More Reasons to Get a (Vitamin) D in Nutrition

A few months ago we talked about how Vitamin D affects our health in so many ways—and how the many problems a D deficiency can cause or exacerbate. And the list goes on…

• Researchers from Salvador, Brazil found that “Vitamin D deficiency is associated with risk for a first cardiovascular event in the general population.” In other words, low D levels increase your risk of having a first heart attack. The researchers suspect that low levels of D may increase inflammation, insulin resistance, and neurohumoral activation. In addition, they found that D deficiency is related to increased risk of death in patients who already have coronary problems.
• Vitamin D levels are lower in Parkinson’s disease patients than in the general population. Masahiko Suzuki and his colleagues at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo did a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial where they gave Parkinson’s patients either 1200 international units (IU) of D3 or a placebo every day for a year. They found that the men and women in the Vitamin D group reduced their risk of falling, which is very common. The results were published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
• A meta-analysis that appeared this month in the European Journal of Epidemiology reveal an association between higher vitamin D levels and a lower risk of developing high blood pressure. Participants with the highest levels of vitamin D had a 30% lower risk of hypertension compared to those whose levels were among the lowest third.