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Half worldwide don't get enough vitamin D
RIVERSIDE, Calif., Half the people in North America and Western Europe get insufficient amounts of vitamin D, an international expert on vitamin D says.
"Elsewhere, it is worse, given that two-thirds of the people are vitamin D-insufficient or deficient," Anthony Norman, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside, says in a statement. "It is clear that merely eating vitamin D-rich foods is not adequate to solve the problem for most adults."
Currently in the United States, the recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 200 international units for people age 50 and older, 400 IU for those ages 51-70 and 600 IU for people age 70 and older.
"There is a wide consensus among scientists that the relative daily intake of vitamin D should be increased to 2,000 to 4,000 IU for most adults," Norman says. "Already, several studies have reported substantial reductions in incidence of breast cancer, colon cancer and type 1 diabetes in association with adequate intake of vitamin D, the positive effect generally occurring within five years of initiation of adequate vitamin D intake."
However, he adds that more research is needed.
In the July 2010 issue of Endocrine Today, a monthly newspaper about diabetes and endocrine disorders, Norman says there is irrefutable evidence that receptors in the immune, pancreas, heart-cardiovascular, muscle and brain systems in the body generate biological responses to the steroid hormone form of vitamin D.
RIVERSIDE, Calif., Half the people in North America and Western Europe get insufficient amounts of vitamin D, an international expert on vitamin D says.
"Elsewhere, it is worse, given that two-thirds of the people are vitamin D-insufficient or deficient," Anthony Norman, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside, says in a statement. "It is clear that merely eating vitamin D-rich foods is not adequate to solve the problem for most adults."
Currently in the United States, the recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 200 international units for people age 50 and older, 400 IU for those ages 51-70 and 600 IU for people age 70 and older.
"There is a wide consensus among scientists that the relative daily intake of vitamin D should be increased to 2,000 to 4,000 IU for most adults," Norman says. "Already, several studies have reported substantial reductions in incidence of breast cancer, colon cancer and type 1 diabetes in association with adequate intake of vitamin D, the positive effect generally occurring within five years of initiation of adequate vitamin D intake."
However, he adds that more research is needed.
In the July 2010 issue of Endocrine Today, a monthly newspaper about diabetes and endocrine disorders, Norman says there is irrefutable evidence that receptors in the immune, pancreas, heart-cardiovascular, muscle and brain systems in the body generate biological responses to the steroid hormone form of vitamin D.