Category: Newsletter Library

We all know we should eat a “good breakfast”. Most of us can still hear the voice of our third grade teacher ringing in our ears – “Did everyone eat a good breakfast today?” – the kindly, inquiring tone usually accompanied by a penetrating stare. But as unlikely as it was then that most kids ate a good breakfast, it is even more unlikely now.¹ For those of us who are adults, breakfast is frequently a mere cup of coffee. Or possibly a glass of orange juice and a bagel or a muffin. Maybe a “breakfast sandwich” at a fast-food chain. Regardless, not many of our choices can be construed as nutrition that will support us in being the champions that we want to be.

Everyone knows why a good breakfast is important. First, your gas tank is near empty. If you don’t refuel, you’ll be running on fumes. Every cell in your body requires high-quality nutrition. Most especially, your brain cells and your muscle cells require plenty of glucose. If you don’t have enough energy in your fuel tank, your body feels sluggish and your brain feels as if it’s trying to swim upstream against a strong current. Worse, you don’t have enough cellular energy to sweep away the metabolic end-products that build up from normal functioning. You can’t do maintenance and toxins accumulate. Now you need even more energy to deal with the toxic build-up and a vicious circle develops. You feel run-down, you develop muscle tension and a headache, and your whole day starts to deteriorate. This scenario is typical for many people and it continues day after day. Projecting into the future, the long-term results include diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and overweight/obesity.² What can be done?

For those of us who recognize a problem and are willing to take action on our own behalf, the first step is to be willing to actually eat a nutritious breakfast. We want food that will help us be healthy, rather than “food” that instead adds to our health-related problems. If we choose to take such action, we can follow several easy guidelines. An energy-filled breakfast could consist of whole-grain cereals, fruit, cheese, eggs, nuts, and even meat.³ Not all of this, certainly, but enough to make a breakfast consisting of 300 or 400 calories. The prospect seems daunting, particularly when breakfast has been an afterthought for many years. But the process actually becomes easy once you get used to having this meal.

For example, two slices of whole-grain toast plus a tablespoon of peanut butter and a tablespoon of organic jam makes a great breakfast. You’ve got approximately 300 calories and you’re combining protein with complex carbohydrates. Or two scrambled eggs and a side of 1/2 cup of steel-cut oatmeal (that you’ve prepared overnight) with a tablespoon of honey mixed in. This meal, too, provides approximately 300 calories and an energy-producing combination of protein and complex carbohydrates. You get the idea – a creative, attractive small meal that is composed of complex carbohydrates and protein. You’ve now consumed an energy source that will be “slow-burning” and provide high-quality fuel for the next three to four hours. You’re ready to have a great morning of productive activity.

Being healthy takes work. It doesn’t happen by chance. Having a good breakfast, a “breakfast of champions”, is a key component of this overall, life-affirming process.

¹Deshmukh-Taskar  PR, et al: The relationship of breakfast skipping and type of breakfast consumption with nutrient intake and weight status in children and adolescents: the National Health and Nutrition. J Am Diet Assoc 110(6):869-878, 2010

²Pereira MA, et al: Breakfast frequency and quality may affect glycemia and appetite in adults and children. J Nutr 141(1):163-168, 2011

³Ratliff J, et al: Consuming eggs for breakfast influences plasma glucose and ghrelin, while reducing energy intake during the next 24 hours in adult men. Nutr Res 30(2):96-103, 2010

Plenty of people go through plenty of suffering trying to lose weight. But why does it have to be that way? Surely there’s some discipline involved, but the process can actually be empowering and personally fulfilling. Weight loss doesn’t need to be about suffering. Losing weight can actually be fun.

The fun part of losing weight is the fulfillment and personal satisfaction you get out of doing what you said you’d do. The fun part is seeing the pounds come off, week by week. The fun part is seeing yourself get back in shape. And, the very fun part is the free day that you enjoy each week. The free day is built-in to your losing-weight food plan.

