Sunshine on my Shulders makes me Healthy...

Experts Starting to Agree -- More Vitamin D is Better

A new study indicates that at least 2,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D3 -- which is currently considered the upper limit of intake -- are needed to ensure adequate blood levels of the vitamin for post-menopausal African-American women.Over 200 women took part in this three-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, which adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that there is an urgent need to review current recommended daily intake levels of the vitamin.

Vitamin D3 is produced in the skin during exposure to sunlight. However, increased skin pigmentation reduces the effect of UVB radiation, meaning darker-skinned people are more at risk of vitamin D deficiency.
As much as 4000 IU per day may be required for individuals who are already deficient in the vitamin.Sources:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition December, 2007; 86(6): 1657-1662
NutraIngredients.com December 12, 2007


Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Vitamin D, often referred to as “the sunshine vitamin,” is different from other vitamins in that it influences your entire body. Receptors that respond to vitamin D have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones.Optimizing your vitamin D levels could help you to prevent as many as 16 different types of cancer including pancreatic, lung, breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers.

In fact, a previous landmark study from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), found that some 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancers could be prevented each year, if only vitamin D3 levels among populations worldwide were increased.

Beyond cancer, the researchers pointed out that increasing levels of vitamin D3 could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year! And other studies showed that you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure.Further, optimal vitamin D levels are also known to positively influence the following conditions:

Heart disease
Diabetes
Inflammatory bowel disease
Rheumatoid arthritis
Multiple sclerosis and osteoporosis

How Much Vitamin D do You Need?

Your doctor can measure your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) to determine your vitamin D status. Your vitamin D level should NEVER be below 32 ng/ml, and anything below 20 ng/ml is considered a serious deficiency state, which will increase your risk of breast and prostate cancers and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
In the United States, late winter 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels generally range from 15 to 18 ng/ml, so this vitamin deficiency affects a very large portion of the U.S. population.

The OPTIMAL value that you’re looking for is 45-52 ng/ml (115-128 nmol/l), but previous research has suggested that maintaining a slightly higher level of 55 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter) is optimal for cancer prevention. African Americans are even more prone to vitamin D deficiencies, as they produce less vitamin D3 than do whites in response to usual levels of sun exposure, and therefore have lower vitamin D serum concentrations year-round. In fact, as many as 42 percent of African American women, compared to just over 4 percent of white women of childbearing age have serum 25 (OH)D concentrations that are less than 62.5 nmol/L during the summer months.
RDA Too Low for Achieving Optimal Vitamin D Levels

This latest study, published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition points out that many African Americans simply cannot reach optimal vitamin D levels under the current recommended daily allowance (RDA) guidelines.

The 1997 Panel on Calcium and Related Nutrients considers 2,000 IU’s as the upper limit of intake, with a recommended daily allowance of just 400 to 600 IU’s per day.
In fact, the new dosing algorithm that this study proposes calls for a daily dose of 2,800 IU’s for African Americans with a serum level of at least 45 nmol/L, and 4,000 IU’s per day if your serum level is below 45 nmol/L.

In addition to this one-measurement, one-dose adjustment algorithm, they point out that given the individual variability in your response to vitamin D, the best result would be expected if your 25 (OH)D was measured and your dose of vitamin D is adjusted a second time.

I also recommend you check your vitamin D levels regularly as overdosing on oral vitamin D supplements IS possible. (There’s very little risk of overdosing on vitamin D from the sun, however.)
What is Your Best Source of Vitamin D?
Sun exposure (without sunscreen) of about 10 to 15 minutes a day, with at least 40 percent of your skin exposed is your best source of vitamin D. Sometimes, however (such as if you happen to live in the Chicago area like I do), you may not be able to get enough sun exposure during certain parts of the year. In that case supplementation is an option.
Obviously, it will be very difficult for many to get adequate sun exposure in the winter, which is why I also advise using a safe tanning bed to have your own body produce vitamin D naturally.
The most important thing to keep in mind if you opt for oral supplementation is that you only want to supplement with natural vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), which is the type of vitamin D found in foods like eggs, organ meats, animal fat, cod liver oil, and fish. Do NOT use the synthetic and highly inferior vitamin D2.
To find out more about the crucial importance of sunlight and vitamin D for your health, my forthcoming book Dark Deception will explore this topic in detail, and expose why the conventional wisdom on the subject, which encourages you to stay out of the sun, is dead wrong.

All the Lonely People.. Where do they all Belong?

Isolation becoming big health hazard
By Katherine Seligman
San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, Mar 6, 2009

Full story at:http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/living/personallife/9028153-41/story.csp

You may worry about your waistline or pack-a-day smoking habit, but psychologists say there is a less recognized yet significant health hazard facing Americans: loneliness.

They could have more friends than ever online but, on average, Americans have fewer intimates to confide in than they did a decade ago, according to one study. Another found that 20 percent of all individuals are, at any given time, unhappy because of social isolation, according to University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo.

And, frankly, they’d rather not talk about it.

“People come into my office and say, ‘I’m depressed or obsessive.’ They don’t say, ‘I’m lonely,’ ” said Jacqueline Olds, a psychiatrist who teaches at Harvard Medical School and co-authored “The Lonely American: Drifting Apart in the 21st Century.”

“People are so embarrassed about being lonely that no one admits it. Loneliness is stigmatized, even though everyone feels it at one time or another.”

