Rising rates of autism spectrum disorder and the “normalcy” of vitamin D deficiency, demand our attention. Are they linked? Evidence suggests they are.
Autism and Vitamin D
Vitamin D is Too Good Not to Be True
Several years ago when I attended the first medical conference on vitamin D designed for clinicians, the limited data we had were very exciting. There was also many reasons to be skeptical and many were. It all sounded too good to be true they thought. Maybe higher vitamin D levels just told us who was […]
Calcium and D Don’t Build Bone Right
We are supposed to make mistakes so that we learn. Sometimes medical authorities, especially those who issue official guidelines, are remarkably intellectually dull. A current example is the US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation not to take vitamin D and calcium to prevent bone fractures. If they were correct, if this were based upon […]
Vitamin D – Fat Loss and Autism
The results of a recent trial were disappointing to some but I think that disappointment is unwarranted. Subjects were given 1000 iu of D3 daily. This dose did not reduce their body weight. That would have been nice for those wanting to lose weight. However, the subjects did significantly lower body fat and abdominal fat, […]
Be Careful What You Swallow
A study was just published with exclamatory headlines warning about vitamin D and calcium raising the risk of kidney stones. They studied the blood and urine of 163 healthy, postmenopausal women for a year. Investigators gave the women from 0-4,800 iu of vitamin D and raised their calcium to 1,200 – 1,400 mg/day. 1/3 of […]
Vitamin Supplement Mistakes
If you read about vitamin supplements you must be confused. Actually, it would be hard not to be. Vitamins are, by definition, essential to health. Studies of hundreds of millions of people confirm that truth. However, a rash of recent studies have linked taking vitamin supplements to higher rates of a variety of diseases, especially […]
High Intensity Intermittent Exercise – Fast, Efficient, Fun, and Effective
As you probably know, exercise may well be the single most important health habit. Drinking water, eating well, using supplements properly, avoiding toxins, sleeping, working on your attitude and relationships are all also vitally important. However, even beyond its power to prevent and treat disease, exercise may well provide the greatest wellbeing boost of any […]
Burying Your Head in the Sand is Bad for Your Vitamin D Level
900 pages and zero thought. That is my summation of the IOM’s new calcium and vitamin D statement. Having been a member of such consensus panels in the past, I am sympathetic to their tendency to fall to the most conservative “lowest common denominator” opinion. However, this document is far from a reasonable scientific assessment. […]
Supplement Content and Purity
Health advocate Gary Null has provided an unintentional educational lesson for those of us using dietary supplements. Taking one of his own products, he developed vitamin D toxicity. As there have been only a few cases of vitamin D toxicity ever reported, there is an inevitably interesting story behind this announcement. The story is that […]