What’s a free day? You want to be on a food plan that changes your body’s metabolism – one that flattens out your blood glucose levels, one that flattens out your blood insulin levels. The result is a body that knows how to burn glucose for energy, rather than a body that’s out of synch and stores glucose as fat.^1,2

The best way to normalize your metabolism is to eat five or six small meals per day. This is not news. This powerful approach to maintaining optimal body weight has been around for many decades. And the multiple small meals food plan works just as well today.³

This approach has a surprise bonus – a built-in fun factor – the free day. The free day fulfills two important functions. First, your body needs to know that it’s not in starvation mode. If your body thinks it’s starving, you’ll begin to store fat. So you actually need to have a free day once a week.

Your free day also has a very important psychological purpose. You’re doing work and following a plan. A break from the plan is necessary, otherwise it’s going to become boring. It’s great to look forward to your free day and the opportunity to break the routine.

On your free day you can eat anything you want. After a while, you become less exorbitant on your free day. You still eat more pure-fun foods, but you find you’re eating less in terms of mass quantities. You just get more normalized, naturally, as you find yourself listening more to what your body really wants and needs.

Your free day, combined with the ongoing positive feedback from your bathroom scale, makes it possible and realistic to continue on the multiple small meals per day plan.

Over time your weekly weight loss decreases and eventually you stop losing weight – you’ve reached your body’s natural weight. This is a major accomplishment. Your food plan has become a way of life. You’ve learned how to eat so that you’re healthy, fit, and well. Make sure you celebrate!

¹Otani H: Oxidative stress as pathogenesis of cardiovascular risk associated with metabolic syndrome. Antiox Redox Signal 15(7):1911-1926, 2011

²Brietzke SA: A personalized approach to metabolic aspects of obesity. Mt Sinai J Med 77(5):499-510, 2010

³Roth CL, et al: Changes in adipose-derived inflammatory cytokines and chemokines after successful lifestyle intervention in obese children. Metabolism 60(4):445-452, 2011

There is much wisdom in the saying “you are what you eat”, but food today is not the food of yesterday. We need to actually work at getting the amount of nutrients that’s going to help keep us healthy and well.

Our genetic heritage was not designed for an urban environment. Our digestive systems, for example, were not optimized for high-starch diets, fast food, and canned fruits and vegetables. The energy requirements of our cells were designed to be based on glucose metabolism. But glucose was originally obtained from readily available fresh produce and whole grains, in the form of complex carbohydrates. When our tissues were originally designed there were no such things as processed flour or sweeteners.

At the dawn of man, protein sources were derived from the local fauna – the local birds and beasts. These animals were not fed antibiotics and were not raised on pesticide-treated grasses. They were not caged and forced to grow up in close proximity to dozens and hundreds of fellow creatures. They roamed freely and randomly, ranging over wide stretches of open territory. As a result, their value as food sources was very high.

Today, unless we make a special effort, our food sources are significantly compromised. Until recently, those living in cities were only able to purchase produce that had traveled long distances over many days to reach their stores. The nutritional value of these fruits and vegetables was necessarily substantially degraded. The nutritional content of protein sources – meat, fowl, fish, dairy, and eggs – were likewise degraded by chemical additives, antibiotics, and draconian living conditions.

New food-producing methods, available for the last 30 years but much more so recently, have enabled consumers to put high-quality food on their tables.^1,2,3 The slogan “eat locally” has become a possibility for even the most entrenched urban areas such as New York City. Farmers markets spring up weekly and monthly in most cities, suburbs, and the surrounding countryside. Organically grown food – produce, fish, meat, fowl, and dairy – is widely available, even in supermarket chains.

We now have more healthy food options than were available at any time within the last 50 years. It is possible to reverse the diabetes and obesity epidemics that have spread across countries like the United States. It is possible to restore health and well-being to millions people across the globe. Chiropractic care can be of great assistance in this process. Your chiropractor is a nutritional expert and will be able to help you design food plans that will work for you and your family.

