Sikhs Prone to Vitamin D Deficiency

Sikhs are Especially Prone to Vitamin D Deficiency Issues
May 25th, 2009 by Dr. Soram Singh Khalsa, M.D.

Our faith in our Guru gives us so many riches and so much happiness. To make a riddle, in the face of all that the Guru gives us, what is it that most Sikhs do not have? The answer to this question is something that I see in my office all the time. Almost none of us have enough vitamin D to keep us at optimal health!

I first learned about the importance of vitamin D over five years ago. When I first measured my own blood level, I was shocked to see that I was extraordinarily low. This was in spite of all the many vitamins that I take to stay healthy. We get most of our vitamin D from exposure of our skin to the sun, and I realized that because I always wear full Bana, almost all of my skin is blocked from the sun. In addition I put sunblock on my face in order to not get skin cancer. Over the last five years I have normalized my own and many of my Sikh friends vitamin D levels by directly supplementing them.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/health-and-nutrition/25152-sikhs-prone-to-vitamin-d-deficiency.html

My own health including my sense of well-being and the ability of my immune system to fight colds and flus has markedly improved. My energy and vitality also are significantly better. All of my Sikh friends, as well as all my patients have noticed big improvements in their health and well-being from taking the correct dose of vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency is now associated with 17 varieties of cancer, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease (heart disease), as well as diabetes and most recently autism. The benefits for these diseases occur only when the vitamin D level in the blood tests significantly over 30 ng/ml and preferably over 40 ng/mg. Prior to the recent studies of the last 10 years it was believed that a vitamin D level around 20 ng/ml was sufficient.

Indeed this level is ONLY sufficient to prevent rickets. It will not benefit in preventing these other diseases whose relationship to vitamin D has been newly discovered in the last 10 years. To get benefit for protection against those diseases your level must be over 30 or preferably over 40 ng/ml.

Let me give you a specific example of the power of Vitamin D to protect us. In 2007, researchers Grant, Garland, and Gorham estimated that it would cost $1 billion each year to provide all adult Americans with 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily. They also estimated that in the United States, the daily provision of 1,000 IU of vitamin D would reduce cancer mortality for females by 9 percent and by 7 percent for males. The researchers estimated that this would reduce the country’s annual cost of cancer treatment by USD16 billion to USD 25 billion. And that is just treatment costs. We should also add the emotional and psychological costs to patients, family and friends.

To my brothers and sisters in India who are reading this article: Vitamin D deficiency is extremely widespread in cities in India because of poor sunshine exposure and also because of skin pigmentation.

Because India is approximately 70% rural, and because there is so much sun, it has long been assumed that vitamin D deficiency in rural India would not be a problem, given the sun exposure.

Now an article has appeared in October 2008 that evaluated 200 families’ in a rural community east of Delhi in February. The highest level of vitamin D in all the subjects was 23 ng/ml. The average vitamin D level was 14.5 which is rickets causing level!

In the people with five hours of daily sunshine exposure, only 31% had vitamin D levels over 20 ng per milliliter which is again rickets level. Therefore 70% of people in this study in rural India had significant vitamin D deficiency. I encourage all of our brothers and sisters in India to be sure to have their vitamin D blood level checked and to take enough vitamin D every day to keep their blood levels normal.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=25152

Another recent medical study has found that in spite of all the sunshine, over 88% of adolescent girls in a rural Indian community were deficient in vitamin D. In addition 74% of the pregnant women in this same community had vitamin D deficiency. If the mothers are low in vitamin D than certainly their fetuses will also be low in vitamin D. In addition, nursing women with low vitamin D will not provide enough vitamin D to their newborns. Low vitamin D levels in young children are now being associated with an increased incidence of the triple childhood epidemics of asthma, juvenile diabetes, and autism.

Because of my excitement about the power of this vitamin, in May 2008 I decided to write a book for the layman about vitamin D. I am very happy to announce to the Sangat that this book is now released and available at Amazon.com.

Through modern technology I am now also able to offer everybody an at- home vitamin D test kit. This way everyone can measure their own vitamin D level and then bring their levels up to normal or optimal.

In addition I have decided to create my own brand of vitamin D capsules so that I am able to provide guaranteed quality for everybody who wants to replace their vitamin D. I have partnered with a company which normally only makes products for physicians’ offices. We will also be able to make this pharmaceutical quality vitamin D available to the consumer at supermarket prices.

By way of simple suggestion, if you do not have a blood test, as an otherwise healthy adult, you can safely start on vitamin D 2000 IU per day and it will at least give you a moderate benefit of vitamin D protection. Of course optimally you should get a blood test with your physician or through a home test kit and find out exactly what your level is so that you may bring it up exactly to an optimal level.

I encourage all my brothers and sisters in the Sikh faith to get their blood tested as soon as possible for vitamin D and to learn to optimize their levels.

