3/4 of the US teen and adult population are deficient in Vit D3. Now with the cold and winter months upon many of us, this number is even higher. Get your Vit D3 from a safe source where you know it is pure and bioavailble (ie your body can absorb it): Buy Vit D3 Now. Vitamin D deficiency soars in the U.S., study says

New research suggests that most Americans are lacking a crucial vitamin.

Read more by visiting:  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=vitamin-d-deficiency-united-...

By Jordan Lite | March 23, 2009 | 10

Three-quarters of U.S. teens and adults are deficient in vitamin D, the so-called "sunshine vitamin" whose deficits are increasingly blamed for everything from cancer and heart disease to diabetes, according to new research.

The trend marks a dramatic increase in the amount of vitamin D deficiency in the U.S., according to findings set to be published tomorrow in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Between 1988 and 1994, 45 percent of 18,883 people (who were examined as part of the federal government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) had 30 nanograms per milliliter or more of vitamin D, the blood level a growing number of doctors consider sufficient for overall health; a decade later, just 23 percent of 13,369 of those surveyed had at least that amount.

The slide was particularly striking among African Americans: just 3 percent of 3,149 blacks sampled in 2004 were found to have the recommended levels compared with 12 percent of 5,362 sampled two decades ago.

"We were anticipating that there would be some decline in overall vitamin D levels, but the magnitude of the decline in a relatively short time period was surprising," says study co-author Adit Ginde, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. Lack of vitamin D is linked to rickets (soft, weak bones) in children and thinning bones in the elderly, but scientists also believe it may play a role in heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

"We're just starting to scratch the surface of what the health effects of vitamin D are," Ginde tells ScientificAmerican.com. "There's reason to pay attention for sure."

But Mary France Picciano, a senior nutrition scientist in the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements, is skeptical that the dip is as deep or widespread as suggested, noting that there's disagreement on how much vitamin D is needed. She notes that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines insufficiency as less than11 nanograms per milliliter. Using that as a threshold, some 10 percent of U.S. adults are vitamin D deficient, according to a study published in November in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

That earlier study, co-authored by Picciano, also found that vitamin D deficiency had become more common between the late 1980s and 2004, but that between half and 75 percent of that difference was due to changes in the test used to measure those blood levels and therefore wasn’t a true gauge. "The results are far overstated and their findings are not as accurate as ours," Picciano says. "There is some deficiency — I don't want to minimize that — but it's not as high as they're saying."

Ginde insists the results are reliable. "There's potential for methodology contributing to some of what we found," he says, but the magnitude of the change and other research "argue that this is the reality in the U.S. right now."

Ginde, who last month linked vitamin D deficiency to catching more colds, blames increasing use of sunscreen and long sleeves following skin cancer-prevention campaigns for the change. Using a sunscreen with as little as a 15-factor protection cuts the skin's vitamin D production by 99 percent, the study notes, and there are few sources of the vitamin in our diets. Some food sources are salmon, tuna, mackerel and vitamin D-fortified dairy products, such as milk.

IOM recommends that people get 200-600 International Units (IU) of vitamin D daily, but it's reviewing whether to increase that recommendation in the wake of new studies. An update is expected in May 2010. Ginde believes that whatever those recommendations turn out to be, blacks should take double the amount of vitamin D supplements, because they have more melanin or pigment in their skin that makes it harder for the body to absorb and use the sun's ultraviolet rays to synthesize vitamin D. He adds that people should also take greater amounts of vitamin D in the winter when there's less sunlight.

Jim Fleet, a professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue University who wasn’t involved in the study, agrees with Picciano that failing to consider differences in the vitamin D testing methods (used during the two survey periods) was "a fatal mistake." But he tells ScientificAmerican.com that real deficiencies in vitamin D exist, even when they're defined by the lower cutoff, and that some 40 percent of African Americans are vitamin D deficient according to that threshold.

"If you look at people in the categories that we worry about," he says, "that’s still a lot of people."

Syntheitc vitamins appear to be a better deal than natural vitamins at the first glance - price is better, label appears to have most of the stuff you may need so what's wrong?

Synthetic quite often is much harder on your stomach for a number of reasons - fillers, binders, artificial colors and articifical sweeteners.  Not only are all these things harder for your stomach but also tougher on the rest of your body especially the liver.  The liver is the body's filtration system and these synthetic mult vitamins are packed with ingredients that clog the filter, the liver.

Dr. Theron Randolph, a well-known allergist,  said the following, "A synthitically derived substance may cause a reaction in a chemically susceptible person when the same material of natural origin is tolerated, despite the two substances having identical checmical structures." 

If you are interested in value, then consider the top quality natural vitamins by Shaklee.  Where natural has been the priority for over 54 years - best mens multi vitamin, excellent women's multi vitamin, and Complete Gold Multi Vitamins (with K and without K).

 

Whether you are using concentrated green cleaners or carpooling to help the environment doesn't matter.  The important thing is that you are doing something.  The more the better.

Sustainable transport and carpooling:   Sustainable transport is the idea of replacing the current transport system with fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly alternatives.  Walking and using hybrids or electric cars are some forms.  If one of these ideas is not feasible, try carpooling, which saves on gas and car maintenance, lowers emissions and saves money (which we all could use with gas prices the way they are today).  Ask your neighbors, friends and co-workers to create a carpool schedule.  Plus, you can meet new people and catch up with others on the way to work.

Also, If you'd like to take advantage of the best concentrated, green cleaners plus receive a FREE discount membership with no hassles:  Go Green & Save Your Green (money that is), contact us at HealthandHarmony@comcast.net for your $30 (typically about $40 with shipping, handling, and tax)  green cleaning basket plus FREE membership.  Hurry though, because the offer expires May 20, 2011. 

Attention FarmVille Fans:  Keep your eyes open because May 9th, 2011 you'll be able to get a virtual Green Cleaning kit for your farm too.

	Supplement Usage on the Rise - More than Half of US Adults Use Vitamins and Other Nutritional Supplements According to CDC Report Released Today Shaklee Family, here's some great news you'll want to share! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that more than half of U.S. adults use dietary supplements.  This represents a significant increase since 1988, when data was last compiled.   Here are some links to emerging news stories on the CDC report, which offer a very positive outlook for nutritional supplement usage in the U.S.: USA Today - "Study: More than half of U.S. adults over 20 take vitamins" http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/04/Study-More-than-half-of-US-adults-over-20-take-vitamins/46044846/1 Washington Post - "Dietary supplement use keeps rising, federal survey shows" - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-checkup/post/dietary-supplement-use-keeps-rising-federal-survey-shows/2011/04/11/AF58q4VD_blog.html Council for Responsible Nutrition - "Government Report Cites Increase in Supplement Usage" - http://www.crnusa.org/CRN11-CDCNCHSReportSupplementUse041311.html This great news highlights what everyone in the Shaklee Family already appreciates - that supplements are an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and that maintaining good health is a growing trend that offers a great foundation for earning a healthy living. Share this good news with everyone you know! Best wishes for good health and success, Laura Collins Hughes Senior Vice President, Shaklee Sales & Field Development This message has been sent to all active Distributors, Associates and Business Leaders. Feel free to pass it on to anyone else whom you feel might benefit.

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