¹Wang SY: Fruit quality, antioxidant capacity, and flavonoid content of organically and conventionally grown blueberries. J Agric Food Chem 56(14):5788-5794, 2008

²Nitika S, et al: Physico-chemical characteristics, nutrient composition and consumer acceptability of wheat varieties grown under organic and inorganic farming conditions. Int J Food Sci Nutr 59(3:):224-245, 2008

³Dani C, et al: Phenolic content and antioxidant activities of white and purple juices manufactured with organically- or conventionally-produced grapes. Food Chem Toxicol 45(12):2574-2580, 2007

In decades past, very few urban kids had ever even heard of a parsnip, a fennel bulb, or a bunch of kale. In those days, fruit and vegetable consumption typically consisted of apples, bananas, corn, potatoes, peas, and lettuce. Oranges were infrequent and grapefruit was a rarity. Today a veritable cornucopia of produce is available year-round, providing the possibility for substantial variety in a family’s daily diet. But with the exception of families that include dedicated foodies, most diets could still be considered reasonably barren with respect to consumption of a range of healthful fruits and vegetables. Importantly, taking the single step of providing a variety of produce for the daily table will lead to multiple benefits in terms of health and wellness.

Eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables is so valuable that this daily habit ranks high on the list of federal health and public policy recommendations focusing on nutrition. In the United States, the Department of Agriculture has launched the ChooseMyPlate campaign to support public policy, highlighting the five main food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy. The ChooseMyPlate program recommends that fully one-half of every plate of food consist of fruits and vegetables.

Physiologically, all bodily systems, most especially the gastrointestinal system and immune system, depend on nutrition gained from fruits and vegetables. Consuming fresh produce daily enables the gastrointestinal system, that is, your stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, to process food effectively and facilitate the transit of food throughout the stomach and intestines. Deficiency of fresh fruits and vegetables will slow transit time, resulting in blockage, bloating, and compromised regularity. Similarly, immune system functioning depends critically on the availability of specific nutrients derived from fresh produce. These nutrients, known as phytochemicals, provide biochemicals that aid immune system cells such as neutrophils, macrophages, and natural killer cells in defending the body against bacteria, viruses, and other microscopic disease-causing invaders.

Nature has provided us with an easy means of identifying the types of produce that contain the most healthful nutrition: the more colorful the fruit or vegetable, the more phytochemicals and other nutrients it contains. For example, foods rich in phytochemicals include blueberries, carrots, greens such as kale and chard, broccoli, apples, oranges, beets, rutabaga, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Produce such as bananas do not contain many phytochemicals, but are still valuable sources of complex carbohydrates.

Thus, all of us, both children and adults, need our daily portions of fresh fruits and vegetables. Of course, merely having this information is not sufficient. Action is required. A four-week trial of adding fresh produce to your family’s daily diet should provide many indicators of the available health benefits of these marvelous foods. Such evidence will likely be sufficient to cause a healthful long-term shift in your family’s dietary habits with numerous positive outcomes in the years to come.

Sources

1. Zhang YJ, et al: Antioxidant Phytochemicals for the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases. Molecules 20(12): 21138-21156, 2015
2. Guillermo Gormaz J, et al: Potential Role of Polyphenols in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases: Molecular Bases. Curr Med Chem. 2015 Nov 27. [Epub ahead of print]
3. Ghosh N, et al: Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: Progress and Prospect with Herbal Medicine. Curr Pharm Des. 2015 Nov 12. [Epub ahead of print]

It’s the rare child who actually wants to eat fruits and vegetables. Kids are bombarded by television and radio ads for cereals, candy, and chips that contain huge amounts of sugar and large quantities of saturated fat. The sugar craving begins in childhood – kids quickly develop a taste for sweets. To a child’s sugar-sensitized palette, the complex sugars contained in fruits and vegetables are a poor substitute.

We carry these habits into adulthood and our long-term health suffers as a result. Twenty-four hours is not enough time in the day for most of us, and many consistently choose fast foods as a means of satisfying our need for food and a method for limiting the amount of precious time we spend on meal preparation.

