News
Heart study keeps pressure on salt reduction targets
28 January 2009
New study adds further support for cutting sodium and boosting potassium intakes.
09 March 2013
A new study from Israel suggests that regular intakes of supplements with vitamin D may improve cardiovascular health for diabetic patients, with implications for recommended doses.
In the randomized controlled trial, 47 type-2 diabetic patients received either a daily dose of vitamin D (1,000 IU/ day) or placebo for one year (1). The study results showed that the central aortic augmentation index, a predictor of adverse cardiovascular events, significantly decreased in the vitamin D group compared with the placebo group. In addition, levels of adiponectin – a collagen-like protein specifically expressed in human adipose cells, which plays an important role in insulin sensitivity, inflammation and atherosclerosis – increased in participants of the vitamin D group. No changes were seen in other measures, such as maintai-ning a healthy blood sugar level (glucose homeostasis).
The researchers commented that these findings may have clinical implications for the usual recommended daily allowance for vitamin D for diabetic patients. Since the levels of vitamin D are extremely low in this population, more appropriate daily supplementation doses above 1,000 IU/day might be recommended to achieve optimal levels of vitamin D. Since the study included a small number of patients, the scientists called for larger studies to establish the benefits of vitamin D supplementation on vascular health as well as its clinical impact on cardiovascular outcomes in type-2 diabetics.
An earlier study associated optimal blood vitamin D levels (at least 75 nmol/L) of people with metabolic syndrome with a 66% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease related mortality compared with people with severe vitamin D deficiency (2).
28 January 2009
New study adds further support for cutting sodium and boosting potassium intakes.
1 October 2014
As concentrated sources of micronutrients designed to supplement the normal diet, dietary supplements can be used to balance specific dietary deficits or to ensure adequate intakes. However, in some cases too high an intake of micronutrients can have adverse effects on health or cause undesirable side effects; for this reason it is necessary to define maximum intakes to guarantee the safety of their use in dietary supplements. Since the European legislative authority has not yet established uniform maximum intakes across the whole of Europe, manufacturers of dietary supplements and fortified foods are guided by recommended daily amounts and scientifically recognized upper limits for safe total daily intakes. This also applies to safe intakes for minerals present in the body, whether as macro-elements in concentrations of at least 50 mg per kg dry body weight, or as trace elements (micro-elements) in concentrations of under 50 mg per kg body weight (see also The safety of micronutrients – Part 1: fat-soluble vitamins and Part 2: water-soluble vitamins).
28 January 2013
According to a new study, vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is widespread among adolescents living in the Emirates.