...revealed that my vitamin D levels were low. Since I am African-American, it is harder for me to get vitamin D naturally from the sun. I also rarely eat vitamin D rich foods, such as eggs, fish and spinach. Some people taking vitamin D tablets are experiencing an extra benefit--they suffer less from their allergies. Credit: Briana Windon. My doctor advised me to daily take vitamin D tablets (400 IU's). Since taking them, I have noticed a decrease in my allergy symptoms. New research is uncovering the importance of vitamin D in protecting against a wide range of health problems such as allergies. “Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins, because it helps the body absorb calcium,” says Patricia Hundelt, an Anatomy and Physiology teacher at Hazelwood East High School in Hazelwood, MO. “Calcium builds strong bones and your bones provide the framework of your body.” Hundelt adds that vitamin D is a fat-soluble (dissolves and stored in body fat) vitamin. It is created by the body as a response to the UV rays in sunlight. It is also the only vitamin that doubles as a hormone. After vitamin D is produced by the skin or eaten, the liver and kidneys help convert it to an active hormone called calcitriol. Once converted it aids your body in calcium absorption. Vitamin D is also found naturally, in small amounts, in a few foods—fish, fish oils, egg yolks, mushrooms, and spinach—and in fortified dairy and grain products, says WebMD. The best way to get vitamin D is through...
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...Vitamin Supplement æ Increase of vitamin D2 by UV-B exposure during the growth phase of white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) Hanne L. Kristensen1*, Eva Rosenqvist2 and Jette Jakobsen3 1 Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Aarslev, Denmark; 2Department of Agriculture and Ecology, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark; 3National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark Abstract Background: Mushrooms are the only non-animal food source of vitamin D. Wild mushrooms have naturally high vitamin D2 content, and cultivated mushrooms produce vitamin D2 from ergosterol when exposed to supplementary UV-B during the post-harvest phase. Objectives: This study investigated the effects of providing supplementary UV-B during the growth phase on vitamin D2 formation and the interactions with growth of mushrooms, as compared to supplementary UV-B during the post-harvest phase or exposure to sunlight for both cultivated and wild mushrooms. Methods: Experiments were carried out with exposure to supplementary UV-B just prior to harvest in the range of 0Á2,400 mJ cm (2. Mushrooms grew for 2 days with or without repeated UV-B exposure each day. Vitamin D2 and growth rate were determined. Some mushrooms were post-harvest treated by exposure at 200 mJ cm (2 supplementary UV-B or natural sunlight, prior to vitamin D2 determination. Results: The content of vitamin D2 was 0.2Á164 mg 100 g (1 fresh weight (FW), and there was a linear relationship between...
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...biologically active vitamin D on differentiating skeletal muscle cells Abstract Vitamin D deficiency can cause fat infiltration and this will lead to muscle 'quality' reduction. The probable mechanism of origin of these adipose cells is that abnormal trans-differentiation of myogenic precursor cells into adipocytes lead to the fat form within the intermuscular space. Myogenic precursor cells keep the potential to trans-differentiate towards the adipogenic lineage and VitD has potent effects on both adipogenesis and myogenesis. Therefore, the experiment is designed to investigate the effect of a broad range of concentrations of VitD3 active form (1,25(OH)2D3) on the capacity of the murine C2C12 muscle cell line to trans-differentiate towards the adipogenic lineages. C2C12 cells were cultured in adipogenic media and with increasing 1,25(OH)2D3 concentration (0, 10-13, 10-11, 10-9, 10-7 or 10-5M) for up to 6 days, the expression of muscle and fat gene markers were measured. The results showed that physiological concentration (10-13 and 10-11M) induces adipogenesis and myogenesis, while supraphysiological concentration (10-5M) inhibit both. (150) Introduction Nowadays, Vit D deficiency is considered as worldwide problem and influencing upwards of one billion people. Vit D deficiency can cause myopathy and atrophy of skeletal muscle (Holick 2006). Due to fat infiltration, there will be a concomitant reduction in muscle 'quality' (Ryall et al., 2008). The deficiency of Vit D is associated...
