Low antioxidant levels associated with hardening of the arteries‏

A study looked at 220 men and women without a history of hardening of the arteries. Vitamin A, vitamin E, and Lycopene were decreased by over 50% in the participants who were found out to have hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) when compared to those who did not have any hardening of the arteries. The researchers concluded that regular intake of foods rich in antioxidant vitamins (nutritional supplementation) may slow the progression of hardening of the arteries and its consequences (heart attack or stroke).

Source: Plasma antioxidants and asymptomatic carotid atherosclerotic disease. Riccioni G et al. Ann Nutr Metab, 2008;53 (2):86-90

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Sunlight exposure along with low antioxidant levels increases the risk of macular degeneration

A recent study suggests that protecting the eyes from sunlight exposure (using hats or protective sunglasses) and consuming high levels of dietary antioxidants may significantly reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration. The researchers looked at lifetime sunlight exposure and measured blood antioxidant levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, zeaxanthin, and zinc. They evaluated 4,400 older people and found that individuals with the lowest antioxidant levels and greatest sunlight exposure significantly increased the risk of macular degeneration.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Vitamin D protects against stroke‏

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death (140,000 per year in the US) in the US and Canada. Adverse drug reactions are the third leading cause of death (180,000 deaths per year in the US) in the US and Canada. Everyone is very concerned about having a stroke because of the major disability it can cause.

A study published in September 2008, revealed that for every small decrease in blood levels of vitamin D there was a startling 86% increase in fatal strokes. The researchers concluded that low levels of 25 hydorxyvitamin D levels are independently predictive of fatal strokes and they suggest that vitamin D supplementation is a promising approach in the prevention of strokes.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Magnesium protects against inflammation of your arteries‏

Healthy women who consume more magnesium are less prone to inflammation of their arteries. Investigators noted that the higher your level of magnesium was the lower your C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation) was and the lower your E-selectin (a marker of artery inflammation and function) was. Since oxidative stress and inflammation is the root problem in cardiovascular disease, it is important to have optimal levels of magnesium in your body.

Source: Magnesium intake and plasma concentrations of markers of systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in women. Song Y, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Apr;85(4):1068-74.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Higher Vitamin D levels lowers the risk of MS‏

Harvard scientists used military personnel to determine vitamin D status and risk of developing multiple sclerosis. They found that as vitamin D levels increased there was a decrease in the risk of developing MS. In fact, the white males who had the highest levels of vitamin D had a 62% decreased risk of developing MS when compared to those who had the lowest level of vitamin D. The researchers concluded that vitamin D may have a protective effect against developing multiple sclerosis.

Source: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of multiple sclerosis. Munger KL, Levin LI, et al. JAMA. 2006 Dec 20;296(23):2832-8.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Vitamin B6 may sharply reduce the incidence of colon cancer‏

A large Scottish study has shown that increased intake of dietary and supplemental vitamin B6 is associated with a significant decrease in colon cancers. The investigators found that the higher the level of vitamin B6 intake the lower the risk of colon cancer. Subjects with the highest level of vitamin B6 were about 20% less likely to develop colon cancer than those individuals who had the lowest levels of vitamin B6.

Source: Dietary vitamin B6 intake and the risk of colorectal cancer, Theodoratou E, et al, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2008 Jan; 17(1):171-82

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Lower vitamin D levels are linked to greater knee arthritis pain‏

A recent study showed that patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who also had low levels of vitamin D experienced worse knee pain and decreased mobility when compared with those who had higher levels of vitamin D. This research was based on studies that show that vitamin D influences both musculoskeletal health and neuromuscular function.

The researchers looked at over 100 men and women with osteoarthritis of the knee. Nearly half of the participants had vitamin D deficiencies. This deficiency correlated to the severity of knee pain and mobility.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

High Vitamin C level helps to prevent stroke‏

Investigators noted that high vitamin C levels may reflect healthy lifestyles and possible supplementation. They followed 20,649 men for nearly 10 years. People with the highest levels of vitamin C had a 42% lower risk of stroke when compared to those with the lowest levels of vitamin C. All other factors were accounted for in this study.

