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<\/a>I\u2019m looking out of the window and it\u2019s a grey, cold, overcast day. Just the sort of day that encourages Seasonal Affective Disorder <\/strong>or SAD<\/strong>.<\/p>\nSAD is associated with a lack of energy and depression. In some 8% of people it\u2019s serious enough to need treatment, but in some degree it affects at least a quarter of us. And almost all of us feel less upbeat after a spell of gloomy weather.<\/p>\n
SAD \u2013 or the \u2018winter blues\u2019 <\/strong>\u2013 is caused by insufficient sunlight. The result is a general lethargy and, in some people, sleep problems, lower libido and an urge to overeat. There\u2019s even a charity devoted to helping victims of SAD.<\/p>\n The connection with mood is because light passes through the eye to the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that controls the production of many of your hormones \u2013 including oxytocin, the \u2018love\u2019 hormone.<\/p>\n If you are like the majority of people in our modern world, you work indoors almost all the time. Then you go home, cook and relax by reading or watching TV \u2013 so you continue to be indoors.<\/p>\n The result is that you don\u2019t get enough sunlight and therefore you don\u2019t get enough vitamin D. Yet we are evolved to absorb sunlight and when we do not get enough, our bodies don\u2019t function well.<\/p>\n Vitamin D plays a major role in maintaining overall health. It regulates over 1,000 different genes \u2013 upregulating health-promoting genes and downregulating health-threatening genes.<\/p>\n Research shows that sub-optimal levels of vitamin D3 in the blood are linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis, possibly multiple sclerosis and an increased risk of various forms of cancer, including breast, colon and prostate cancer.<\/p>\n Significantly, researchers have tracked mortality rates from breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon, and ovarian cancer and found them lower in the sunnier states of the USA.<\/p>\n Cells in your body have vitamin D \u201creceptors\u201d, and the presence of these specific receptors mean vitamin D is actually a\u00a0hormone<\/strong>, rather than a vitamin.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/sup>We know that vitamin D plays an important role in how cells develop. So it is perhaps not surprising that when vitamin D is directly applied to \u2018D receptors\u2019 in the laboratory, cancer cells stop growing and multiplying, according to research published by the National Cancer Institute in America.<\/p>\n Although all males who lack adequate levels of vitamin D are more vulnerable to prostate problems, males originally of African origin are especially at risk of prostate cancer.<\/p>\n Sub-optimal levels of vitamin D can be injurious to health generally and they are also linked to dementia. In fact, a 7 year study published in the US National Library of Medicine shows that low levels of vitamin D increase the risk of dementia\u00a0almost 20 times<\/em>!<\/p>\n Vitamin D deficiency is also very common in people with cardiovascular disease. A 2010 survey showed that almost all people with heart failure have reduced D levels. So much so that low vitamin D status is now acknowledged as an independent predictor for arterial diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.<\/p>\n There are dozens of studies that show you need vitamin D to maintain your cardiovascular health. But in the winter it\u2019s virtually impossible to get the level you need from sunlight. And few foods can provide enough to make up the difference.<\/p>\n A supplement of vitamin D3 \u2013 the natural version that is created by sunlight \u2013 is the answer.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s important to make sure you\u2019re taking the proper dose. Studies of cardiovascular patients who take only\u00a0an average of 500 IU a day generally show little benefit, whereas those taking\u00a02,000 IU <\/strong>do.<\/p>\n People with diabetes have lower levels of vitamin D than the general population. A vitamin D deficiency makes you almost twice as likely <\/u>to progress to\u00a0insulin resistance<\/strong>, the pre-cursor of diabetes or \u2018pre-diabetes\u2019. And more than\u00a0doubles <\/u>your risk for progressing to type II diabetes <\/strong>(see references).<\/p>\n On the other hand, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that a supplement level of vitamin D3 at 2,000 IU a day slows the progression from pre-diabetes to diabetes<\/em>.<\/p>\n When overweight, non-diabetic adults supplemented with\u00a02,000 IU\/day\u00a0of vitamin D<\/strong> or a placebo for 16 weeks, the vitamin D group had significantly improved insulin secretion and glucose clearance from their blood. The control subjects saw a worsening of these markers.<\/p>\n One a day vitamin pills with just the Recommended Daily Amount (RDA\/RNI) are sub-optimal, as the RDA\/RNI in the UK and EU is inadequate, particularly for winter.<\/p>\n You can get a free report by Dr Paul Clayton and Colin Rose on the case for optimum vitamin D and advice from this link. https:\/\/nutrishield.com\/the-products\/vitamin-d\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, please share it with family and friends. You can follow us on Facebook or Twitter for daily headline health tweets.<\/p>\n [DISPLAY_ACURAX_ICONS]<\/p>\n Dr Paul Clayton designed NutriShield as a comprehensive health Read it here online<\/a> or see the website www.healthdefence.com<\/a> for excerpts and links to buy direct from the publisher.<\/p>\n See online here for delicious recipes from the Health Defence Cookbook<\/strong><\/em> incorporating healthy foods featuring in a Mediterranean Diet. References:<\/strong><\/p>\n Serum vitamin D deficiency as a predictor of incident non-Alzheimer dementias: a 7-year longitudinal study.<\/em>\u00a0Annweiler C, Rolland Y, Schott AM, Blain H, Vellas B, Beauchet O. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord.\u00a0<\/em>2011;32(4):273-8.<\/p>\n Vitamin D deficiency and myocardial diseases.<\/em>\u00a0Pilz S, Tomaschitz A, Drechsler C, Dekker JM, Marz W Mol Nutr Food Res.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>2010 Aug;54(8):1103-13<\/p>\n Vitamin D status and peripheral arterial disease: evidence so far<\/em>. Chua GT, Chan YC, Cheng SW..\u00a0Vasc Health Risk Manag.\u00a0<\/em>2011;7:671-5.<\/p>\nLack of sunlight in winter months leads to insufficient vitamin D<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Lack of sunlight is responsible for even more serious conditions than a general feeling of malaise.<\/p>\nVitamin D and cancer<\/h4>\n
Optimum vitamin D lowers risk of dementia and heart disease<\/h4>\n
Take a vitamin D3 supplement<\/h5>\n
Vitamin D and diabetes<\/h4>\n
\n<\/a>Ensuring that you have an optimum<\/u> intake of vitamin D is essential to combat SAD and protect against cancer, heart disease, dementia and diabetes.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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