Low levels of a key nutrient tied to cancer...are YOU taking enough of it?
Vitamin D is crucial for bone health, supporting immunity, regulating mood and reducing inflammation.
However, 40 percent of adults are vitamin D deficient, meaning they don't get through food or supplements or make enough on their own.
People who spend more time indoors and in northern states like Alaska where there is less sun exposure are more at risk, as well as those with darker skin, as melanin reduces the skin's ability to convert sunlight into vitamin D.
Older adults' skin and kidneys are also less able to convert vitamin D than younger people, and obesity leads to the nutrient getting trapped in fat cells.
To boost your levels, experts recommend stepping outside without sunscreen early in the morning, before 10am, or after 2pm to soak it in without suffering too much UV radiation.
Salmon, egg yolks, mushrooms and fortified foods like milk are also naturally rich in vitamin D, along with supplements.
Below, DailyMail.com details the dangerous conditions vitamin D deficiency could cause.
Cancer
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to an increased risk of colorectal, prostate and breast cancer, all of which have surged in the US, particularly in young people.
Vitamin D is thought to regulate cell growth, and when cells grow uncontrollably, they can more easily mutate into cancer cells. The vitamin also inhibits cancer cell growth and promotes death of harmful cells.
An analysis done by the National Cancer Institute of 4,000 prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer found that people who took high doses of vitamin D had a 17 percent lower risk of cancer mortality than those who took the lowest amount every day.
Additionally, some anecdotal research found that people living at southern latitudes, where levels of sunlight exposure are relatively high, were less likely to develop or die from certain cancers than people living at northern latitudes.
However, this is an association rather than a direct cause.
Osteoporosis and bone fractures
Lack of Vitamin D has also been associated with osteoporosis, a disease suffered by 10million Americans over 50.
The condition weakens bones and makes them more susceptible to fractures, even from everyday activities.
Vitamin D has been shown to help the body absorb calcium, a nutrient in dairy and leafy grens, which strengthens bones. It also synthesizes muscle protein, which decreases fall risk.
For older adults, Vitamin D is vital as it will slow down the process of muscle breakdown that comes with aging.
For children who have a severe lack of Vitamin D, they can develop a disease called rickets, which softens the bones, making them prone to bone pain, deformities and impaired growth.
Diabetes
The absence of Vitamin D also puts you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, which causes the pancreas to produce too much insulin.
The body then can't keep up with this and filter out excess glucose (blood sugar) from the bloodstream.
About 12 percent of US adults have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and nearly one in three Americans have prediabetes, a precursor to the disease. Most of them don't even know they have it.
Vitamin D is thought to reduce inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity.
A recent study found higher vitamin D reduced insulin resistance, when the body is unable to respond to or use the insulin that it's producing.
The researchers found that the chance of developing insulin resistance went down with each additional amount of vitamin D supplement taken.
Mood disorders
Vitamin D also plays a role in the production and release of dopamine and serotonin within the body.
Dopamine influences feelings of pleasure and motivation, while serotonin regulates mood, sleep and digestion.
Low levels of these neurotransmitters have been shown to cause symptoms of depression, anxiety and other common mood disorders.
Vitamin D, particularly from getting outside on a sunny day, helps regulate the expression of genes that produce and synthesize serotonin and dopamine, boosting their levels.
Autoimmune diseases
One of Vitamin D's most important roles in immune-modulation, meaning it can stimulate and suppress the body's immune response to fight against diseases.
Without enough vitamin D, risks of inflammation and autoimmune reactions - where the body attacks its own tissues - increase.
Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), mixed connective tissue disease, autoimmune thyroid disease, scleroderma and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
In a study done at the Oklahoma Medical Research foundation, scientists took 32 serum samples from women suffering from SLE, in which the body attacks its own organs and tissues.
They then compared their Vitamin D levels to control patients, and found vitamin deficiency was significantly more frequent among patients with SLE.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development
The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary and a longtime vaccine critic, announced in a statement Tuesday that $500 million worth of vaccine development projects, all using mRNA technology, will be halted. The projects — 22 of them — are being led by some of the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna to prevent flu, COVID-19 and H5N1 infections. The mRNA vaccines are credited with slowing the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Kennedy said in the Tuesday statement that he wants the health department to move away from mRNA vaccines, calling on the department to start 'investing in better solutions.' He provided no details on what those technologies might be.