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...calcium salts are not properly deposited after production of the osteoid. Osteoid is the organic portion of bone before mineralization. It is composed of collagenous fibers and amorphous ground substance. Vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus are all needed for mineralization and bone strength. The absence of these three predisposes the development of osteomalacia. There are several causes of osteomalacia although the most common cause is vitamin D deficiency. The deficiency may be, in part, due to lack of sunlight...
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...calcium and Vitamin D. The word can also be known as “soft bones.” Vitamin D deficiency is common and affects many serious diseases, yet often goes unrecognized. Vitamin D can sometimes be called the sunshine vitamin because it can be produced in your skin in response to sunlight. When exposed to sunlight, your body...
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...Osteoporosis Osteoporosis (OS-tee-oh-poh-ROH-sis) is a disease of the bones. Osteoporosis is the most common type of bone disease. People with osteoporosis have bones that are weak and break easily. Everyone has cells that remove old bone and other cells that rebuild new bone. This ongoing process is part of what keeps your bones strong. When you have postmenopausal osteoporosis, bone-removing cells cause you to lose bone at a rate that is too fast. The result is thinner, weaker bones that can break more easily. In women, bone loss increases after menopause. In the 5 to 7 years after menopause, you can lose up to 20 percent of your bone mass—leaving you at risk for fracture. Researchers estimate that about 1 out of 5 American women over the age of 50 have osteoporosis. About half of all women over the age of 50 will have a fracture of the hip, wrist, or vertebra . (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001400/ ) Osteoporosis affects all bones in the body. However, breaks are most common in the hip, wrist, and spine, also called vertebrae (VUR-tuh-bray). Vertebrae support your body, helping you to stand and sit up. Osteoporosis in the vertebrae can cause serious problems for women. A fracture in this area occurs from day-to-day activities like climbing stairs, lifting objects, or bending forward. Signs of osteoporosis include sloping shoulders, curve in the back, height loss, back pain, hunched posture and a protruding abdomen. [pic] (http://www.womenshealth...
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...people, young and old, need to have a healthy and nutritional diet if they want to avoid the many diseases caused by poor nutrition. One disease young children are at risk for is rickets. Rickets is caused by a vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus deficiency. Rickets is the softening and weakening of the bones in children. Skeletal deformities and fractures can occur because the bones are so soft and weak. Rickets can also cause dental issues, bone deformities, muscle weaknesses and several other serious health issues (Wagner & Greer, 2008). Rickets is seen in children during periods of rapid physical development because during growth a great deal of vitamin D, phosphorus, and calcium are needed. The predominant cause for rickets is a vitamin D deficiency, but lack of adequate calcium in the diet may also lead to rickets. Although it can occur in adults, the majority of cases occur in children suffering from severe malnutrition, usually resulting from famine or starvation during the early stages of childhood (Rickets, 2010). Infants who are nursing and are not exposed to sunlight on regular bases can develop rickets. This disease is found widespread in developing countries. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in its clinical report, 'Prevention of Rickets and Vitamin D Deficiency in Infants, Children, and Adolescents,’ recommends that all children,...
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...hormones vitamin D and parathyroid hormone. As seen previously, those eating an omnivore diet consumed significantly more dietary protein than those consuming a vegan diet (2; 3). The values we observed for dietary protein in both the vegan and the omnivore groups were similar to those seen by Hadded et al. (3) and Janelle and Barr (2). The women in our study eating an omnivore diet exceeded the RDA for protein. In contrast to other studies of vegetarians and vegans, our data also showed that vegan women met the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein (50 g) (7). Low protein intake has been shown to cause secondary hyperparathyroidism (4), but this is not seen in our vegan group perhaps because the protein intake in the vegan group did not fall as below as 0.7g/kg; the level that resulted in hyperparathyroidism in the Kerstetter et al. study (4) and is above the recommended intake of 0.8g/kg (7). Total fat, saturated fat, and dietary cholesterol have been previously reported to be higher in omnivores (2; 3) and our data agree with those findings. This is likely due to the inclusion of meat and dairy products, high in protein and fat, in the omnivore diet Fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C were seen to be significantly greater in past studies of vegans, (2); however, we did not observe higher vitamin A or C in our vegan group compared to the omnivore group. One would expect vegans to have a higher fruit and vegetable intake than omnivores and, therefore, have higher vitamin A and...
