Nutrition

A Review - Vitamin D and Calcium in Sarcoidosis\nTrevor G Marshall, PhD, 5 July 2003

Plasma calcidiol, season, and serum parathyroid hormone concentrations in healthy elderly men and women. Dawson-Hughes B, Harris SS, Dallal GE. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Jan;65(1):67-71. PMID: 8988915 Plasma calcidiol and serum PTH concentrations were inversely related, with PTH rising slowly as calcidiol concentrations declined below 110 nmol/L (95 CI: 60, 168 nmol/L). More than 90% of the men and women had calcidiol concentrations below this value in the wintertime. The high prevalence of lower wintertime calcidiol values may increase risk of bone loss in elderly men and women.

Effects of chili consumption on postprandial glucose, insulin, and energy metabolism. Ahuja KD, Robertson IK, Geraghty DP, Ball MJ. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Jul;84(1):63-9. PMID: 16825682

The effect of 4-week chilli supplementation on metabolic and arterial function in humans. Ahuja KD, Robertson IK, Geraghty DP, Ball MJ. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;61(3):326-33. Epub 2006 Aug 23. Erratum in: Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;61(3):442. PMID: 16929238 Conclusion: Four weeks of regular chilli consumption has no obvious beneficial or harmful effects on metabolic parameters but may reduce resting heart rate and increase effective myocardial perfusion pressure time in men.

Effects of daily ingestion of chilli on serum lipoprotein oxidation in adult men and women. Ahuja KD, Ball MJ. Br J Nutr. 2006 Aug;96(2):239-42. PMID: 16923216 In conclusion, regular consumption of chilli for 4 weeks increases the resistance of serum lipoproteins to oxidation.

Fish oil-fed mice have impaired resistance to influenza infection. Schwerbrock NM, Karlsson EA, Shi Q, Sheridan PA, Beck MA. J Nutr. 2009 Aug;139(8):1588-94. Epub 2009 Jun 23. PMID: 19549756 doi:10.3945/jn.109.108027 These results suggest that the antiinflammatory properties of fish oil feeding can alter the immune response to influenza infection, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality.

"May 19, 2008 (Orlando, Florida) - A new study shows that a proactive vitamin D treatment plan should be considered when caring for all osteoporosis patients, and that such treatment might help decrease the likelihood of developing vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency is widespread among patients being treated for osteoporosis, and such deficiency should be treated aggressively, according to the findings presented here at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 17th Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress."

"It's well known that African Americans have low levels of vitamin D in their blood. In fact, this seems to be generally true for humans of tropical origin. In a study from Hawaii, vitamin D status was assessed in healthy, visibly tanned young adults who averaged 22.4 hours per week of unprotected sun exposure. Yet 51% had levels below the current recommended minimum of 75 nmol/L (Binkley et al., 2007). In a study from south India, levels below 50 nmol/L were found in 44% of the men and 70% of the women. The subjects are described as "agricultural workers starting their day at 0800 and working outdoors until 1700 with their face, chest, back, legs, arms, and forearms exposed to sunlight" (Harinarayan et al., 2007). In a study from Saudi Arabia, levels below 25 nmol/L were found in respectively 35%, 45%, 53%, and 50% of normal male university students of Saudi, Jordanian, Egyptian, and other origins (Sedrani, 1984)."

"We are aware of substantial scientific evidence supporting the role of vitamin D in prevention of cancer. It has been reasonably established that adequate serum vitamin D metabolite levels are associated with substantially lower incidence rates of several types of cancer, including those of the breast, colon, and ovary, and other sites. We have concluded that the vitamin D status of most individuals in North America will need to be greatly improved for substantial reduction in incidence of cancer. Epidemiological studies have shown that higher vitamin D levels are also associated with lower risk of Type I diabetes in children and of multiple sclerosis. Several studies have found that markers of higher vitamin D levels are associated with lower incidence and severity of influenza and several other infectious diseases."

My plans to take vitamin D seemed well funded (lots of positive research these days about high vitamin D levels) and then I stumbled upon this article that promotes the views of Trevor Marshall. "The Truth About Vitamin D: Fourteen Reasons Why Misunderstanding Endures", by Amy Proal (a biologist), 15/09/2007 http://bacteriality.com/2007/09/15/vitamind/

The Truth About Vitamin D: Fourteen Reasons Why Misunderstanding Endures Author: Amy Proal

Is the MP Treatment for Sarcoidosis Helpful for Other Chronic Diseases? MP's Vitamin D Theories Are Not Supported by Lab Studies. Updated July 2, 2008 "The MP treatment plan was originally designed to treat an inflammatory condition known as sarcoidosis. The treatment consists of using the drug Benicar, combined with the avoidance of all sources of vitamin D, and eventually adding various antibiotics, especially minocycline. After being used by sarcoidosis patients for some years, it was then theorized and claimed that the treatment could treat other inflammatory conditions. Eventually it was also claimed that it could treat fibromyalgia and CFS, conditions which are not recognized by the medical literature as being inflammatory in nature. "

