The Vitamin D Council sends out a newsletter that I recommend to anyone interested in healthy aging or general health for that matter. Today’s issue points out three more diseases of civilization that are linked to low vitamin D levels—Leukemia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and PMS. Over the last year I have mentioned its role in preventing cancers. I cannot begin to remember all the other diseases that are likely caused by or worsened by low Vitamin D, but these are memorable: Parkinson’s, premature births, MS, Crohn’s, Rheumatoid arthritis, depression, celiac, autism, ED, dementia, Alzheimer’s, type II diabetes….and the list goes on. More research just adds to the list.
Have you gotten a Vitamin D test lately? Of all the tests I think are useful for keeping us healthy, this is the easiest, least controversial and most important. A level below 20 is deadly. A level of 80 to 100 is what is normal for indigenous people who spend a lot of time outside not totally covered in clothing. Anything thing below 50 or 60 is less than ideal.
Another thing I want to comment on today. I keep reading in supposedly scientific articles, a little throwaway line that is flat out wrong and so misleading. When talking about insulin resistance many articles and documents list the causes as (first) fat and (second) as sugars. They ignore biology and adhere to politics. Fat has no effect on insulin production. ZERO. It CANNOT affect insulin resistance. Sugars—whether added to or contained in carbohydrate type foods are the only food that affects insulin production.
We’ve had 40 or 50 years of the special interests and government telling us that low fat is the way to go. In that same period, the epidemic of obesity and diabetes has mushroomed. Over and over, good research demonstrates that fat is not the enemy, sugars are. The theory persists that fat is bad. It is not. Eat plenty and you will be thinner and healthier and fuller on less food. Insulin is triggered by sugar (blood sugar, to be exact) not by lipids. Insulin is always inflammatory and always the hormone of hunger.
What you put in your mouth matters. Every meal, any snack. Be good to your bodies!! And may 2016 be a year of vigor and robustness for all!
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