MORE ON VITAMIN D

As much as I reported on Vitamin D the other day, there is more:
(1)

The 'D'-fensive Vitamin: Study Finds Vitamin D Sustains Life
By: Frank ManganoSource: http://www.newstarget.com December 8, 2007
We live in a culture that’s obsessed with who or what’s “the best.” What’s the best exercise? The best food? The best athlete, the best actor, the best deal, the best song, best album, best actress, best candidate, best television, best laptop, gaming system, comedian and on and on and on. So it comes as no surprise to find that researchers have endeavored to discover the best vitamin for the body. Vitamin C? Think again.
According to researchers, it’s the vitamin you get simply by walking outside on a sunny day: vitamin D. Now I know what you’re thinking: How does one define “best”? My interpretation of the best vitamin— like the best song, or TV drama—is different from someone else’s interpretation. So the researchers defined what’s “best” as the vitamin that will prolong your life the most.
After reviewing data from 18 trials of tests that involved 57,000 people, researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, concluded that taking vitamin D supplements will prolong life by warding off diseases. The study is published in the September issues of Archives of Internal Medicine and Forbes.com .
Six years after the initial studies were done on the 57,000 people, the researchers followed up on the subjects to see what, if any, effect vitamin D had on their bodies. What they found was those who took vitamin D supplements had a 7 percent chance of living longer than the people who did not take vitamin D supplements (approximately 4,800 of the 57,000 people died in between those six years)! Now, granted, 7 percent isn’t a huge number, but it’s large enough to encourage researchers that their findings could be a breakthrough in how medicines are made to treat diseases like cancer.
While the subjects in the studies took varying doses of vitamin D (from as much as 2,000 IUs to as little as 300 IUs), lead researcher Dr. Phillipe Autier recommends no more than 600 IUs as a daily supplement. As you may know, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and can be hazardous to your health if taken in too high of dosages. In fact, too much vitamin D may cause cancer, according to a study published in a 2004 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
So, to paraphrase infomercial magnate Ron Popeil, how much vitamin D do you need and where can you find it? As aforementioned, moderate amounts of sunlight each day causes the body to makes its own vitamin D, but actual healthy food sources include milk, dandelion greens, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and oily fish like salmon, swordfish, mackerel and sardines (3 ½ oz salmon=350 IUs). The herbs alfalfa, horsetail, nettle and parsley also contain Vitamin D.
However you get it, as always, make sure it’s from an organic source as there are more vitamins in them than non-organic food sources. Just as in sports, in life, the best offense is a good 'D'-fense.

If you are going to supplement the vdery best one to take is D-3.
D-3 listed here with a coupon I was offered as a good customer of this most excellent company, I like their supplements because they are made in the US, are safe, and the least expensive I've seen anywhere. I will get no commission on this if you click it here; if it bothers you that I'm trying to make a living here.


and I'm takingCellPower™ and
~4 essential minerals for diabetics
~SELENIUMhelps immune system,fights infection and aids circulation
~MAGNESIUMhelps to relax you, aids stress and muscle relaxing
~CHROMIUMimproves insulin sensitivity, and helps lower blood sugar.
~ZINC especially to help you heal.
*************************************
Be sure to check out my new favorite interactive health message group healthwatch
Write to me at Webriter@verizon.net or use the comment or chat features. I do appreciate the feedback even if it’s negative, Christian Biblical stories
Natural herbal remedies
blessings

-----THE GARDEN GNOME



~~~Jokes and Inspiration~~~

We are here on Earth to do good to others. What
the others are here for, I don't know.
-- W. H. Auden

So much of what we call management consists in
making it difficult for people to work.
-- Peter Drucker

If you put tomfoolery into a computer, nothing
comes out of it but tomfoolery. But this
tomfoolery, having passed through a very expensive machine,
is somehow ennobled and no-one dares criticize
it.
-- Pierre Gallois

What happens when the future has come and gone?
-- Robert Half

~~~
I was due for an appointment with the gynecologist later in the week. Early one morning, I received a call from the doctor's office saying
I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30a, and it was already 8:45a.

