575296 CONCLUSION: In the majority of healthy adults, an addition of one egg per day to a normal fat diet could raise HDL-c levels and decreased the ratio of TC toHDL-c. Therefore, egg consumption might benefit blood cholesterol.

Serum levels of free 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in vitamin D toxicity. Pettifor JM, Bikle DD, Cavaleros M, Zachen D, Kamdar MC, Ross FP. Ann Intern Med. 1995 Apr 1;122(7):511-3. PMID: 7872586 CONCLUSIONS: Although the patients had normal or near-normal total 1,25-(OH)2D values, most patients had elevated free 1,25-(OH)2D levels. These findings suggest that elevated free 1,25-(OH)2D levels might play a role in the pathogenesis of hypercalcemia in vitamin D toxicity.

If you've been diagnosed with high blood pressure (a systolic pressure of 140 or above or a diastolic pressure of 90 or above) or with prehypertension (a systolic pressure between 120 and 139 or a diastolic pressure between 80 and 89), you might be worried about taking medication to bring your numbers down. Don't assume medications are the key to controlling your high blood pressure (hypertension). Lifestyle plays an important role in treating your high blood pressure. If you successfully control your blood pressure with a healthy lifestyle, you may avoid, delay or reduce the need for medication.

Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or low-fat diet. Shai I, Schwarzfuchs D, Henkin Y, Shahar DR, Witkow S, Greenberg I, Golan R, Fraser D, Bolotin A, Vardi H, Tangi-Rozental O, Zuk-Ramot R, Sarusi B, Brickner D, Schwartz Z, Sheiner E, Marko R, Katorza E, Thiery J, Fiedler GM, Blüher M, Stumvoll M, Stampfer MJ; Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial (DIRECT) Group. N Engl J Med. 2008 Jul 17;359(3):229-41. PMID: 18635428 Conclusions Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets may be effective alternatives to low-fat diets. The more favorable effects on lipids (with the low-carbohydrate diet) and on glycemic control (with the Mediterranean diet) suggest that personal preferences and metabolic considerations might inform individualized tailoring of dietary interventions. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00160108 [ClinicalTrials.gov] .)

Vitamin D in pregnancy and lactation: maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes from human and animal studies. Kovacs CS. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):520S-528S. Review. PMID: 18689394 Dosing recommendations for women during pregnancy and lactation might be best directed toward ensuring that the neonate is vitamin D-sufficient and that this sufficiency is maintained during infancy and beyond. A dose of vitamin D that provides 25(OH)D sufficiency in the mother during pregnancy should provide normal cord blood concentrations of 25(OH)D. Research has shown that during lactation, supplements administered directly to the infant can easily achieve vitamin D sufficiency; the mother needs much higher doses (100 µg or 4000 IU per day) to achieve adult-normal 25(OH)D concentrations in her exclusively breastfed infant. In addition, the relation (if any) of vitamin D insufficiency in the fetus or neonate to long-term nonskeletal outcomes such as type 1 diabetes and other chronic diseases needs to be investigated.

Some medications are changed and broken down by the liver. Berberine might decrease how quickly the liver breaks down some medications. Taking berberine along with some medications that are broken down by the liver can increase the effects and side effects of some medications. Before taking berberine, talk to your healthcare provider if you are taking any medications that are changed by the liver. Some medications changed by the liver include cyclosporin (Neoral, Sandimmune), lovastatin (Mevacor), clarithromycin (Biaxin), indinavir (Crixivan), sildenafil (Viagra), triazolam (Halcion), and many others."

Vitamin K content of foods and dietary vitamin K intake in Japanese young women. Kamao M, Suhara Y, Tsugawa N, Uwano M, Yamaguchi N, Uenishi K, Ishida H, Sasaki S, Okano T. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2007 Dec;53(6):464-70. PMID: 18202532 Several reports indicate an important role for vitamin K in bone health as well as blood coagulation. However, the current Adequate Intakes (AI) might not be sufficient for the maintenance of bone health. To obtain a closer estimate of dietary intake of phylloquinone (PK) and menaquinones (MKs), PK, MK-4 and MK-7 contents in food samples (58 food items) were determined by an improved high-performance liquid chromatography method. Next, we assessed dietary vitamin K intake in young women living in eastern Japan using vitamin K contents measured here and the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. PK was widely distributed in green vegetables and algae, and high amounts were found in spinach and broccoli (raw, 498 and 307 microg/100 g wet weight, respectively). Although MK-4 was widely distributed in animal products, overall MK-4 content was lower than PK. MK-7 was observed characteristically in fermented soybean products such as natto (939 microg/100 g). The mean total vitamin K intake of all subjects (using data from this study and Japanese food composition tables) was about 230 microg/d and 94% of participants met the AI of vitamin K for women aged 18-29 y in Japan, 60 microg/d. The contributions of PK, MK-4 and MK-7 to total vitamin K intake were 67.7, 7.3 and 24.9%, respectively. PK from vegetables and algae and MK-7 from pulses (including fermented soybean foods) were the major contributors to the total vitamin K intake of young women living in eastern Japan

