News
Folate intake in Germany is inadequate
18 April 2014
According to a new data analysis from Germany, significantly more people consume too little folate than was previously supposed.
07 January 2010
Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to a higher number of heart and stroke -related deaths among black Americans compared to whites, according to a new study.
In the study, blood levels of vitamin D and death rates due to cardiovascular disease where measured in more than 15,000 American adults (1). The analysis showed that a vitamin D deficiency was associated with higher rates of death among all people in the sample. In fact, those adults with the worst deficiency had a 40 percent higher risk of death from cardiac illness. This suggests that vitamin D may be a modifiable, independent risk factor for heart disease.
When researchers adjusted the statistics to look at race, blacks had a 38 percent higher risk of death than whites. As vitamin D levels rose, however, the risk of death was reduced. The same was true when researchers analyzed the effect of poverty on cardiovascular death rates among blacks, which suggests that vitamin D deficiency and poverty each exert separate risk factors.
Other at-risk people include the obese and the elderly, (particularly housebound or nursing home residents), because vitamin D levels decline with age. And although more sun exposure can boost levels of D, skin cancer is also an increasing risk to many people. Therefore, medical authorities usually recommend increased dietary intake and/or supplementation as the best way to correct a deficiency, the authors concluded.
18 April 2014
According to a new data analysis from Germany, significantly more people consume too little folate than was previously supposed.
12 June 2017
A glimpse into the vitamin E deficiency experienced globally and ways to help combat this deficiency through healthy dietary habits.
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.