Optimum vitamin D blood saturation reduces all-cause mortality by nearly thirty percent

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 by: John Phillip
Tags: vitamin D, mortality, reduction

(NaturalNews) The importance of vitamin D for human health has been the topic of extensive research over the past decade. Suboptimal levels of the prohormone are known to compromise immunity, cardiovascular health, bone health and normal metabolism. The result of a new meta-analysis study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that adequate circulating vitamin D reduces the risk of all-cause mortality by 29 percent. Vitamin D has been shown to provide the blueprint required for healthy DNA replication of cellular structures; low levels of the sunshine vitamin dramatically increase the incidence of many cancer lines as genetic mutations proliferate. Millions of at-risk people can protect themselves by ensuring normal blood saturation levels through a simple blood test and prudent sun exposure or supplementation.

Vitamin D deficiency runs rampant in the aging population around the world. Researchers estimate that correcting this deficiency by doubling the typically low vitamin D levels would result in a 20 percent mortality reduction. A body of evidence shows that senior adults with the lowest level of vitamin D blood saturation more than double their risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Vitamin D blood level lowers colorectal cancer risk by forty percent

Researchers performed a large meta-analysis of eleven vitamin D studies including 59,231 individuals. They compared individuals in the highest quartile with those in the lowest quartile and found the increased risk of early morality from all causes was 29 percent. As blood levels dropped below 30 ng/mL, the risk for death went up in a linear manner. It is important to note that fifty-percent of U.S. citizens have vitamin D levels below 30 ng/mL and forty percent have major deficiency (below 20 ng/mL), problems made worse by lack of sun exposure in the winter.

In an independent and supporting body of research, scientists from the national cancer Center in Tokyo publishing in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that the highest levels of vitamin D blood saturation lowered the risk of colorectal cancer by forty percent. In a study of 737 people with colon cancer and 703 cancer-free individuals, researchers found that those with the highest levels of vitamin D and increased levels of calcium experienced the lowest risk from this common form of cancer.

World-renowned vitamin D expert, Dr. Michael Holick commented "maintaining optimal vitamin D status is important for reducing risk of colorectal cancer independent of the calcium effect." Nutrition experts recommend maintaining vitamin D levels between 50 and 70 ng/mL as measured by a 25(OH)D blood test. New evidence suggests that calcium provided from natural food sources (590 mg per day) provides a synergistic effect with vitamin D to dramatically lower all-cause mortality.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22170374

http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v65/n9/full/ejcn201168a.html

http://www.wellnessresources.com/health/articles/vitamin_d_deficiency_increases_mortality_risk/

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/12/21/aje.kwr295.abstract

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Vitamin-D-again-linked-to-lower-colorectal-cancer-risk

About the author:
John Phillip is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan', a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal. Visit My Optimal Health Resource to continue reading the latest health news updates, and to download your copy of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan'.