What does Science say about Vitamin D?

DYKT = Did you know that...

DYKT: Researchers at Warwick Medical School in Coventry, England, found middle-aged and elderly people with high levels of vitamin D reduced their chances of developing cardiometabolic disorders such as heart disease or diabetes by 43%.

DYKT: Franco, Johanna Parker and colleagues looked at 28 studies involving 99,745 men and women across a variety of ethnic groups. They found high levels of vitamin D versus low levels reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 33 %, the risk of type 2 diabetes by 55% and of metabolic syndrome by 51%.

DYKT: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics analyzed vitamin D in blood samples of more than 3,400 participants that were selected to be representative of the 24 million older adults in the United States. Compared to those with optimal vitamin D status, those with low vitamin D levels were 3 times more likely to die from heart disease and 2.5 times more likely to die from any cause.

DYKT: A study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine earlier this year, identified vitamin D as playing a significant role in boosting the immune system and warding off colds and flu.

DYKT: A major prospective study was recently released, published in 2007 by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This groundbreaking study was conducted in Nebraska on 403 postmenopausal women over a period of four years. The researchers reported that the women who received 1,100 iU of vitamin D and 1,000 mg (milligrams) of calcium per day for four years reduced their risk of developing cancer of any kind by 60 % compared to those women who received a placebo.

DYKT: During the first year of the study, some women developed cancer, and the researchers theorized that their cancers likely had been developing before the launch of the study. When they adjusted the statistics, removing the first year of the study, the results were even more dramatic. Those postmenopausal women taking calcium and vitamin D had a reduced risk of any kind of cancer of 77%.


Researched and Written By Jordan Dannin PhD