"Hi! This is Amy Proal. I wrote the article referenced at the start of the thread about vitamin D. Dr. Marshall is not concerned with vitamin D toxicity. Rather his molecular modeling research has clarified the actions of the two vitamin D metabolites 25-D and 1,25-D. The Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) is a fundamental receptor of the body - it controls the expression thousands of genes, as well as the activity of the innate immune system and the antimicrobial peptides. If you think of the VDR as a switch, 25-D (which is a corticosteroid) turns it off (inactivates it) and 1,25-D turn it on (activates it). What is commonly believed among vitamin D researchers is that if people supplement with extra vitamin D it will be converted into 1,25-D and activate the VDR. Unfortunately, Marshall's work revealed that the type of vitamin D derived from supplements and sun remains, for the most part, in it's precursor form 25-D. This means that the extra vitamin D we get from fortified food products and supplements is turning the VDR off, not on. That causes a decrease in immune function and gene transcription."

Food Choices and Coronary Heart Disease: A Population Based Cohort Study of Rural Swedish Men with 12 Years of Follow-up. Sara Holmberg, Anders Thelin and Eva-Lena Stiernström. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6(10), 2626-2638; doi:10.3390/ijerph6102626 - published online 12 October 2009 Coronary heart disease is associated with diet. Nutritional recommendations are frequently provided, but few long term studies on the effect of food choices on heart disease are available. We followed coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality in a cohort of rural men (N = 1,752) participating in a prospective observational study. Dietary choices were assessed at baseline with a 15-item food questionnaire. 138 men were hospitalized or deceased owing to coronary heart disease during the 12 year follow-up. Daily intake of fruit and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease when combined with a high dairy fat consumption (odds ratio 0.39, 95% CI 0.21-0.73), but not when combined with a low dairy fat consumption (odds ratio 1.70, 95% CI 0.97-2.98). Choosing wholemeal bread or eating fish at least twice a week showed no association with the outcome.

Calcium and vitamin D intakes may be positively associated with brain lesions in depressed and nondepressed elders. Payne ME, Anderson JJ, Steffens DC. Nutr Res. 2008 May;28(5):285-92. PMID: 19083421 doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2008.02.013 In conclusion, calcium and vitamin D consumption were associated with brain lesions in elderly subjects even after controlling for potentially explanatory variables. These associations may be due to vascular calcification or other mechanism. The possibility of adverse effects of high intakes of calcium and vitamin D needs to be further explored in longitudinal studies of elderly subjects.

On 29th September, Dr Michael Holick appeared on the "Coast to Coast" radio show, hosted by George Noory: http://www.coasttocoastam.com/guest/holick-dr-michael/41323 As many of you can't afford a subscription to listen to the whole show, I have edited the broadcast into an MP3 file of short snippets, so that we can (intelligently) discuss what was said. There is a "beep tone" to separate each snippet of info. You can download it from: http://MarshallProtocol.com/video/Holick.mp3 First is the introduction, setting out Dr Holick's overview of Vit D.

Measuring 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a clinical environment: challenges and needs. Hollis BW. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):507S-510S. Review. PMID: 18689391 In this article, I provide an overview of the techniques available for measuring 25(OH)D, compare these techniques with one another, and assess their clinical utility. I also briefly discuss the stability of 25(OH)D in biological media and present an overview of the Vitamin D External Quality Assessment Scheme.

African Americans, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and osteoporosis: a paradox. Aloia JF. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):545S-550S. Review. PMID: 18689399

"A recent article in the New York Times highlighted an ongoing problem with the accuracy of vitamin D testing at the largest commercial clinical laboratory, Quest Diagnostics. It has become clear from shared experience among vitamin D experts, including myself, that Quest Diagnostics has a problem with seemingly random over-estimation of vitamin D levels."

"(NaturalNews) People still don't get it: Vitamin D is the "miracle nutrient" that activates your immune system to defend you against invading microorganisms -- including seasonal flu and swine flu. Two months ago, an important study was published by researchers at Oregon State University. This study reveals something startling: Vitamin D is so crucial to the functioning of your immune system that the ability of vitamin D to boost immune function and destroy invading microorganisms has been conserved in the genome for over 60 million years of evolution. As this press release from Oregon State University (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...) explains: The fact that this vitamin-D mediated immune response has been retained through millions of years of evolutionary selection, and is still found in species ranging from squirrel monkeys to baboons and humans, suggests that it must be critical to their survival, researchers say. "The existence and importance of this part of our immune response makes it clear that humans and other primates need to maintain sufficient levels of vitamin D," said Adrian Gombart, an associate professor of biochemistry and a principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University."