Common vitamin found to offer life-saving heart benefits
If you or someone you love suffers from heart failure, I bet it’s been a while since you got good news.
You’ve probably been told that the breathing problems… the constant fatigue… the feeling like your heart is beating out of your chest… are going to be with you for the rest of your live.
And that they’re only going to get worse.
But some exciting new research out of the UK may be turning that all on its head.
Because researchers say they’ve discovered a powerful natural remedy that can actually reverse some of the damage of heart failure, and get your ticker pumping better than it has in years.
And this life-saving treatment isn’t just dirt cheap — it’s practically free.
What these doctors are so excited over is something that I’ve been telling you about the benefits of for many years.
I’m talking about the humble sunshine vitamin. That’s right — vitamin D.
Now, for the moment, let’s put aside all the other amazing things vitamin D has been known to accomplish where our health is concerned. Because I want you to focus exactly on what these doctors across the pond discovered.
Lead researcher Dr. Klaus Witte and his colleagues from the University of Leeds gave 163 patients with fairly advanced heart failure either a placebo or a 100 microgram (4,000 IU) vitamin D pill every day for a year.
Now, these were people whose hearts were in very bad shape. Their “ejection fraction” numbers, which measure the ability of the heart to pump blood, were at life-threatening lows — averaging at around 26 percent (a normal EF is 60 to 70 percent).
And with a number that low, you’re in grave danger of going into a deadly irregular heartbeat.
But after a year, those who got the vitamin D supplements saw such improvements in their EF that Dr. Witte called it the best he had seen “in a generation” of research.
The study patients who received the vitamin D saw their EF numbers increase by an impressive 31 percent in an echocardiogram test. Plus that, their hearts actually got smaller — something that indicates the muscle is getting more powerful and efficient in doing its job.
That’s right — vitamin D was actually reversing years of damage to their hearts.
That EF increase means that the patients taking the D supplements may not need surgery to implant a defibrillator, something that can shock their hearts if they go into a dangerous irregular heart rhythm. And that’s a big risk for someone with a very low EF.
The researchers said that they don’t know precisely how vitamin D helps the heart become stronger, but it’s believed that every single cell in the body benefits from it.
One important take-away from Dr. Witte’s study is that they used a pure vitamin D supplement, one without any calcium. That mineral, the researchers said, can cause problems for those with heart failure.
But as Dr. Witte said, “It’s not about the tablet per se, it’s about the vitamin D levels which you achieve.”
And that’s something you can get for free by just stepping outdoors when the sun is shining!
While this research will be a blessing for many suffering from heart failure, you’ll also benefit from upping your D if you’re in perfect health — and want to stay that way!
Many foods are naturally high in D, including salmon, egg yolks and mushrooms. And getting 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure on your skin (without sunscreen) a day should be enough to give you a good dose.
Of course, vitamin D supplements are about as cheap as they come.
Or, as the cheeky Brit Dr. Witte put it, “Cheap as chips.”
Sources:
“Vitamin D can produce ‘amazing’ improvements in heart function, study finds” Doug Bolton, April 5, 2016, Independent, independent.co.uk
“Vitamin D ‘heals damaged hearts'” James Gallagher, April 4, 2016, BBC News, bbc.com
