Vitamin D – What’s so special about the ‘Sunshine Vitamin’ ?

By Dr. Oakley

The real question is what is not special about Vitamin D! There has been great research performed on vitamin D over the last 10 years verifying how crucial it is for your overall health and wellbeing – it’s a secret cornerstone to your health!

Vitamin D is a hormone – NOT a vitamin!

Vitamin D is not a vitamin, it’s a hormone! A hormone is a molecule that can be created in the body and can send messages between different parts of the body. Recent research has discovered that “all cells, tissues and organs in the human body have vitamin D receptors, meaning that they await the arrival of the vitamin to perform various vital functions.”1

We don’t fully understand how vitamin D is involved in so many bodily processes – but it is! When your blood levels get low, more bodily processes are affected that will slowly and surely compromise your health.

Vitamin D prevents cancer

Vitamin D has been proven to prevent 16 different types of cancers!1 Considering that 1 in 3 people get cancer (this is now approaching 1 in 2 people) this alone is a stellar reason to supplement with vitamin D!

Dr. Rona discusses the fact that researchers have calculated that 600,000 cancer cases would be prevented each year by simply increasing the blood levels of vitamin D! That supplemental dose is estimated to be 5,000-10,000 IU/day.1

Both Dr. Rona1 as well as Dr. Kime2 have documented cases where their patients have cured their cancers by using vitamin D/sun tanning.

Vitamin D prevents stroke

Dr. Stefan Pilz, MD and colleagues followed over 3000 seniors for almost 8 years. They assessed their vitamin D levels and who had strokes over this time period. They found that those who were low in Vitamin D were significantly more likely to die from stroke. They conclude: “…vitamin D supplementation is a promising approach in the prevention of strokes.”3

Vitamin D is associated with diabetes

Vitamin D helps diabetes! Because vitamin D is involved with so many bodily processes it’s actually not surprising that those with diabetes are usually very deficient – I found this to be the case in a study we did on assessing the blood levels in 106 type 2 diabetes patients attending my colleagues clinic in Maryland.4 74% of the study group were deficient! Vitamin D supplementation is a cornerstone of their diabetes reversal program there.

Vitamin D prevents and reduces lesion size in multiple sclerosis 

Multiple sclerosis virtually doesn’t exist along the equator! The farther from the equator you live, the greater the chances of having multiple sclerosis. Dr. Kimball and colleagues from the University of Toronto found that when MS patients supplemented with 8,000-10,000 IU/day their brain lesions were reduced by more than half there size!5 

Vitamin D changes genetic expression

Vitamin D is associated with more than 2000 genes responsible for disease prevention.1 Therefore, it is not surprising how important an impact it may have on your health. Michael Holick, PhD, MD and colleagues studied the change in genetic expression in 8 adults with vitamin D supplementation.6 Supplementation for only two months caused at least a 1.5 fold alteration in the expression of 291 genes!

They conclude: “Our data suggest that any improvement in vitamin D status will significantly affect expression of genes that have wide variety of biologic functions of more than 160 pathways linked to cancer, autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular disease with have been associated with vitamin D deficiency. This study reveals for the first time molecular finger prints that help explain the nonskeletal health benefits of vitamin D.”6

Vitamin D reduces falls in elderly by 50%

Bischoff and colleagues put a group of 122 elderly women on a program of Vitamin D and calcium for a 3-month period.7 The risk of falling was reduced by 49% as well as an increase in muscular function as compared to just calcium alone.7

Vitamin D prevents death

Vitamin D decreases your chances of dying! Yes, you read this correct.

A German study followed 13,331 healthy men and women for 9 years.8 During this time, 1806 people died. When the data were analyzed comparing the vitamin D levels that were measured initially, it was determined that those persons with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 71% greater chance of dying regardless of cause of death. They conclude: “vitamin D deficiency… was strongly associated with mortality from all causes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and respiratory diseases.”

Other studies have found the same. Dr. Dobnig and colleagues followed 3258 patients for almost 8 years.9 During this time 737 patients had died. Results from comparing vitamin D levels taken initially revealed that those with the lowest levels were more than twice as likely to die than those with higher vitamin D levels.9 They state: “Our results make it much more clear that all men and women concerned about their overall health should more closely monitor their blood levels of vitamin D, and make sure they have enough.”9

Bottom Line

Supplement Vitamin D! Take 5,000-10,000 IU/day.