This is just another study that shows that the higher your level of antioxidants and in this case vitamin C, the lower your risk of having a cardiovascular even like a stroke. Eating a healthy diet that contains 6 to 8 servings of fruits and vegetables along with supplementation is certainly a good idea.

Source: Myint PK, Luben RN, et al. Plasma vitamin C concentrations predict risk of incidence of stroke over 10 years. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan;87(1):64-9

Lycopene and other antioxidants decrease risk of heart disease‏

As you have been learning, oxidized LDL cholesterol and not native LDL is our enemy because it causes such inflammation of our arteries. Fat soluble vitamins are important because they can actually incorporate themselves into the LDL particle. They have been shown to have the ability to then make this LDL cholesterol less likely to be oxidized by excessive free radicals.

Lycopene and other fat soluble vitamins have been shown to protect our LDL cholesterol from becoming oxidized in epidemiological studies and human trials. Therefore, these studies show a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Source: Riccioni G, Mancini B, et al. Protective effect of lycopene in cardiovascular disease. Eur Rev Med pharmacol Sci. 2008 May-June;12(3):183-90.

Carotenoids decrease risk of macular degeneration

One of the most concerning age-related disease is referred to as age-related macular degeneration. It is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. This leads to the degeneration of an area in our eye called the macula, which is responsible for our central vision. When they look at someone, they are not able to see their face, but are able to see the area around their face.

Researchers have identified that the cause of this disease is oxidative stress. Several studies have been done that show that supplementation with a host of antioxidants including two carotenoids called lutein and zeaxanthin significantly decreases your risk of developing age-related macular degeneration.

Source: Neelam K, Hogg Re, et al. Carotenoids and co-antioxidants in age-related maculopathy. Ophthalmic Epidemiology. 2008 Nov-Dec;15(6):389-401.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Low Vitamin D levels increase cardiovascular risk‏

A report in the Archives of Internal Medicine (June 11,2007) added more evidence in the link of low vitamin D levels and heart disease. These researchers measured the 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D levels in over 15,000 women. Those women who had the lowest levels of vitamin D had significantly higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and elevated triglyceride levels (the other fat in the blood other than cholesterol). These are all risk factors for heart disease and strokes.

These researchers again pointed out the fact that low vitamin D levels carry a significant risk factor to our health. They concluded that current intake of vitamin D is far to low for optimal health. This is why I recommend that my patients should get their vitamin D levels checked and act accordingly. First, to bring their vitamin D levels back up to the recommended level (at least greater than 50 ng/ml) and second, to maintain these levels by taking at least 1,000 to 1,200 IU of vitamin D in supplementation.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

How much Vitamin D do you need?‏

When you get your 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level, the normal range is usually reported as 32 to 100 ng/ml. However, researchers are now beginning to believe that desired level of vitamin D should be over 50 ng/ml and some are recommending that it should be greater than 60 ng/ml. Depending on your level of vitamin D you will need to first get your level into the desired range. However, I would at least recommend that you try to achieve a blood level above 50 ng/ml.

Your personal physician should actually prescribe the amount of increased vitamin D that you will need to bring your vitamin D up to the proper level. It should then be rechecked to be sure that this goal has been accomplished. I work with the members of my online medical practice at www.drraystrand.com to achieve this goal through email or phone consultation and bloodwork that I can order for them. Once you have achieved this goal, you then should supplement with 1,000 to 1,200 IU of vitamin D3 daily.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Inflammation and Vitamin D‏

Oxidative stress and inflammation is an underlying factor in the development of numerous age-related diseases. In clinical trials, vitamin D has been shown to suppress what is referred to as pro-inflammatory cytokines. This offers additional protection against conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis, prediabetes, heart failure, stroke, and heart disease.