Are statins analogues of vitamin D? Grimes DS. Lancet. 2006 Jul 1;368(9529):83-6. Review. PMID: 16815382 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68971-X There are many reasons why the dietary-heart-cholesterol hypothesis should be questioned, and why statins might be acting in some other way to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Here, I propose that rather than being cholesterol-lowering drugs per se, statins act as vitamin D analogues, and explain why. This proposition is based on published observations that the unexpected and unexplained clinical benefits produced by statins have also been shown to be properties of vitamin D. It seems likely that statins activate vitamin D receptors.

"A friend has emailed me the full text of Pawel Grieb's paper documenting a number of physiological parameters of medium to long term Optimal Diet (OD) eaters in Poland, as pointed out by Flo and Stan. There are a few points worth making. The biggest mistake, BTW, is that the authors claim (correctly) that the OD diet aims for >70% fat with (incorrectly) "no restriction on the type of fat (saturated or unsaturated) or cholesterol level". I think they meant that the OD does not ban saturated fats. This is of course true but the impression given is that the OD allows "healthy" fats, which are, of course, inedible. So the heavy emphasis on saturated fats is missed by the paper. A pity, anyone might be left thinking corn oil is a human food... The first positive aspect is that this is a multi author study, eleven authors from several medical centres/unversities. So it's not a one man band case report. I like that. The second is that it is remarkably positive about the findings throughout. Even the elevated LDL cholesterol levels are not taken as extreme and are not trumpeted from the rooftops as the portent of imminent cardiovascular doom. So refreshing!"

"Proanthocyanidin (PA or PAC), also known as procyanidin, oligomeric proanthocyanidin (OPC), leukocyanidin, leucoanthocyanin and condensed tannins, is a class of flavanols. Proanthocyanidins are essentially polymer chains of flavonoids such as catechins.[1] One was discovered in 1936 by Professor Jacques Masquelier and called Vitamin P, although this name did not gain official category status and has since fallen out of usage. It was Masquelier who first developed techniques for the extraction of proanthocyanidins from certain plant species. Proanthocyanidins have been sold as nutritional and therapeutic supplements in Europe since the 1980s, but their introduction to the United States market has been relatively recent. In the human body, they might act as antioxidants (free radical scavengers).[citation needed] OPCs may help protect against the effects of internal and environmental stresses such as cigarette smoking and pollution, as well as supporting normal body metabolic processes. The effects may include depressing blood fat, emolliating blood vessels, lowering blood pressure, preventing blood vessel scleroses, dropping blood viscidity and preventing thrombus formation [18]. Additionally, studies have shown that OPCs may prevent cardiovascular diseases by counteracting the negative effects of high cholesterol on the heart and blood vessels. Pycnogenol® is the name of such an OPCs commercial formulation. OPCs are available from fresh grapes, grape juice, and red wine. Although in milligrams per ounce red wine may contain more OPCs than red grape juice, red grape juice contains more OPCs per average serving size. An 8 ounce serving of grape juice averages 124 milligrams OPCs, while a 5 ounce serving of red wine averages 91 milligrams.[19][20] Many other foods and beverages also contain high amounts of OPCs, but very few come close to the levels found in red grape seeds and skins (which readily disperse into grape juice when crushed)

"Dec. 29, 2009 - The hot-selling herbal supplement ginkgo biloba doesn't slow age-related mental decline, a six-year clinical study shows. The study has already shown that ginkgo does not prevent dementia or Alzheimer's disease in the elderly. Now study leader Steven T. DeKosky, MD, and colleagues have sifted through the data to look for some sign that ginkgo might slow mental decline in healthy, aging individuals -- or, perhaps, in those already showing the first signs of cognitive impairment. No such sign was found. "Compared with placebo, the use of Ginkgo biloba, 120 mg twice daily, did not result in less cognitive decline in older adults with normal cognition or with mild cognitive impairment," the researchers conclude."