But fast foods are not really food in the sense that the nutrition they provide is minimal. Fast foods are essentially empty calories.

In the 1950s and 1960s a well-known health-related slogan was “an apple a day makes the doctor away”. This advice represented ancient folk wisdom. Today, decades of research has shown that apples – and all fruits and vegetables – have remarkable health-promoting and disease-fighting properties.

Most fruits and vegetables are packed with magical biochemicals called phytochemicals – “phyto” means plant. Phytochemicals give fruits and vegetables their color, so the more colorful a food, the more phytochemicals it contains.

Ongoing research studies show that phytochemicals – of which there are thousands of varieties – provide protection against the development of many chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and arthritis.

Many phytochemicals are antioxidants and neutralize free radicals in human cells. Others have anti-inflammatory properties – these help slow the aging process.

Fruits and vegetables are so important for our health and well-being that many national organizations have promoted the “five to stay alive rule” – the recommendation is to eat at least five portions of fruits and vegetables each day.

Portions could include any of these – an apple, an orange, a banana, a cup of grapes, a cup of blueberries, a yam, a couple of carrots, a couple of tomatoes, and a couple of tablespoons of broccoli.

For many of us, “five to stay alive” would be a radical departure from our old habits. It might take a little effort to develop new shopping and eating habits, but once you’re in the groove it’s likely you’ll be feeling so much better you’ll wonder why you didn’t start this healthy-eating plan sooner.

Your chiropractor is an expert on nutritional health and will be glad to help you create a food plan that works for you and your family.

¹de Kok TM, et al: Mechanisms of combined action of different chemopreventive dietary compounds: a review. Eur J Nutr 47(Suppl 2):59-59, 2008
²Ware WR: Nutrition and the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer: Association of Cytochrome P450 CYP1B1 With the Role of Fruit and Fruit Extracts. Integr Cancer Ther December 2008
³Liu RH: Potential synergy of phytochemicals in cancer prevention: mechanism of action. J Nutr 134(Suppl 12):3479S-3485S, 2004

It has long been known that over evolutionary time the human organism developed in tandem with a vast host of microbial fellow travelers. The 100 trillion microorganisms inhabiting our gastrointestinal tracts assist in numerous physiological processes critical to our health and well being. The intestinal microbiome (commensal microorganisms) helps maintain the integrity and function of the lining of the small intestine, helps us digest our food properly, and assists in training our immune systems to appropriately recognize friends and foes.^1,2 Alterations in composition of the intestinal microbiome (dysbiosis) lead to many disorders and diseases, including celiac disease, osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes. Thus, dysbiosis needs to be considered in the evaluation and treatment of many common conditions. Fortunately, many forms of conservative management are available for dysbiosis, including use of probiotics and prebiotics.

Probiotics are formulations of live microorganisms that contain large numbers of colony-forming units, primarily lactobacilli and bifidobacteria.³ Taken as dietary supplements, probiotics persist in the gastrointestinal tract for several days and compete successfully with resident microorganisms. Probiotic bacteria help repair damaged linings of the small intestine, enhance nutrition, and suppress inflammatory intestinal reactions. Importantly, probiotic bacteria ferment undigested carbohydrates in the large intestine and produce nutrients for “good” microorganisms, helping restore the normal composition of commensal microorganisms.

Prebiotics are selectively fermented ingredients (foods) that target specific microorganisms and help restore balance in the intestinal microbiome. The primary targets are bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. By providing dietary substrates, prebiotics stimulate growth of specific bacteria and act to restore a more healthful composition of the intestinal microbiome. Many prebiotics are found naturally in foods such as garlic, onions, asparagus, and leeks. However, an effective means of obtaining prebiotics is to add prebiotic ingredients to bread, yoghurt, and drinks. In order to obtain full benefit, prebiotics and probiotics must be consumed regularly.