 

References

  1. Rona, Z. Vitamin D. The sunshine vitamin. Book Publishing Co. Summertown, TN. 2010
  1. Kime, ZR. Sunlight. World Health Publications. Penryn, CA. 1980.
  1. Pilz S, Dobnig H, Fischer JE, Wellnitz B, Seelhorst U, Boehm BO, März W. Low vitamin d levels predict stroke in patients referred to coronary angiography. Stroke. 2008 Sep;39(9):2611-3.
  1. Oakley, P., Chaney, S., Persinger, M. and Chaney, T. Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients presenting to a functional medicine clinic. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 2013; 6, 12-15. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2013.65A003.
  1. Kimball SM, Ursell MR, O’Connor P, Vieth R. Safety of vitamin D3 in adults with multiple sclerosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep;86(3):645-51.
  1. Hossein-nezhad A, Spira A, Holick MF. Influence of vitamin D status and vitamin D3 supplementation on genome wide expression of white blood cells: a randomized double-blind clinical trial. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58725.
  1. Bischoff HA, Stähelin HB, Dick W, Akos R, Knecht M, Salis C, Nebiker M, Theiler R, Pfeifer M, Begerow B, Lew RA, Conzelmann M. Effects of vitamin D and calcium supplementation on falls: a randomized controlled trial. J Bone Miner Res. 2003 Feb;18(2):343-51.
  1. Schottker B, Haug U, et al. Strong associations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations with all-cause, cardiovascular, cancer, and respiratory disease mortality in a large cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr, 2013 Apr;97(4):782-93.
  1. Dobnig H, Pilz S, Scharnagl H, Renner W, Seelhorst U, Wellnitz B, Kinkeldei J, Boehm BO, Weihrauch G, Maerz W. Independent association of low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin d levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Jun 23;168(12):1340-9.

Power Plate – What’s all this hype about?

By Melissa Baird, RMT & Dr. Oakley

There are constant fitness trends emerging, most of them leaving the customer disappointed; the Power Plate is not to be mistaken as a fitness trend. The Power Plate machine is a three-dimensional platform providing a consistent, safe and controlled level of vibration in an up and down, back and forth, and side to side motion.1

There are many benefits to using a Power Plate platform such as improving muscle tone, increasing range of motion, improving coordination and balance, increasing blood flow, reducing body fat and boosting metabolism, decreasing cellulite, increasing bone mineral density and alleviating pain by promoting recovery of damaged muscles and tendons.1

How does the Power Plate work? Constant vibration in three-dimensions forces the body to seek out stability, contracting muscles involuntarily to compensate.2 Not only does the Power Plate add to ones’ workout regime but it is also providing a different treatment option for those suffering from cerebral palsy, osteoporosis, neck and back injuries, chronic pain and even kidney stones.2

In one study, 61 obese adults were split into 4 groups: a control group (no changes made to their lifestyle), a diet only group, a fitness group, and a Power Plate group. The study took place for 6 months with a follow-up after an additional 6 months of no intervention. The Power Plate group had significant decreases in visceral fat (fat surrounding the abdominal contents), and after 6 months post intervention the Power Plate group maintained their decreased visceral body fat levels whereas the other groups of diet and fitness returned to their baseline values.3

Bottom Line:

Whether searching for pain relief, are new to fitness and seeking long-term results or are looking to maximize your current fitness level, incorporating the 3D Power Plate technology will ensure you get the best results!

 

Call to book your Free Trial Power Plate workout Today! Read more

Water – How much should you drink?

By Dr. Oakley

 

Most people fail to realize that our body’s are mostly water, even our bones are 30% water! We lose water all day long by breathing, unconscious sweating (while not exercising), and of course also in our urine and feces. If we are under stress, ill, in hot weather conditions, or actually exercise we can lose even more water.

Our daily water losses need to be replaced. Only about 20% of our water needs come from foods, therefore, most of our water needs are met by simply drinking water. The problem is knowing how much water to drink.

For curiosity sake we did a study in the clinic simply assessing how much water our patients drank. Surprisingly, some people don’t drink water at all! Others drink only a glass or two a day where of the 100 consecutive patients surveyed, on average about 5-8oz. glasses of water were drank per day.1

We next compared that to the recommendation to drink 8-8oz. glasses of water a day: 8-5=3 glasses short. Comparing the 5 glasses a day to the recommendation to drink half your body weight in ounces, we determined that on average, our sample of 100 patients drank 6 glasses short of meeting their water intake goal!

