Thursday, March 3, 2011

Significantly Increased Vitamin D Intake Needed for Good Health

HIGHER VITAMIN D INTAKE NEEDED TO REDUCE CANCER RISK

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha have reported that markedly higher intake of vitamin D is needed to reach blood levels that can prevent or markedly cut the incidence of breast cancer and several other major diseases than had been originally thought.  The findings are published February 21 in the journal Anticancer Research.

While these levels are higher than traditional intakes, they are largely in a range deemed safe for daily use in a December 2010 report from the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine.

“We found that daily intakes of vitamin D by adults in the range of 4000-8000 IU are needed to maintain blood levels of vitamin D metabolites in the range needed to reduce by about half the risk of several diseases - breast cancer, colon cancer, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes,” said Cedric Garland, DrPH, professor of family and preventive medicine at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.  “I was surprised to find that the intakes required to maintain vitamin D status for disease prevention were so high – much higher than the minimal intake of vitamin D of 400 IU/day that was needed to defeat rickets in the 20th century.” 

Read the rest at UC San Diego

About 6 months ago, I started a regimen of 3600 mg of fish oil (1080 mg of omega 3 fatty acids), 2000 I.U. of Vitamin D and 1000 mg of calcium. I did so in the hopes that my psoriasis symptoms would decrease. Unfortunately, that experiment has failed to produce the desired results. The upside, however, is that I've been completely cold/flu symptom free during this whole time - even during the height of the cold/flu season. To the best of my recollection, I've never been cold/flu free for any 6 month period in my life. I strongly recommend others start this experiment and include any safety protocols that might apply to you individually.