Vitamin D - For Almost Everything

I am on a big ol vitamin D kick lately . Why?

Well, I started out thinking it was to prevent the flu. After reading 8 or 9 articles about preventing the flu, I thought I might order some vitamin D. Didn't have to though... I found some right in my cupboard. That's all it took and I am now taking CalMag D.

A 3-tablet serving of Cal Mag D provides:

• Magnesium to help regulate calcium levels.
• Vitamin C to promote collagen formation for bone strength.
• Copper to promote bone and collagen strength.
• Zinc to support bone growth and maturation.
• The calcium equivalent of 20 oz. of milk.
• No added artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

I also recently read a book about weight loss and vitamin D. Ok, another hopeful point there - I am open to healthy weight loss, of course.

My father recently had a heart attack. Out of the clear blue sky too. Very scary and I haven't had peace since then. The doctors missed it. He had been having his heart attack for 2 days and they missed all his signs... sending him home to die, from what they called Irritable Bowel Syndrome, because he had been burping a lot. Good grief - he's only 68 years old... ((sniff-sniff)) The good news is that he did not die; but - he has blockages... and it is worrisome.

Well, anyway - I was looking around for commentaries regarding prevention of heart attacks and heart disease. Guess what I found? One of my favorite websites off all time - Dr. Mercola, commenting about scientific FACTS and vitamin D. I have to post some of his post and include the link.

Vitamin D Can Boost Your Health All Around

Vitamin D is not “just a vitamin,” but rather the only known substrate for a potent, pleiotropic (meaning it produces multiple effects), repair and maintenance seco-steroid hormone that serves multiple gene-regulatory functions in your body.

There are only 30,000 genes in your body and vitamin D has been shown to influence about 3,000 of them. Receptors that respond to the vitamin have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones. And researchers keep finding health benefits from vitamin D in virtually every area they look.

Can vitamin D help you prevent cancer? You betcha.

Fight colds and the flu? Yes!

Help prevent obesity? It sure can.

Tackle depression, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis? Yes, yes and yes!

In fact, researchers have calculated that simply increasing levels of vitamin D could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year, as the widespread vitamin D deficiency seen today is fueling an astonishingly diverse array of common chronic diseases.

Video about Vitamin D and Updated

The Role of Vitamin D in Your Body

There are only 30,000 genes in your body and vitamin D has been shown to influence over 2,000 of them. That is one of the primary reasons it influences so many diseases, from cancer and autism to heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

A study by Dr. William Grant, Ph.D., internationally recognized research scientist and vitamin D expert, found that about 30 percent of cancer deaths -- which amounts to 2 million worldwide and 200,000 in the United States -- could be prevented each year with higher levels of vitamin D.

Vitamin D has a protective effect against cancer in several ways, including:

• Increasing the self-destruction of mutated cells (which, if allowed to replicate, could lead to cancer)
• Reducing the spread and reproduction of cancer cells
• Causing cells to become differentiated (cancer cells often lack differentiation)
• Reducing the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, which is a step in the transition of dormant tumors turning cancerous

Beyond cancer, the researchers pointed out that increasing levels of vitamin D3 could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year! And other studies showed that you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure.

Vitamin D even fights colds and the flu, as it regulates the expression of genes that influence your immune system to attack and destroy bacteria and viruses. In fact, it is very rare for someone with optimized vitamin D levels to come down with the flu.

Vitamin D for flu fighting? I sure hope so!

Vitamin D for fighting cancer - I hope this too!

Vitamin D to keep this mom healthy - oh yes! My kids need me... they really do. Time will tell, as usual, but - I am professing that we will stay healthy the rest of the flu season -- which is Wisconsin, lasts half a year...