The Guardian
8 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Verbally abused children more likely to have poor mental health as adults, study finds
Parents who ridicule, threaten or humiliate their children risk leaving them with a 64% higher chance of having poor mental health as an adult, a study has found. The research also found physical abuse experienced among the research participants reduced over time, while verbal abuse increased. Published in BMJ Open, the study gathered data of 20,687 adults from seven studies published between 2012 and 2024. The studies used all involved questions on childhood physical and verbal abuse using the validated Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) tool and the Warwick-Edinburgh mental wellbeing scale to measure individual and combined components of adult mental wellbeing. Participants were asked over a two-week period about their mental wellbeing, with responses given a score to determine whether the participant had a low or high sense of mental wellbeing. While physical abuse was associated with a 52% increase in the likelihood of a person experiencing low mental wellbeing as an adult, verbal abuse was linked to a slightly higher likelihood at 64%, according to analysis of the results. The analysis also found that, even when physical abuse was part of a person's childhood experiences, participants who also experienced verbal abuse faced additional risks. The prevalence of low mental wellbeing for those who had experienced no abuse stood at 16%, rising to 22.5% for physical abuse, 24% for verbal abuse, and 29% for both physical and verbal abuse. Furthermore, the prevalence of physical abuse halved from about 20% among those born between 1950 and 1979 to 10% among participants born in or after 2000. However, for verbal abuse, the prevalence increased from 12% among those born before 1950 to about 20% among those born in 2000 or later. These findings add to previous research that found experiencing childhood verbal abuse was linked to a higher risk of self-harm, drug use, and ending up in jail. 'Our study reveals that degrading, humiliating and abusive language directed at children can have long-term mental health impacts at least as severe as those associated with physical abuse,' said Prof Mark Bellis of Liverpool John Moores University, the study's lead author. 'Equally concerning is the trend observed over the study period where physical abuse declined but verbal abuse increased … potentially offsetting the mental health gains we might expect from reduced exposure to physical harm.' The authors of the study acknowledged its limitations, namely that they were unable to measure the severity of either type of abuse, or the reasons for these trends in changing prevalence for physical and verbal abuse. 'Although this study does not examine the reasons for these trends, it is vital that we do not simply replace one form of childhood trauma with another,' Bellis added. 'That's why we must go beyond telling parents what not to do, and instead offer clear, practical support and guidance that allows them to raise their children through healthy, nurturing relationships.' The analysis also found that participants born in 2000 or later had a higher likelihood of overall low mental wellbeing, while men were more likely to report never or rarely feeling optimistic, useful, or close to people, while women were more likely to report never or rarely feeling relaxed. Jessica Bondy, founder of Words Matter, a charity with the aim of ending childhood verbal abuse, said the study confirmed that 'words can wound deeply and have a lasting impact on a child's mental health and development'. She added: 'Any gains made in reducing physical abuse risk being undone by rising rates of verbal abuse. We must act now to confront the lasting harm caused by cruel, critical or controlling language. We need to build children up – not knock them down. The mental health of the next generation and our shared future depend on it.'
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Do You Have ADHD?: 'Do you fidget and get distracted by noise? Maybe you've got ADHD too'
Nobody wants to be schizophrenic these days. Why would they? It's a horrible mental illness, one commonly treated with anti-psychotic drugs. Believe it or not, it was frightfully fashionable in the 1960s. Dinner party guests clamoured to tell each other, 'Well, I don't know, I suppose I must be a little bit schizo!' Quack psychiatrists made their names diagnosing actors and pop stars with the condition. The leading light was Scottish doctor and bestselling writer R.D. Laing, who treated Sean Connery by dosing him with LSD. These days, the most talked about diagnosis is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD]. Not a day passes without a celebrity or online influencer declaring proudly that they have ADHD — with the unspoken implication that this excuses all their failings and confirms what they've always felt... that they are special. Follow the guidelines laid down in Do You Have ADHD?, and we can all be special. It's easy. Before the first ad break, presenter Dr Karan Rajan urged us to download a questionnaire from the World Health Organisation [WHO], designed to identify key traits. The questions have been set by three American professors at Harvard and the New York University medical schools, and given an impressive title: the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) Symptom Checklist. Naturally, I paused the show and filled in the quiz immediately. This, I feel, proves impressively how limited my own attention span is. Do I fidget, asked the WHO? Do I forget appointments? Do I make careless mistakes when engaged on boring tasks? Do I get distracted by noise around me? Yes, all of the above. Now I can apply to join the eight-year NHS waiting list for an ADHD diagnosis, or take a shortcut and go private. Of course I'll go private! If I had the patience to wait eight years, I wouldn't have ADHD, would I? And, fortunately, there are lots of clinics willing to take my money, in exchange for an assessment. Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, the widow of much-loved Daily Mail writer Michael Mosley, took the test, partly because she suspected her late husband had ADHD himself. In her case, the outcome seemed eminently sensible: she exhibited some of the typical traits but could not be said to have ADHD because her daily life wasn't impaired. Clearly, the same applied to Michael. No doubt, he had a butterfly mind and needed a deadline if he was to get a job finished, but that's what made him a successful journalist. The rest of this documentary was mostly shallow and trivial. Asked what indicators he looks for in children with ADHD, Professor Stephen Scott of King's College London said, 'First of all, if you just watch them in the school playground, are they running around more than other kids?' 'Running around' is now a childhood medical condition. Nurse!
