News
Fair-skinned people may need more dietary vitamin D intake
10 October 2011
Sun-sensitive people tend to be deficient in vitamin D and may need dietary supplements to get adequate blood levels, says a new UK study.
21 March 2013
According to a new study from the UK there is no evidence that women’s blood vitamin D concentrations during pregnancy are associated with the offspring’s total body or spinal bone mineral concentrations. However, experts recommend vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy to support both maternal and fetal bone health.
The observational study measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood levels of 3960 pregnant women in all tri-mesters (1). At an average age of nine years and 11 months, their children’s bone mineral content (BMC) was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The study results showed no significant association between the mothers’ vitamin D levels and their children’s BMC. The vitamin D levels of the women were on average lowest during their first trimester, and then increased as the pregnancy progressed; as expected, levels were higher when measured during summer months and lower when measured during winter months. Although non-white mothers and those who smoked during pregnancy tended to have lower vitamin D levels overall, this appeared to have no effect on their children’s bone health.
The researchers commented that health guidelines may be overstating the importance of vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy, saying there is no strong evidence that pregnant women should receive vitamin D supplementation to prevent low BMC in their offspring. However, there could be other possible beneficial effects of vitamin D in pregnant women, they said.
Previous studies on maternal vitamin D status and offspring’s bone health have produced inconsistent results. Experts recommend routine vitamin D supplementataion for pregnant women who are at increased risk of deficiency. Currently, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Institute of Medicine recommend 600 IU of daily vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy to support maternal and fetal bone metabolism (2). Vitamin D supplementation has been suggested to prevent pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, gestational hypertension and even death among mothers, and preterm birth, infection or death of newborns.
10 October 2011
Sun-sensitive people tend to be deficient in vitamin D and may need dietary supplements to get adequate blood levels, says a new UK study.
1 August 2013
Improved living conditions – arising as a result of better medical care and hygiene, and better nutrition – mean that a large majority of the population in the industrialized world is living longer than would have been possible just a few decades ago. However, living longer does not always equal a better quality of life. The aging process, an inevitable, gradual decline in the function of physical systems, cannot be stopped – but the rate of this decline can be influenced. The changes that accompany the aging process are more a consequence of our way of life than the length of time we have been alive. Many degenerative diseases are the outcome of physical damage caused by poor diet, too much alcohol and tobacco, and too little exercise. A healthy lifestyle which includes an adequate intake of micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, trace elements and essential fatty acids can help maintain health well into old age.
30 May 2011
Men with high vitamin D blood levels have a higher sperm motility compared with vitamin D deficient men, according to a new Danish study.