In one of the largest study of its kind to date on the link between deficiencies of this particular nutrient and various forms of Dementia and Alzheimer's disease, the researchers were surprised by the rather stunning results. They expected to see a relationship but they didn't expect it to be as large as it was...
The study, which included 1,658 adults, aged 65 and older, followed for 6 years, found that those who were moderately deficient in this nutrient, had a 53% increased risk of developing any kind of dementia, and those participants who were severely deficient had their risk of developing any kind of dementia increase by 125%.
Results for the impact of this nutrient on the development of Alzheimer's disease were similar. People with moderate deficiencies had an increased risk of 69% of developing Alzheimer's, and those with a severe deficiency had their risk of developing Alzheimer's increase by 122%.
What's the nutrient? Good old Vitamin D.
And, the recent news on Vitamin D includes new evidence suggesting it may also:
· possibly reduce Breast Cancer risk by 90%
· possibly Double the chance of surviving breast cancer
· decrease risk of ALL cancers by 77% at just moderate levels of Vitamin D
· lower LDL Cholesterol
· help prevent Autism
· help the body to better absorb calcium, and
· improve part of the immune system
The study discussed here on dementia and Alzheimer's was published in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Vitamin D comes from three main sources:
Vitamin D comes from three main sources:
¨ Exposure of skin to sunlight
¨ Foods such as oily fish
¨ Supplements
With regard to the first source… exposure of skin to sunlight, it’s important to note that older people’s skin can be less efficient at converting sunlight into Vitamin D, making them more likely to be deficient and therefore reliant on other sources of Vitamin D.
Also in many countries the amount of UVB radiation in winter is too low to allow Vitamin D production. In those areas it’s not just the older people who need to rely on foods like oily fish and supplements to get their necessary Vitamin D — it’s everyone.
A study of menopausal women who were given enough Vitamin D to raise their serum levels to 40 ng/ml found that even that moderate level of Vitamin D resulted in a 77% reduction in the incidence of all cancers, across the board, after just four years, in the women in the study.
Researchers found it remarkable not just because it was such a large reduction in risk, but that it occurred at such a modest level of just 40 ng/ml. The latest information suggests the “sweet spot” for Vitamin D is 50 to 70 ng/ml. The researchers said to have such stunning findings at just 40 ng/ml underscores just how powerful and important Vitamin D is to your body’s optimal functioning. Carole Baggerly, a researcher of Vitamin D has said that based on what she has seen she believes 90% of ordinary breast cancer is related to Vitamin D deficiency. Baggerly added that Vitamin D deficiency is “100% preventable”.
Vitamin D has also been found to:
¨ reduce the risk of preterm birth by Half, as well as to
¨ lower the risk of having a low birth weight baby and
¨ lower the risks of having a C-section.
The findings just mentioned regarding pregnancy and Vitamin D were reported by researchers Carol Wagner and Bruce Hollis. They gave 4,000 IUs (daily) of Vitamin D-3 to a group of pregnant women and saw the results highlighted above. The researchers noted that an astonishing 80% of all pregnant women are deficient in Vitamin D.
Our perception is the same as many experts report regarding Vitamin D, specifically Vitamin D-3… it seems as if new research comes out every week, if not every day, on the critical functions of Vitamin D in our bodies.
We have written a lot about Vitamin D-3 and the essential role it plays in everyone’s health. At times we feel we may be “overdoing it”… but then we see reports like these, and we realize we can’t overdue it. And all those study reports makes it seem to us that nobody should overlook the importance of Vitamin D-3.
And remember if you want to get the most out of any nutritional supplements you take, and foods you eat, wash them down with Willard's Water... studies have confirmed that it significantly increases the body's absorption and utilization of nutrients, and that it also improves elimination of wastes and toxins.