So whether going by the 8 glasses a day rule or the half your body weight goal, on average, most people are 3-6 glasses short of drinking the ideal amount of water per day!

Bottom Line:

Drink more water! Have a minimum goal of drinking 8 glasses a day, and the ideal goal of drinking half your body weight in ounces per day – each and every day!

 

References

  1. Oakley, P.A. and Baird, M.L. (2015) Do patients drink enough water? Actual pure water intake compared to the theoretical daily rules of drinking 8-8 ounce glasses and drinking half your body weight in ounces. Journal of Water Resource and Protection; In Review.

 

Gluten – What’s the Big Deal?

By Dr. Oakley

Why is gluten such a big deal these days? Why do so many adopt a gluten-free diet? I will tell you why! My good friends and colleagues, Drs. Tom and Stephanie Chaney, publish an exhaustive review of gluten and how it affects the body in their book: Lose the Gluten, Lose your Gut. Ditch the Grain, Save your Brain.’1 I will briefly summarize the important and detrimental aspects of how gluten may worsen your health.

Gluten (from Latin gluten, “glue“) is a protein composite found in wheat and related grains, including barley, rye and spelt. Gluten gives elasticity to dough, helping it rise and keep its shape and often gives the final product a chewy texture.2

Gluten is found in many foods (breads, cereals, cookies etc.), and hidden in lots of processed foods like dressings, condiments, and even gum! Wheat is a grain that has the highest amounts of the protein gluten. 

Our body’s have a hard time digesting gluten, there are some researchers that suggest that humans shouldn’t even eat grains at all! When we do, many of us get inflammation of the intestinal lining which results in ‘increased intestinal permeability’ (a.k.a. ‘Leaky Gut Syndrome’).

The body’s immune system has its soldiers, ‘Antibodies’ (Immunoglobulins, i.e. IgG, IgA etc.) which attack foreign molecules (‘Antigens’) including gluten and its smaller partly digested proteins and peptides. The more you eat gluten, the better the immune system will recognize and attack the gluten byproducts – however, any particular proteins in the body which are similar to these gluten byproduct proteins will also be attacked – so your immune system will no longer differentiate the gluten byproducts from a particular part of your body!

‘Autoimmunity’ results when your immune system ends up attacking different parts of your own tissues. This will cause ‘flare-ups’ which result in attacks of pain, swelling, and inflammation resulting from eating gluten-laden foods.

Depending on which exact tissues are being attacked determines what disease might result. A scary fact is that many researchers are starting to believe that once thought of as different disease processes might actually be a single entity – the cause being the body’s autoimmune response to a constant bombardment of a gluten-laden diet (gluten reactivity).

I quote from the Chaney’s book:

“Some researchers claim that gluten-related disorders is a group of diseases itself; diseases that may involve several organs outside of the intestines and without Celiac disease, resulting in Type I diabetes,65,66 multiple sclerosis,67,68 systemic lupus erythematous(SLE),69,70,71 autoimmune thyroid disease,72 rheumatoid arthritis,73,74 addison’s disease,75,76 vasculitis,77 autism,59 asthma,78 neurological disorders and seizures,79,80,81 Alzhiemer’s and dementia mimicking gluten ataxia,82,83 Parkinson’s,84,85 dermitis herpetiformis (a rare skin disease) and other skin conditions such as psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis,86,87,88,89 headaches,90,91 liver disease,92,93 cancer,94,95,96 muscle disease/myopathy,97,98 depression,99,100,101 and likely many other autoimmune and non-autoimmune diseases once thought to be independent of each other.” p.31-32. (For a more comprehensive discussion and relevant references purchase the Chaney’s book on Amazon)1

Bottom Line:

What at first may only be symptoms of indigestion, bloating, constipation, cloudy headedness etc. may be early signs of gluten sensitivities and intolerances which may lead to more serious disease processes down the road.

 

*Get checked to see if you have a sensitivity/intolerance to Gluten – Call to book your Hemocode Food Intolerance test today!

  

References

  1. Chaney, S.J. & Chaney, T.A. (2012) Lose the Gluten, Lose your Gut. Ditch the Grain, Save your Brain. Discover how gluten and “healthy” whole grains contribute to obesity, type 2 diabetes, alzheimer’s disease, and other deadly diseases..And what you must do to prevent and reverse them. ISBN:9789-0-9854157-0-9. To order go to: http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=chaney+gluten&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Achaney+gluten
  2. Wikipedia. Search term: ‘Gluten’ Retrieved July 7, 2015.