Dysbiosis is frequently the result of intolerance to gluten, a class of proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye. Chronic immune and inflammatory reactions to gluten peptides often lead to disturbances in intestinal microorganism homeostasis. Other conditions such as acute intestinal infection disrupt the intestinal epithelial barrier and lead to dysbiosis. The good news is that alterations in composition of the intestinal microbiome are usually correctable by supplementation with probiotics and prebiotics. The key to effective management is knowledge and awareness of the possibility of dysbiosis and access to appropriate methods of natural supplementation.

¹Chistiakov DA, et al: Role of gut microbiota in the modulation of atherosclerosis-associated immune response. Front Microbiol 2015 Jun 30;6:671. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00671. eCollection 2015

²Purchiaroni F, et al: The role of intestinal microbiota and the immune system. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 17(3):323-333, 2013

³Hajela N, et al: Gut microbiome, gut function, and probiotics: Implications for health. Indian J Gastroenterol 34(2):93-107, 2015

In recent years, media pundits around the world have proclaimed the extraordinary value of so-called super foods. Blueberries, broccoli, and especially kale have been described as possessing remarkable, almost magical, properties. What is it about these foods that makes them so good for you?

From a basic perspective, adding fresh fruits and vegetables of all types to your daily diet is a very smart way to help improve your current levels of health and well-being. Fresh fruits and vegetables are so important that many national agencies and organizations have promoted the “five to stay alive” rule – these groups recommend eating at least five portions of fruits and vegetables each day.¹

Fresh fruits and vegetables provide numerous health benefits, many of which are based upon the actions of biochemicals known as phytonutrients. Certain of these formerly mysterious compounds stimulate enzyme activity and others have actions similar to those of hormones. Many phytonutrients are powerful antioxidants that circulate throughout the body, scooping up and neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals are a normal byproduct of cellular metabolism, but too many of them will cause a lot of problems. Excess free radicals have, for example, been linked to development of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.^2,3 Blueberries, broccoli, and kale are categorized as “super foods” owing to the abundance of phytonutrients they contain and make available to those who consume them.

The takeaway is not to load up on kale, broccoli, and blueberries in an attempt to make up for years of less-than-optimal dietary choices. Rather, the goal is to begin, today, to implement a healthful, balanced food plan. Diets lacking fresh fruits and vegetables in general, and lacking super foods in particular, will not provide you and your family with the resources needed to enjoy productive, energy-filled days. Resolving to follow the “five-to-stay-alive” plan will add literally missing ingredients to your daily health regime. As you upgrade your nutrition, you’re automatically upgrading the functioning of all your body’s systems.

With sufficient dietary phytonutrients, you can help prevent chronic disease, strengthen the immune system, combat the effects of obesity, and obtain numerous anti-aging benefits.

The vast array of advantages that will likely ensue include more restful sleep; enhanced skin tone and muscle tone; increased reserves of energy throughout the day; and improved ability to focus and complete tasks successfully. Improved peace of mind will naturally occur as a consequence of these benefits, and an untapped reservoir of creativity may be revealed. Super foods truly provide super benefits.

¹Liu RH: Health-promoting components of fruits and vegetables in the diet. Adv Nutr 4(3):384S-392S, 2013

²Wu TY, et al: Pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics and epigenetics of nrf2-regulated xenobioticmetabolizing enzymes and transporters by dietary phytochemical and cancer chemoprevention. Curr Drug Metab 14(6):688-694, 2013

³Pasko P, et al: Rutabaga (Brassica napus L. var. napobrassica) seeds, roots, and sprouts: a novel kind of food with antioxidant properties and proapoptotic potential in Hep G2 hepatoma cell line. J Med Food 16(8):749-759, 2013

People often wonder about taking vitamins. Should I bother? Are they worth the money? Which ones should I take? In order, the answers are yes, yes, and ask your chiropractor to recommend the brand best for you.

Why take vitamins at all? The purpose of supplementation is to cover all bases — to make sure they’re covered. How can you be sure your diet contains all the cofactors and trace minerals needed to make your metabolism work correctly? And what about all the antioxidants that fight free radical formation and the phyt­onutrients that seem to have so much benefit in cancer prevention?