It has become evident that those individuals who live in higher altitudes contract multiple sclerosis at much higher rates than those living where they get sunshine throughout the year. Scientists have identified specific vitamin D receptors in the white matter of the brain. The reduction in inflammation, which is the result of adequate vitamin D, may play a role in protecting you against developing multiple sclerosis.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Osteoporosis and importance of Vitamin D‏

Osteoporosis is epidemic in the US and Canada and yet physicians seem to focus primarily on calcium supplementation and medication. However, it is a well-known fact that you cannot even absorb calcium from your diet without adequate levels of vitamin D. The most potent vitamin D is vitamin D3. Our nation is in the midst of realizing that over 90% of the population is seriously deficient in vitamin D. This becomes a critical health issue especially when you consider how critical this nutrient is in helping to build and maintain bone density. One interesting report even showed that elderly people with the highest levels of vitamin D suffered far fewer falls and were less frail.

Anyone who has been diagnosed or is concerned about osteopenia (early thinning of the bone) or osteoporosis needs to have their vitamin D blood levels checked. As mentioned in a previous "Health Nugget", the best test is a 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level. You want to have a blood level greater than 50 ng/ml. You can order this blood test at www.drraystrand.com or ask your personal physician to order it for you from your local lab.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Desirable Vitamin D blood levels‏

So what are desireable vitamin D blood levels that we want to achieve and how do we find out what our vitamin D level actually is? The most accepted blood test is called a 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level. This test can be done non-fasting; however, it needs to be ordered by a physician. The proposed level for optimal health is 50 to 60 ng/ml. Now some practitioners would even like to see this as high as 80. However, everyone agrees that if this level is less than 20 you have a serious problem and need to address it immediately. A level between 20 and 40 is generally considered to be inadequate and increased supplementation with vitamin D3 is strongly recommended. Those whose level is between 40 and 50 should be sure they are at least supplementing their diet with vitamin D3 at greater than 1,000 IU daily thereafter.

The primary source of vitamin D is normally in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight. However, it has been pointed out in previous Health Nuggets that vitamin D deficiency is still very prevelant throughout the world and especially in those individuals who live in higher latitudes. My advice is to actually check your blood levels of vitamin D and see where you stand. If you are not able to get this blood test through your own personal physician, you also have the option of ordering the blood work through my website at www.drraystrand.com.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Vitamin D prevents and improves several diseases

Vitamin D has been shown to suppress inflammation in diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, congestive heart failure, and even stroke. Clinical studies have also shown that there is a decrease in the risk of both type 1 and 2 diabetes in individuals who supplement with vitamin D. There are far fewer falls in those elderly patients who supplement with vitamin D at this optimal level. Another important aspect is the fact that vitamin D is required for proper immune function. It is also known that those individuals who live in higher latitudes contract multiple sclerosis at far higher rates than those who obtain more sunshine throughout the year. Studies with supplementing even 400 IU of vitamin D have shown significant reduction in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis. The question is now arising that we need to actually be providing our bodies with much more vitamin D than we previously thought.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk‏

A four year clinical was done that involved nearly 1200 women. This is the kind of study physicians love and always talk about when it comes to pharmaceutical trials. However, very few of them realize that there are these kinds of studies regarding the health benefits of taking supplements. Subjects were assigned to take 1400 mg of calcium alone, or 1400 mg of calcium plus 1100 IU of vitamin D, or a placebo. After only 4 years, the risk of developing any type of cancer was 60% lower in the vitamin D group. If you excluded the cancers diagnosed in the first year because these cancers were most likely already present before the study, there was a 77% reduction in all types of cancer in the vitamin D group.

The researchers pointed out that vitamin D has an effect on at least 200 human genes and is critical in the normal functioning of our immune system and cell division. When there is less than an optimal level of vitamin D, the regulatory process involving cell proliferation and differentiation becomes defective. This can lead to abnormal cell division and thus cancer growth. However, if individuals simply supplement their diet with 1100 IU of vitamin D, they can significantly decrease their risk of all cancers.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Inflammation can be harmful to the body‏

Inflammation of your arteries appears to be the key in both the development of heart disease and diabetes. Researchers at the Women’s Hospital in Boston evaluated the blood samples of over 32,000 nurses for inflammatory products. They found that those nurses that had the greatest amount of inflammation in their bodies had a 5 times greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. It was felt that inflammation of the blood vessels causes constriction and thickening of the artery wall. This makes it more difficult for insulin to pass through the vessel wall and get to the cell where it is needed to transport glucose into the cell. This leads to insulin resistance and the Metabolic Syndrome. Inflammation is also known to increase the risk of heart disease. This may help explain why 80% of our diabetics die from a cardiovascular disease.

