News
Four times recommended vitamin D dose needed in winter
9 March 2009
Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D during winter months requires a daily dose of 20 micrograms, four times the current recommended dose, according to a new study.
24 June 2013
A new study from Spain reports that vitamin D deficiency may increase the chances of becoming obese years later.
The observational study measured blood vitamin D concentrations and documented cases of obesity among 1,226 participants who were not obese (BMI below 30 kg/m2) at the beginning of the study, with three evalu-ations over the course of 12 years (1). The results showed that participants who had low vitamin D levels six to eight years after the beginning of the study were much more likely to become obese four to six years later compared to those with higher vitamin D levels. Specifically, those with levels lower than 17 ng/ml (42.5 nmol/l) had a 2.35-times higher risk of becoming obese than those with levels over 17 ng/ml.
The researchers commented that obesity is a known risk factor for vitamin D deficiency because the more someone weighs, the more vitamin D he/she needs. However it is difficult to find out whether vitamin D makes people more susceptible to becoming obese, or if obesity makes people deficient, or a combination of both. The advantage of the present study is that vitamin D levels were evaluated in non-obese people at the beginning of the study, after which the researchers assessed whether these people with various vitamin D levels gained weight, lost weight or stayed the same. Based on the study results, the researchers concluded that lower vitamin D values in obese people may not have been secondary to obesity, but may in fact pre-cede obesity. Thus, low vitamin D levels seem to make people more susceptible to becoming obese.
9 March 2009
Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D during winter months requires a daily dose of 20 micrograms, four times the current recommended dose, according to a new study.
14 June 2009
Female soldiers given iron supplements improved scores for running tests and cognitive performance, according to US study.
1 September 2013
Skin possesses the lifelong ability to renew itself, but as we age this process takes longer. Between the ages of 20 and 50 the rate of skin cell renewal gradually slows, and after the age of 50 it slows ever faster. The surface layer of the skin, the epidermis, becomes thinner and can store less water. In the dermis, or true skin, production of the collagen that supports and firms the skin declines. Menopause in women, during which the body reduces estrogen production, causes a further loss of firmness and elasticity. Environmental factors like UV radiation have a major impact, accelerating the decomposition of collagen and encouraging the formation of aggressive oxygen compounds that can damage skin cells from the membrane to the DNA. The subcutaneous layer of fat and loose connective tissue becomes thinner. At the same time, the supply of nutrients and energy to the skin deteriorates. It is therefore important to support the health of aging skin with a sufficient supply of micronutrients.