Likewise, it would take a lot of effort to be certain that your diet contained sufficient iodine, magnesium, selenium, chromium, folate, and vitamins B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine), and B12 (cyanocobalamin).Taking a supplement guarantees that these requirements have been met. It’s simple, safe, and efficient in terms of both time and cost.

Which brand of supplementation is best? There’s no right answer here, it’s more of a practical decision. You’ll know if a specific brand is right if you feel healthier and more energetic after taking it regularly for four to six weeks. You chiropractor will assist you by providing expert information and recommendations. There are no peer-reviewed, hard statistical data suggesting that one brand is superior. “Results” here are qualitative, not quantitative. The important point is that vitamin/mineral supplementation is necessary to ensure optimal metabolic functioning and physical well-being.

What about using specific supplements for specific things, such as taking calcium supplements after a bone-density study has revealed loss of bone mass (osteoporosis)? Is this an effective therapy? Well, in the postmenopausal setting1, if you’re not exercising, the calcium you take will simply be excreted. Completely useless. On the other hand, if you are exercising or begin an exercise program, the additional calcium will be useful in providing raw material for stronger bones, built in response to the stress of exercise.

What about calcium supplementation for younger women? Again, exercise is the key to forestalling osteoporosis2. Of course, this includes taking sufficient daily calcium. The recommended daily requirement for calcium is 1000-1200 mg. So, a vitamin/mineral supplement supplies 500 mg. A cup of yogurt adds another 250 mg. A glass of skim milk or a piece of low-fat cheese adds another 250 mg. Non-dairy sources of calcium include calcium-fortified orange juice, spinach, turnips, and sardines (with the bones). So, dietary sources plus your vitamin/mineral supplements provide close to the recommended dose.

Additional calcium tablets or pills can make up the difference.

Vitamin/mineral supplements are important for busy people. Supplementation ensures a consistent, optimal dose of necessary nutrients. Balanced nutrition, in combination with regular exercise, will help provide vibrant, glowing good health3.

1Rosen CJ: Clinical practice. Postmenopausall osteoporosis. N Engl J Med 353(6):595-603, 2005
2Swanenburg J, et al: Effects of exercise and nutrition on postural balance and risk of falling in elderly people. Clin Rehabil 21(6):523-34, 2007
3Speckerr B, Vukovich M: Evidence for an interaction between exercise and nutrition for improved bone health during growth. Med Sport Sci 51:50-63, 2007

Pasta, pizza, and peanut butter. We’ve all been there. For some of us, these three delicious, yet nutritionally limited, pantry items constituted our three main food groups for months, if not years of our 20s and 30s, possibly even our 40s. But there comes a time when the party’s over and we need to deal with reality in the form of tight clothes that used to fit nicely, expanding waistlines, and other unwanted signs of overweight and general lack of fitness.

The fact is that each of the three Ps is high in nutritive value when they are composed of organic ingredients. Pasta that is not organic probably is manufactured from processed flour and has lost most of its original nutritional quality. The same is true for pizza and peanut butter. Organic pizza actually covers three food groups – grains, fruits and vegetables, and dairy. Organic peanut butter is high in protein and essential fatty acids. So the three Ps are good for you. The problem, of course, is when they represent the majority of your weekly food intake.

What is a “well-rounded, healthful food plan”, actually? The basic answer is provided by the well-known food pyramid. The federal government (the U.S. Department of Agriculture) has recently replaced the traditional food pyramid with MyPlate, which is simplistic and not necessary an improvement. The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has designed a Healthy Eating Plate graphic which is more detailed and provides better guidance. The general rules are to fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables, fill one-quarter of your plate with whole grains, and fill one-quarter of your plate with a protein source such as fish, chicken, beans, and/or nuts. The Healthy Eating Plate reminds people to drink plenty of water and to use healthy oils. The graphic contains information on choosing whole grains and how to select healthy fruits and vegetables.