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...Currently in my family my mother and my grandmother both have osteoporosis. “Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by a decrease in the density of bone, decreasing its strength and resulting in fragile bones” ("Osteoporosis", 2012). Osteoporosis can cause bones to break very easily. All it takes is the slightest accident and you can end up with a fracture or a complete break. The spine, hips, ribs and wrists are the most common bones broken because of this disorder. All of these most often are a result in a fall, but can happen at any point during a slight trauma. Currently there is about 55% of the population over the age of 50 that have osteoporosis or osteopenia. ("Osteoporosis", 2012) “One in two Caucasian women will fracture a bone due to osteoporosis in her lifetime”. ("Osteoporosis", 2012) Lack of exercise, poor nutrition and poor general health, family history of osteoporosis, thin and small body frame, smoking and drinking are just some of the risk factors for osteoporosis. I currently have all of those risks against me. There are four of the above risks that I can change on my own in order to prevent getting osteoporosis myself. Lack of exercise, poor nutrition, smoking and drinking are the four that I can change. The four goals that I have chosen are to stop smoking, stop drinking, to eat healthier than I have been, and to exercise more. The first goal I intend to take on is to stop smoking. Currently, I am taking a prescribed medication in order...
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...Osteomalacia What is osteomalcia Osteomalacia is a weakening of the bones due to problems with bone formation or the bone building process. This is totally different from osteoporosis, which is a weakening of living bone that has already been formed and is being remodeled. The most common cause of osteomalacia is a lack of vitamin D in the body. This is called osteomalacia in adults and rickets in children. (Tidy, 2012) Role of Vitamin D Vitamin D works together with calcium to protect your bones.—calcium helps build and maintain bones; while vitamin D helps your body effectively absorbs calcium. So even if there is a great intake of calcium in the diet, it could be going to waste if there is a deficient in vitamin D. It also helps maintain calcium and phosphate levels for proper bone formation. It is made within the skin from exposure to UV (ultraviolet) rays in sunlight, and it can also be absorbed from foods such as dairy products and fish. (Case-lo, 2012) When there is a low level of vitamin D in the body this mean that it cannot process calcium for use in bones to give them structural strength. This can be as a result from either a problem with diet, lack of sunlight exposure, or a problem with the intestines. In most cases if the is a surgery done to remove parts of...
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...Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with challenge-proven food allergy in infants Reaction: This study has shown a pediatric perspective of food allergy in relation so diseases associated with vitamin deficiency. The aim of the study is to investigate the role of vitamin D in infantile food allergy. Skin prick testing was done to 5276 one-year old infants. Infants with detectible negative prick test results attended a hospital-food challenge clinic. Blood samples of 577 infants were obtained wherein 344 of this samples shows challenge-proven food allergy, 74 sensitized but tolerant to food challenge, 159 negative on skin prick. Using liquid chromatography, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured. It was found out that infants born of Australian parents, but not born overseas with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to be allergic to peanut and / or egg than those with adequate vitamin D. Furthermore, among them, infants were more likely also to have multiple food allergies rather than single allergy. Hence, results suggest that there is a significant difference between the statuses of vitamin D of infants as to the probability of having certain allergy on food. It can be concluded that vitamin D sufficiency play an important protective factor for food allergy in the first year of life. Therefore, this study requires immediate action so as to prevent food allergy in infants induced by vitamin D insufficiency in the first year of life. Spontaneous basophil...
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...I am a 30 year old female and originally from the south. Some of my favorite dishes are fried pork chops, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy made from the meat dripping and fried oreos. Being from the south accounts for a lot of the foods I eat and the way I cook. My eating habits are not on a schedule at all I eat when I get the chance or when I’m upset. I am usually at school, work or somewhere with the kids so food for me is on the go. When I am home an able to cook it is the only way, southern way, which is usually alot of Crisco and butter. Since I have taken this class I have been looking up healthy ways of cooking online and trying out some of the recipes. CALCIUM We need calcium for our bones, teeth, muscle contractions, blood clotting, nerve transmissions, secretion of hormones and digestive enzymes. My intake of calcium is almost to the daily intake level of 1000mg. The food sources we can get calcium from our milk, sardines with bones, cheddar cheese, turnip greens, tofu, broccoli and waffles. If there is a deficiency in calcium it could relate to bone loss in adults and stunted growth and bone weakness in children. If there is an excess in calcium there could be constipation, kidney stones and interfere with absorption of other minerals. My level of calcium is 898.52 and I could tke in some more milk in my diet to get the recommended intake level. IRON We need Iron to carry oxygen on hemoglobin in blood and in myoglobin that holds and stores oxygen in the muscles...
