Vitamin D: Are Mushrooms the Best Alternative?

You wouldn’t think much of the humble mushroom. Normally flavoursome and delicious in soup or a fry-up, it tends to be the bland addition to any dish – but in new research conducted at Boston University School of Medicine; it has been found that they are an excellent source of Vitamin D. More than that, it has been proven to be just as effective as taking a Vitamin D supplement.

Vitamin D helps to promote bone density, which in turn, helps to prevent osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and osteomalacia. Furthermore, it has been known to help combat the symptoms of flu, cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression and diabetes.

Researchers looked at data obtained from 30 healthy adults who participated in the experiment; they were asked at random to take Vitamin D supplements or Vitamin D2 mushroom powder for 12 weeks. What researchers found was that there was no difference between those taking the supplements to those taking the mushroom powder.

“These results provide evidence that ingesting mushrooms which have been exposed to ultraviolet light and contain vitamin D2, are a good source of vitamin D that can improve the vitamin D status of healthy adults. Furthermore we found ingesting mushrooms containing vitamin D2 was as effective in raising and maintaining a healthy adult`s vitamin D status as ingesting a supplement that contained either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3,” said Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD and the principal investigator of the study, according to Zeenews.

According to their findings, the researchers believe that eating mushrooms serves the same purpose as supplements in enhancing the body’s need for Vitamin D. Furthermore, the mushrooms proved to be more beneficial after being exposed to UBV light, which caused the mushrooms to produce Vitamin D3 and D4.

“Although it has been previously reported that mushrooms have the ability to produce both vitamin D2 and vitamin D4, through our own research we were able to detect several types of vitamin Ds and provitamin Ds in mushroom samples including vitamin D3 which is also made in human skin,” added Holick.

With extra levels of care added to your diet, it is suggested that mushrooms are better, alternative root to chowing down on expensive supplements.

Why burn your money when you can burn your toxins?

Vitamin D: Are Mushrooms the Best Alternative?

Categories: cancer, cardiovascular, diet, Flu, healthy adults, ingesting mushrooms, mushroom, mushroom powder, mushrooms, skin, Supplements, vitamin, Vitamin D, vitamin d2, vitamin D3, VMS

Does Lack of Vitamin D3 Increase Children’s Asthma Risk?

Children whose vitamin D3 levels are low face an increased risk of asthma. Research suggests that higher levels of vitamin D3 improves the effectiveness of the corticosteroids prescribed in the most severe cases of asthma.

Asthma is the most common long-term medical condition affecting children worldwide. The condition is a chronic inflammation of the airways leading to the lungs, which causes difficulty in breathing, wheezing, coughing, tightness in the chest and excess mucus.

Research carried out at the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the National Jewish Health Research Institute, in Denver, showed that almost half of the children in their study (all aged under 18) had insufficient levels of vitamin D3 with 17% completely deficient in the vitamin.

Vitamin D3 is known as the sunshine vitamin because it is produced by the body when exposed to sunlight. Dark-skinned people are known to have lower levels of vitamin D3 and this was confirmed in the study, which showed that 86% of the black children taking part were substantially deficient in vitamin D3.

The study also revealed that the children with the most active inflammation had lower vitamin D3 levels while higher levels of vitamin D3 improved the ability of the corticosteroids to suppress inflammation.

Vitamin D3 supplements may be required for children who have asthma and low levels of the vitamin in their blood levels.

 

Does Lack of Vitamin D3 Increase Children’s Asthma Risk?

Does Lack of Vitamin D3 Increase Children’s Asthma Risk?

Categories: Asthma, asthma risk, Children, d3 increase, d3 levels, higher levels, increase children, vitamin, vitamin D3

Are Vitamins Always Helpful for Postmenopausal Women?

When you’re going through menopause, the idea of taking vitamin and mineral supplements to guard your bone wellness may be appealing, but they’re actually ineffective in bone protection and fracture prevention. This is according to a release from the US Preventive Services Task Force, who say that daily supplements that have less than 400 IU of vitamin D3 or less than 1,000 milligrams of calcium do not prevent fractures in postmenopausal women,

It’s drilled into you from an early age that calcium is important to maintain strong and healthy bones, but vitamin D helps your body to absorb the calcium. Available in two forms, vitamin D2 is the more potent version of the vitamin, whilst vitamin D3 is present in very few foods but can be produced by your body if you expose your skin to sunlight. However, as this is an unlikely option in many countries, including the UK, the US Preventive Services Task Force examined previous studies that tested vitamin D3 and calcium supplements in preventing bone fractures in over 36,000 healthy postmenopausal women.

Consisting of volunteer prevention and primary care experts in the private sector, the task force is an independent review panel that assesses preventative screenings, medications and counselling services across the US. They stated that, based on the evidence, or lack thereof, they could not recommend increases in vitamin D3 and calcium consumption through daily supplements to prevent bone fractures. This applies to everyone, including men, though this is a particular knock for postmenopausal women, half of whom will have a fracture related to osteoporosis at some point during their lifetime.

In a press release, task force member and chair Virginia Moyer, MD, MPH, said, ‘Vitamin D and calcium are known to play an important role in maintaining health, including bone health. However, despite the large number of studies done, there are few conclusive answers about the ability of vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent fractures.’ Task force member Jessica Herzstein, MD, MPH, added, ‘Vitamin D plays a role in a wide range of general health functions, and there appears to be minimal harms in taking vitamin D supplements. Clinicians and patients may take this into consideration when determining whether to recommend or take vitamin D for general health.’

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Are Vitamins Always Helpful for Postmenopausal Women?

Categories: bone strength, calcium, vitamin D3

How Can Sunshine And Fish Reduce Your Risk Of Alzheimer’s?

Amyloid plaques have been associated with Alzheimer’s disease, but a new study has found that vitamin and mineral supplements could help to boost your immune system’s ability to clear your brain of these plaques. According to the study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, there are certain genes and signalling networks that play a key role in controlling inflammation and plaque clearance, and these components can be regulated by vitamin D3 and omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

According Dr Milan Fiala, from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, though his team has already clarified key mechanisms that are involved in helping vitamin D3 clear amyloid beta, their new findings extend this knowledge and highlights the role that omega-3 DHA plays. Fiala, who is also a consultant for Norwegian omega-3 drink firm Smartfish, said, ‘our new study sheds further light on a possible role for nutritional substances such as vitamin D3 and omega-3 in boosting immunity to help fight Alzheimer’s.’

When the plaque from beta-amyloid deposits builds up in your brain, it damages the cells and they can die from oxidative stress. This leads to a reduced cognitive function and increases your risk of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia that affects the wellbeing of 13 million people worldwide. The disease also directly affects the nation’s financial wellness by £15 billion.

For the study, the team isolated macrophages from the blood of both health and AD participants, as these immune cells consume amyloid-beta and other waste products all over your body. They injected these cells with amyloid-beta, and then treated them with either an active form of vitamin D3 or an active form of omega-3 fatty acid DHA, both of which inhibited cell death and amyloid beta break down and regulated inflammation.

However, as inflammation increased in cells with decreased inflammation, and decreased in cells that were more inflamed, Fiala said that, when it comes to utilising the results of the study, ‘we may find that we need to carefully balance the supplementation with vitamin D3 and omega-3 fatty acids, depending on each patient in order to help promote efficient clearing of amyloid-beta.’

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How Can Sunshine And Fish Reduce Your Risk Of Alzheimer’s?

Categories: Alzheimer's Disease, Omega-3, vitamin D3