28 April 2014
According to a new US study a low dietary vitamin D intake in mid-life seems to be linked to a higher total mortality among hypertensive subjects.
The cohort study used food questionnaires to estimate the intakes of vitamin D of 8006 Japanese American men aged 45 to 68 and documented cases of death during 45 years (1). The study results showed that among participants with hypertension those with the highest vitamin D intakes were significantly less likely
to die than those with the lowest intakes.
The researchers commented that vitamin D may have heart protective effects which support health in gene- ral. They noted that the used calculations of nutrient intake were crude estimates of vitamin D status based on food questionnaires. As people in general are not very good at recording what and how much they eat, vitamin concentrations in blood, tissue or urine are the most accurate reflection of the nutritional status. An earlier meta-analysis of 12 studies reported a 20 nmol/L increase in blood serum vitamin D3 concentrations was associated with an 8% decrease in all-cause mortality (2).
7 September 2009
Even though antioxidant supplements might not cut the risk of metabolic syndrome in healthy people with no major risk of micronutrient deficiencies, low concentrations of beta-carotene and vitamin C were associated with an increased risk of the disorder, according to a new study.
1 March 2016
Air pollution is a global problem with far-reaching consequences. Fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 increases the risk of illness and mortality from non-communicable diseases, especially cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The supplementation of micronutrients with antioxidant capabilities such as vitamins B, C, E and marine omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to offset some of the worst effects of PM2.5 inhalation.
14 July 2009
There are no important advantages in terms of health and nutritional benefits gained from eating organic food when compared to food produced using conventional techniques, says the UK’s Food Standards Authority (FSA), with the recent publication of a scientific study.