Overall, this tool is an excellent resource and may be used in combination with the Healthy Eating Pyramid, created by the Department of Nutrition at HSPH. When a family takes the action steps recommended by these tools and applies the “five to stay alive” rule (the recommendation to eat at least five portions of fruits and vegetables each day),¹ both adults and children will be well on their way to improved health and wellness.²

Eating a well-rounded diet takes some effort. That’s a main reason why so many adults default to the three Ps. Pasta, pizza, and peanut butter are not only fun to eat, they are also easy to prepare. But over time, relying on the three Ps for your nutritional needs will lead to problems.³ In contrast, the guidelines recommended by the Healthy Eating Plate, in association with “five to stay alive” principle, will provide a delicious, nutritionally sound food plan. We greatly assist our long-term health and that of our children when we begin to recognize the value of these guidelines, and are willing to spend a little extra time and effort at the market and in the kitchen to put the recommendations into action.¹

Liu RH: Potential synergy of phytochemicals in cancer prevention: mechanism of action. J Nutr 134(Suppl 12):3479S-3485S, 2004

²Wang YC, et al: Reaching the health people goals for reducing childhood obesity: closing the energy gap. Am J Prev Med 42(5):437-444, 2012

³Drewnowski A, et al: Sweetness and food preference. J Nutr 142(6):1142S-1148S, 2012

We all know that Vitamin D is a critically important component in building strong bones and strong teeth. It turns out that Vitamin D has a vast number of additional functions.

For example, recent research shows that low Vitamin D levels is related to increased risk for diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease.¹ Insufficient Vitamin D during pregnancy can lead to gestational diabetes as well as pre-eclampsia² (pregnancy-induced hypertension), which may be life-threatening. Links between low Vitamin D levels and development of cancer have been studied for many years.³

Vitamin D insufficiency has been associated with mild depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and stroke, as well as with peripheral neuropathy, lupus, and fibromyalgia. It seems that Vitamin D has a huge impact on almost every aspect of our physical health. It makes sense for everyone to ensure they are getting enough Vitamin D on a daily basis.

How to get enough Vitamin D? The best source of this powerful vitamin is sunlight. The sun’s rays stimulate skin cells to produce the activated form of Vitamin D, cholecalciferol (Vitamin D₃). Activated Vitamin D helps regulate levels of calcium and phosphate in the blood stream, helps maintain normal bone mineralization, and helps regulate nerve function, the immune response, and genes responsible for cell growth, differentation, and cell death. These genetic regulatory functions are associated with Vitamin D’s role in cancer prevention.

Back in the day, people were outdoors much more than they are in the 21st century. There were no text messages, no multiplayer games, no social networking sites (people actually “networked” by meeting each other in physical space), and definitely no computers that occupied less than entire room’s worth of square feet.

Our modern lifestyle causes us to stay indoors, far away from the healthful rays of the sun. Oh wait – the sun’s rays aren’t that healthful anymore because of pollution and radical degradation of the ozone layer by excessive accumulations of free radicals in the atmosphere. The resulting increased exposure to ultraviolet-B radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer in those who are susceptible and do not protect themselves with sunscreens.

To balance the daily requirement for Vitamin D with the opposing need to avoid undue exposure, most studies recommend getting 15 to 30 minutes of unprotected sunlight several times per week (two to four such expeditions each week are sufficient). Importantly, studies demonstrate that three out of four Americans have Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency affects more than one billion people worldwide.

Vitamin D supplementation may also be recommended, particularly for those who live in sun-deprived climates and for most people in winter. Two thousand IU of Vitamin D₃ is typical daily dose.

¹Swales HH, Wang TJ: Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease risk: emerging evidence. Curr Opin Cardiol July 7, 2010 (Epub ahead of print)

²Lapillonne A: Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy may impair maternal and fetal outcomes. Med Hypotheses 74(1):71-75, 2010

³Edlich R, et al: Scientific documentation of the relationship of vitamin D deficiency and the development of cancer. J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol 28(2):133-141, 2009