D’s Day
It may not get the popular press of its “cousins” C and E, but new research is showing us that vitamin D may reduce the risk of heart disease. That’s right, in addition to keeping bones strong and reducing the effects of osteoporosis, a new study reports that vitamin D may protect women from heart disease.
But are you getting enough of this less-famous vitamin? And do you know the best sources? (Hint: it’s not in your milk carton.)
Last week at the American Heart Association’s annual conference on Cardiovascular Disease and Epidemiology Prevention, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) reported that vitamin D can slash older women’s heart disease risk by as much as one-third. And despite conventional wisdom, these women saw these impressive benefits without drinking vitamin-fortified milk or spending hours in the sun.
Clearing calcium from the arteries
We know that vitamin D is an important regulator of calcium absorption, and can help prevent the buildup of calcium deposits in the arteries. And earlier research had suggested that low blood levels of vitamin D were associated with a higher cardiovascular risk. But until now, no one had tracked the affects of vitamin D supplementation on that risk. .
So the UCSF team set out to answer that question. They re-examined data from an osteoporosis study of almost 10,000 women over the age of 65, and compared the use of vitamin D supplements with heart disease incidence.
Just over half of the subjects reported some use of vitamin D supplements, with a little over 80% of that group reporting they were still taking supplements at the time of the study. During 10 to 11 years of follow-up, 420 of the women died of heart disease. And when they looked at the data, the link was clear: the current users of vitamin D were 31 percent less likely to die from heart disease than the women who did not take vitamin D. Even after controlling for confounding factors like standard heart disease risk factors, exercise habits, and smoking, the results remained significant. And the researchers were careful to control for the use of calcium supplements as well – and concluded that “the benefits we observed seemed due to vitamin D and not due to calcium.”
The study didn’t examine what type of vitamin D supplements the women took, or exactly how much they took each day. But the researchers believe the women took at least 400 IU daily, which is standard in most multivitamins. This is interesting, because mainstream authorities, including the American Heart Association, have been telling us for years that you don’t need to supplement with vitamin D (most say you don’t need any supplements, for that matter). They say you can get enough from the sun, and of course, from fortified dairy products. Now this mainstream study is proving them wrong.
The UCSF scientists acknowledge that their findings are exciting but very preliminary, and they stress that further studies are needed to understand how vitamin D supplements affect heart disease in men, as well as in women.
To supplement or not to supplement
On the other hand, for years, nutritionally-oriented physicians have been teaching us about the benefits of much higher levels of vitamin D – and the best ways to boost our intake. For example, alternative medicine pioneer Dr. Jonathan Wright urges everyone to get between 1600 and 2000 IUs of vitamin D each day – and as much as 4000 IUs for those of us over 40! According to Dr. Wright, it’s impossible for most people to get enough vitamin D from the sun alone – and he discourages the use of dairy products because of the many other health concerns they raise. Instead, Dr. Wright recommends other food sources like salmon and sardines – or even good old-fashioned cod liver oil, which provides over 1300 IUs of vitamin D per tablespoon.
As you can see, there are many ways to get your vitamin D. Just make sure you’re getting enough! As we grow older, vitamin D is essential to bone health, and, as this study shows, it may be one of the most important things you can do to protect your heart.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
p.s. If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Wright’s recommendations on vitamin D from his February 2002 newsletter, click here for free access http://www.wrightnewsletter.com/misc/nah_0202.shtml
Sources:
Reuters Health: 4/24/02
Nutrition & Healing Newsletter / February, 2002
Medical College of Wisconsin Physicians and Clinics: www.healthlink.mcw.edu
www.intelihealth.com
American Heart Association: www.americanheart.org
Copyright 1997-2002 by Institute of Health Sciences, L.L.C.
