More on vitamin D - and diabetes

It's an interesting fact that there are some diseases, like multiple sclerosis, that are more common in countries with daylight than in the sunnier climates. For example, Canada has a high MS rate compared with Mexico.

New research has found that there may also be a connection with type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes, the type of diabetes that strikes mostly children. In a study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, researchers found that children who were give extra vitamin D supplements were approximately 30% less likely to develop type 1 diabetes compared with those who did not receive a supplement. The researchers go on to say that the findings suggested the higher the supplemental dose, the lower the risk.

The authors of the study point out that a child Finland is 400 times more likely to develop the disease than a child in Venezuela.

Chalk up another important reason to get that good old vitamin D.

News for Today:
Extra vitamin D in early childhood cuts adult diabetes risk
Medications Plus Dental Materials May Equal Infection for Diabetic Patients
FDA Issues Alert on Tussionex, a Long-Acting Prescription Cough Medicine
Regular low dose aspirin cuts asthma risk in women
Family cardiac caregivers may have higher heart disease risk

The Vitamin D Buzz

Vitamin D is all over the news. A new study has found that increased doses of daily vitamin D could decrease the chances of developing certain cancers, such as colorectal and breast cancers. In fact, they found a 60% of cancer incidence.

This led the Canadian Cancer Society to recommend that all Canadian adults take 1000 international units (UI) of vitamin D during the darker winter months. There has been a rush on vitamin D at the stores. The Montreal Gazette reported today that several city pharmacies were wiped out of their vitamin D supply. I don’t know, last time I checked, it’s June and sunny a good part of the day. A good *free* way to get vitamin D is to get it from the sun.

I take a regular multivitamin and there are 400 IU of vitamin D in the brand I take. I try to get out in the sun, walking the dog, gardening or sitting and reading the morning paper, and eat foods that have vitamin D in them. In the winter, I try to make a point of getting out on sunny days and expose my face to the sun for a bit, just for the sheer joy of feeling sunshine because I’m one of those people who has a hard time when the days are too grey.

Sunscreen has its place and I’m against the sun tanning that lots of people still do. I have blonde hair, very fair skin and green/yellow eyes. In other words, when I was a kid, I burned and burned and burned so many times, I couldn’t keep track. But, I also was never for the constant slathering of the highest SPF sunscreen available. We need the sun. For example, Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world. Northern countries have much higher rates than countries in the south, which don’t have the short grey days we have. Is it connected to the sun? No fool-proof connection has been made yet, but it sure sounds suspicious to me. The sun is vital and, like almost everything, we went way too far the other way, from worshipping the sun to being terrified of it. While skin cancer is frightening, we can prevent it without totally eliminating the sun from our lives. With my pale, easily burned skin, I still spent 45 minutes this morning outside in the sun gardening, without sunscreen. I made sure I was in and out of the shade and I never stayed in the sun for more than 5 minutes straight. If I go outside in the sun again today, I will put on sunscreen because my skin was exposed to enough sun today. But tomorrow, I’ll likely try to spend at least a half hour enjoying the sun.

And, in the winter, I’ll increase my dose of vitamin D to 1000 IU until the summer sun rolls around again.

Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows everywhere....

Too much of a good thing or nothing at all. That seems to be the way we live today. We find out that something isn’t good for us, so we ban it completely – only to find out that we do need it or can enjoy it, but just in moderate quantities.

Take the sun, for instance. Skin cancer is a reality. We can’t deny that. But we also can’t stay out of the sun completely because we need the sun. We need the vitamin D that the sun provides to us. This article, Vitamin D, gives a good overview of what the sun really does for us and why we need it.

Studies over the past few years have shown how important this vitamin is. In 2007, the American Journal of Preventative Medicine published a study that concluded 10 to 15 minutes in the sun plus 2,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D and a healthy diet could reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer by two-thirds. The rate of breast cancer also seemed to decrease significantly.

In December 2006, another study found that the incidence of multiple sclerosis seemed to decrease in patients with higher levels of vitamin D. There are other benefits too. In 2004, researchers undertook a preliminary study in which they found that children who were exposed to regular sunlight had fewer colds than their counterparts who didn’t get that exposure.

Of course, we still need to be careful. We have to remember that too much of a good thing may not be good. Don’t stay in the sun too long, don’t get yourself sunburned and use common sense.
And now, for those who are interested, a wrap of up my birthday yesterday:
I couldn't have asked for a better day. What's better than spending a great day outside, getting exercise and sunshine?

I'm not a great golfer. I only learned 3 years ago and I don't think it will ever be a passion, but I enjoy it because it's getting outside and walking, forcing me to relax and enjoy the sunshine. A couple that we're friends with are avid golfers and my husband has been golfing since he was a teen. So, by learning, I get to spend time with them too.

And yesterday, for the first time ever, I actually golfed a real game. I have tried over the past few years, but I just wasn't good enough to be able to keep a score throughout the 18 holes. But something happened yesterday and I *played*. I scored 135, which isn't a good score, but it is a score and I'm happy with it. I am thrilled with some of my hits and drives and it was just plain fun.

The weather was *perfect*. On Friday, it was a very hot day and we wouldn't have been comfortable playing, but the weather yesterday was perfect with a beautiful breeze.

And then dinner in my favourite restaurant was outstanding. Shrimp in whiskey sauce, atlantic salmon in herb butter, topped off with a spanish coffee. It was so good.
Today? Back to reality. But with a relaxed smile on my face.

I'm blessed.

Today’s news:
Mumps hits navy