 
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Vitamin D 'is mental health aid'


Source BBC NEWS | Health | Vitamin D 'is mental health aid'


Sunlight is one source of vitamin D

Vitamin D, found in fish and produced by sun exposure, can help stave off the mental decline that can affect people in old age, a study has suggested.
UK and US researchers looked at 2,000 people aged 65 and over.



They found that compared to those with the highest vitamin D levels, those with the lowest were more than twice as likely to have impaired understanding.



Alzheimer's charities said the research was interesting, but more work was needed to understand vitamin D's role.

It would be interesting if a low level of vitamin D was found to be a risk factor for cognitive problems as it is cheap and easy to remedy


Dr Susanne Sorensen
Alzheimer's Society

Vitamin D is important in maintaining bone health, in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, and in helping the immune system.

The body makes vitamin D when it is exposed to the sun, or it can be obtained from foods such as oily fish, and those fortified with vitamin D, such as milk, cereals, and soya drinks.



But older people's skin is less able to absorb vitamin D from sunlight so they are more reliant on obtaining it from other sources.



Supplements
Animal and lab studies have previously suggested that the vitamin can have a beneficial effect on cognitive function.



The team from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, assessed people's cognition, or comprehension skills.



People who have impaired cognitive function are more likely to develop dementia.



The researchers looked at people who had taken part in the Health Survey for England in 2000.
Just over 200 had significant cognitive impairment, assessed by looking at people's attention, orientation in time and space and memory.



The study found that as levels of vitamin D went down, levels of cognitive impairment went up.



The paper will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Geriatric Psychology and Neurology.
Dr Iain Lang from the Peninsula Medical School, who worked on the study, said: "For those of us who live in countries where there are dark winters without much sunlight, like the UK, getting enough vitamin D can be a real problem - particularly for older people, who absorb less vitamin D from sunlight.



"One way to address this might be to provide older adults with vitamin D supplements.
"This has been proposed in the past as a way of improving bone health in older people, but our results suggest it might also have other benefits.



"We need to investigate whether vitamin D supplementation is a cost-effective and low-risk way of reducing older people's risks of developing cognitive impairment and dementia."
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=25152
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=25152



Risk factor?
Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "Many foods that contain vitamin D, such as oily fish, eggs and breakfast cereals, are also good sources of vitamin B12, which, as previous studies have shown, can help protect the brain.



"Diet is known to influence dementia risk. The best way of reducing your risk of developing dementia is to maintain a balanced diet with regular exercise and frequent social interactions."
She added: "These findings may be significant, but much more research is needed."



Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, added: "One in three people over 65 will die with dementia so research into how we can reduce risk is to be encouraged.



"There was some previous evidence to suggest that people with dementia may have a lower level of vitamin D in their blood but it was not clear if this happened after the onset of disease.



"It would be interesting if a low level of vitamin D was found to be a risk factor for cognitive problems as it is cheap and easy to remedy.



"We look forward to seeing the published results of this new research to help us better understand the potential role of vitamin D in reducing risk."

I fear a fight between vege's and meaty's :p

Ha Ha you may be on the dot...randip ji...

Primitive peoples instinctively chose vitamin-D-rich foods including the intestines, organ meats,
skin and fat from certain land animals, as well as shellfish, oily fish and insects.
Many of these foods are unacceptable to the modern palate. Often we are advised to consume
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=25152
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=25152
the egg white while the D is in the yolk or we eat the flesh of the fish avoiding the D containing skin, organs and fat.

full article:http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnut...ndmiracle.html

Quick:

Someone list all the commonly available foods with Vit D for me please!! I have to go shopping later today, I may as well grab some stuff.

Pure Cod liver oil, 1 Tablespoon (Note: most refined cod liver oils today
have the vitamin D removed! Check your label to be certain.)Salmon, cooked, 3½ ouncesMackerel, cooked, 3½ ouncesTuna fish, canned in oil, 3 ouncesSardines, canned in oil, drained, 1¾ ouncesMilk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D fortified, 1 cup Margarine, fortified, 1 TablespoonPudding, prepared from mix and made with vitamin D fortified milk, ½ cupReady-to-eat cereals fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, ¾ cup to 1 cup servings
(servings vary according to the brand)Egg, 1 whole (vitamin D is found in egg yolk)Liver, beef, cooked, 3½ ouncesCheese, Swiss, 1 ounce

Randip ji -- I never thought of that -- a fight -- with Vitamin D as the trigger.

Maybe this will simmer people down. The doctor who wrote the starter article is a member of 3HO -- in fact he is a very eminent physician and researcher in the US, but also a vegetarian as a follower of 3 HO. So he doesn't eat meat and that is why he is recommending supplements.

If there is a fight -- well then it is because people can resist it. Shame on them.

Thank you paan ji. I'm not vege so its not a problem. I guess fish is the best bet.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=25152

Liver!!! yuk!

I say "yuk" to all including vitamin pills. Gag!