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...unit. I asked the question about who played role in the decision process, did the booth with free simple could effect his decision, and he said he never tried the free simple because it was a drinks, he feels sick about the unpacking milk was exposed in the air especially at supermarket, however, the discount played the important role for his decision process, he prefer better price for the final purchase. His motivation to buy is kind of interesting, because his Vitamin D deficiency, in New England, it has clouds coverage, we don’t have enough sun, the sun give us the vitamin D and we need that for a bodies, and especially for him, if he get sun and easily burn, so he can’t been in the sun for too long, he needs drink more milk than us. The attribute for him is being healthy. And it was a “critical” and casual decision for him because he’s knowing that he needs vitamin D, he has awareness about if his milk was lowing and he have to get more, the milk like his drugs. John tried to see what other products had vitamin D in it, and pretty much milk is the best product to use-depends on the price and the quality. For the all kind of milks the 1% milk is the best choose in his mind, because he think it has better tastes and also he like color blue, the package of whole milk is red, 2% is yellow and 1% is blue. The place where to buy is came first because he already knew what to buy, and he prefer nearby place, like anyplace. Whenever John go to supermarket or grocery store he get...
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...amounts of calcium and vitamin D to preserve bone strength and ensure overall maintenance of bone health to prevent osteoporosis. F. Cosman (2014) states that the human skeleton contains 99 % of the body’s calcium stores, and when the supply is insufficient, bone tissue is reabsorbed from the skeleton to maintain the serum calcium at a constant level. This process creates fragility in the bone structure and one may be at greater risk of developing osteoporosis. Since vitamin D plays a major role in calcium absorption, it is essential to ensure adequate amounts are being received. According to F. Cosman (2014), it is recommended that a male aged 50-70 consume 1000 mg/day of calcium, a female 51 and older, and males 71 and older, consume 1200 mg/day of calcium to maintain bone strength. In turn, an intake of 800 to 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D is recommended for all adults aged 50 and older in order to ensure proper calcium absorption. This intervention is relevant to osteoporosis as the focus is to maintain a chemical balance within the body to promote bone strength. This ensures proper absorption and reabsorption within the body and thus one can avoid and prevent bone degeneration. However, ingesting more than the recommended amount of calcium may lead to other health issues such as stroke, cardiovascular disease, or kidney stones. This multidisciplinary panel of experts provides extensive research on the adequate intake of both vitamin D and calcium and the benefits...
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...done by Cathy R Kessenich “Administration of annual oral high-dose vitamin D to community dwelling older woman in autumn and winter months increases risk of falls and fractures” the author addresses the importance of vitamin D deficiency on the global population, in particular the elder and its relation to osteoporosis and fractures. Measurements were done on yearly dosing, monthly, weekly, and daily, it demonstrated lack of compliance on the daily and weekly dosing making the annual dosing schedule a better option so far. It was later determined that a yearly dose of 500 000 IU might have been a very high dose and that it was a contributing factor on the high rate of fractures and falls , therefore the safety of high dosing was questioned. Some other findings of the study demonstrate a relationship among high dose of vitamin D and a decrease in musculoskeletal pain. This fostered and increase in activity of the elder population at the same time increasing falls and fractures. The author concluded that vitamin D deficiency is increasingly alarming and there is an urgency to address and treat it, we are faced with a long journey and not sufficient scientific information about. It. The yearly dosing was found not to be so effective and more in depth research and study is required. This information will help me as nurse to better understand and focus on the needs of the community in regards to assessing vitamin D insufficiency, the importance of supplementation and my role in preventive...
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