Olds wrote the book with her husband, Richard Schwartz, because, she said, she wanted to bring loneliness “out of the closet.” The two were struck by findings from the General Social Survey (conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago), showing that people reported having fewer intimate friends in 2004 than they had in 1985.

When asked how many people they could confide in, the average number declined over that same time period from three to two. In 2004, almost a quarter of those surveyed said they had no one to discuss important matters with in the past six months; in 1985, only 7 percent were devoid of close confidantes.

“Loneliness has a terrible reputation in this country,” Olds said. “It’s a problem not just with a few people without social skills. It’s not synonymous with being a loser.”

Independent, busy people
Why are we growing lonelier? Olds said it’s partly due to the American notion of independence that makes people not want to appear needy. They may feel alone, but they assume neighbors and friends are similarly busy and wouldn’t want to be bothered.

She also points to what she calls “the cult of busyness.”

In an era of frantic pace and multitasking, people feel they should always be accomplishing something. They work long hours and then, in their limited spare time, they work more — catching up on e-mail, doing the laundry, going to the gym. Socializing often comes last.

But humans are not wired to live alone, researchers say. The impulse for social connection — though it is stronger in some people than others — is rooted in the basic urge to survive.
The need is so great, says Cacioppo, that it is reflected in our neural wiring. Most neuroscientists agree, he said, that it was the need to process social cues that led to the expansion of the cortical mantle of the brain.

In “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” which he co-authored last year, he wrote, “In other words, it was the need to deal with other people that, in large part, made us who and what we are today.”

Loneliness, Cacioppo explained in an interview, has more in common with hunger, thirst and pain than it does with mental illness. It signals that something is wrong and needs to be corrected.

Cacioppo’s research has shown that lonely people have more “micro-­awakenings” during sleep, leading to greater fatigue, which in turn can affect cognitive thinking. Other studies have found that people who feel lonely report more sources of stress in their lives, which can affect long-term health.

Chronic stress is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease and immune system disorders.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/living/personallife/9028153-41/story.csp

Time Out

Decision Time-Eating Is Not An Option
www.shrinkyourself.com

Sometimes, our indecision makes us eat. We get so worked up about not knowing what to do that we eat as a form of procrastination. It's just another way to put things off. If you find yourself eating when you're at a crossroads, overwhelmed with taxes, chores, work or kids or have a deadline approaching, read this:

It's been said that analysis leads to paralysis. When we over think things we can have a hard time figuring out what to do.

And what better way to put off things than grazing or binging. When you find yourself in this position and you have two choices, neither one of which is to eat, you can find a small action that you can take. For example, after a party you might be so overwhelmed with the mess and don't know where you begin.

If you look at the whole thing, you're doomed. But take one glass into the kitchen at a time and it all gets done.

The second thing you can do is follow the tenet, when in doubt, do nothing. If you don't yet know what action to take give yourself permission to do nothing for a little while (not forever, obviously).

Giving yourself this permission can allay the anxiety of feeling guilty about not doing what you're supposed to be doing. It's this guilt and anxiety that can lead to emotional eating. Next time you don't know what to do either take one small step or give yourself permission to not do anything. Either choice won't leave you with the added guilt of overeating.

Happy updates

I am averaging about a steady 2 lbs a week drop in weight and my BP's have been dropping steadily. I am now averaging from about 130-145 as the top number. My focus is 120/70 and it is reachable.

And one of the things I did was to cease the diuretics which continually made me ill and with or without was not showing any major difference in the BP's.

What had been happening is a great increase in water + deep breathing, removing stresses and more movement. And while it might seem crazy to some bring over 15 plants surrounding my abode inside & out and getting a Shiatsu massage chair pad (though I have not used it yet) need the right kind of chair. As I have done my research apparently there is some early promising showings that massage has been aiding in reducing blood pressure by as much as 10-15 points.

Even if it is a placebo effect it sho 'nuff feels good and is relaxing.

I've become even more proactive even becoming very firm with doctors who seem to be too harried or dismissive or while well meaning or fearful of litigation tends to hang onto treatments that may not work for everyone & actually might do more harm then good.

I have no problem with mixing traditional with holistic approach to treatment. I do have a problem when people are too busy to listen to you and then you pay for the deafness. I do not claim to be a doctor, I do however live with me for 58 years and know what I feeling. So well continue moving forward maybe with a "fall down seven, get up eight" approach but still moving...

In Joy & in Health...

The pictures of my almost 19 year old granddaughter in youthful joy and energy is contagious! I immediately flashed with this 3rd generation dancer immediately brought a joy filled memories of what dance was for me for 2 decades. Having the ability to show exuberant & expression in movement is a satisfaction bar none for me.

Even moreso, is to have pass that joy not only to my daughter but to my granddaughter is rewarding. Make no mistake, my granddaughter is an honors student majoring in political science and clear with all the determination of her visions not yet tainted by a world as of yet sets well with me.

Also in passing that baton, is the "take no prisoner, I know who I am and you are not gonna whittle me down with 'tude "is wonderful. It is great to see it in action.

One of the best gifts I can give to her is to have my own health managed well, so she continues to have a model, as well as her mom, as they move through the passage of time. At some point her mom will be like me moving into her 6th decade, prayerfully which with joy & satisfaction her

grandchild with as much pleasure as I am having right now.

Realistically, I probably will not be around at that point as I would have to be over 120 years old, but that will be then not now.

So I say well done daughter, well done. And sneak a pat on the back for me too.