This is just another study that shows the danger of too much inflammation in our body. Inflammation is at the root of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and host of other degenerative diseases. What most physicians and researchers do not appreciate is the fact that oxidative stress is what causes the inflammation in the first place. In my book, What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know about Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You, I detail how these excessive free radicals can cause this inflammation and lead to all of these chronic degenerative diseases. The use of healthy lifestyles that includes a healthy diet, modest exercise, and cellular nutrition can eliminate or significantly decrease all the causes of the harmful inflammation within the body.

Source: “Biomarkers of Endothelial Dysfunction and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus”, Meigs, JB, et al., Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA); April 28, 2004—Vol. 291, No, 16

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)

Health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids‏

These Swiss investigators reviewed 97 randomized, controlled clinical trials, which involved over 275,000 subjects. They looked at comparing the reduction in cardiovascular deaths between individuals who were taking the lipid lowering drugs called statins, those who consumed higher doses of omega-3 fatty acids, and a controlled group or placebo group. The statin group reduced cardiovascular deaths by 22%, while the omega-3 fatty acid group decreased cardiovascular disease by 32%. Statin drugs reduced overall mortality by 13%; however, the omega-3 fatty acid group reduced overall mortality by 23%. These were significant findings and brought up the fact that supplementing your diet with high-quality omega-3 fatty acids from pharmaceutical-grade filtered fish oil was more effective than the expensive statin drugs when it came to cardiovascular death and overall mortality.

Now statin drugs have been shown to decrease inflammation and part of their clinical effectiveness is due to this aspect of these drugs. So researchers are not sure if it is the lowering of cholesterol or the anti-inflammatory aspect of these drugs that provide their health benefits. However, omega-3 fats are the building blocks of the body’s natural anti-inflammatories. In fact, supplemental intake of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA found in filtered fish oil has been shown to significantly decrease inflammation throughout the body, including our arteries. They also do not have the adverse side effects that the statin drugs have.

Source: “Effect of different antilipidemic agents and diet on mortality: a systematic review", Studer M, Briel M, et al., Archives of Internal Medicine, 2005 April 11;165(7):725-30

Oxidized LDL

Dr. Tsimikas and associates reported this study in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding the relationship of oxidation of phospholipids and LDL cholesterol to the development of coronary artery disease. When there are excessive free radicals, for whatever reason, they can easily oxidize or modify LDL cholesterol and phospholipids, primarily Lp(a) lipoprotein. These oxidized lipids have been found to significantly increase inflammation in our arteries and lead to accelerated atherosclerosis or hardening of our arteries. Individuals who had high levels of these oxidized lipids had a significantly greater risk of coronary artery disease. They concluded that the proinflamatory quality of the oxidized LDL cholesterol may be the unifying link between lipid accumulation and inflammation in the vessel wall. Therefore, LDL cholesterol is not the “bad” cholesterol, but instead the oxidized LDL cholesterol.

This study again is pointing out that coronary artery disease is not a disease of cholesterol, but instead, is an inflammatory disease of the arteries. Native or unchanged LDL cholesterol and phospholipids are not the problem. The trouble begins when these highly sensitive lipids are exposed to excessive free radicals, which can easily and quickly oxidize them. These oxidized lipids now create a low-grade inflammatory response in the fine, single layer of our arteries. It is this inflammatory response that causes the damage to our arteries and leads to hardening of our arteries, which can eventual cause a heart attack.

Source: Oxidized Phospholipids, Lp (a) Lipoprotein, and Coronary Artery Disease, Tsimikas, S., Brilakis, E. S. et al. New England Journal of Medicine, 353:46-57