The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn't have any time to spare. I rushed upstairs, threw off my pajamas, wet the washcloth sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash to make sure I was presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.

I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in. Knowing the procedure, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the other side of the room and pretended that I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away. I was a little surprised when the doctor said, "My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven't we?" I didn't respond and thought he was being weird.

After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal ... some shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. After school when my 6 year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, "Mommy, where's my washcloth?" I told her to get another one from the cupboard.

She replied, "No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter and sparkles saved inside it."

~~~
Caroles


Christmas is fast coming upon us so let’s experience the joy of singing some carols together to welcome the holiday.


I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and (mentally) healthy New Year…



1 Schizophrenia--- Do You hear What I Hear?

2 Multiple Personality Disorder--- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3 Dementia--- I Think I’ll Be Home For Christmas

4 Narcissistic--- Hark The Herald Angels Sing About Me

5 Manic---Deck The Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and…

6 Paranoid--- Santa Clause Is Coming To Town To Get me

7 Personality Disorder--- You Better Watch Out, I’m Gonna Cry, I’m Gonna Pout, Maybe I’ll Tell You Why

8 Borderline Personality Disorder--- Thoughts Of Roasting On An Open Fire

9 Attention Deficit Disorder--- Silent Night, Holy ooh look at the froggy- can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

10 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder--- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,………
~~~
The Man and the Birds
by Paul Harvey

The man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn't make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

"I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "but I'm not going with you to church this Christmas Eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite. That he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound...Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud...At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They'd been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them...He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms...Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me...That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

"If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to safe, warm...to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand." At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells - Adeste Fidelis - listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

Merry Christmas
~~~

An atheist was walking through the woods. "What majestic trees, what powerful rivers, what beautiful animals!", he said to himself.
As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look, and saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charging towards him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder, and saw that the bear was closing in on him.He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. The atheist tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw, and raising his right paw to strike him.
At that instant, the atheist cried out, " Oh, my God!"
Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent.
As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. "You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist, and even credit creation to cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I now to count you as a believer?"
The atheist looked directly into the light and said, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian?"
"Very well", said the voice.
The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. The bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head, and spoke:

"Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive from Thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen."

~~~

That's all, now I wish you all peace, Joy and above all mirth, that which rises bubbling to the surface, overtaking you with merriment.

Why do we get colds and flu in winter?

Just 5,000 I.U. of vitamin D per day will keep you from catching the myriad of colds and flu's running around creating havoc. My mother insisted I wear layers of clothing to keep from catching a cold, and she was actually causing colds. Exposure to the sun when the weather gets colder is lessened and that's why we catch colds and flu when the weather is colder. Let's get real here Folks, colds are caused by germs, germs that are around all the time, we "catch them" when we are no longer getting the natural source of preventative medicine. Want proof? Ok read on my friend:

(1)

The Real Reason Flu Hits in Winter — and how to stop it naturally
For centuries, people believed that people catch cold and flu in the winter because of the colder weather. But countless studies have debunked that myth. In fact, studies show that even in places where it’s warm year-round, people still get the flu during winter!
Why do people catch the flu in the winter? The answer to the riddle comes to us from the unlikeliest of places: a maximum security prison!
Back in 2005, the Atascadero prison in California was hit with a severe flu outbreak. Inmates from all over the prison got sick. Yet one ward was unaffected. None of the prisoners in that ward got the flu – even after they mingled with infected inmates from other wards!
Why didn’t the prisoners in that ward get sick? It turns out that the doctor in that ward was doing something the other doctors weren’t: He was giving the prisoners daily doses of vitamin D.
Yes, vitamin D. We’ve known for years that vitamin D protects you against a whole host of illnesses, including osteoporosis and cancer. But recent research shows that vitamin D protects you against infections, too. That’s because vitamin D stimulates your body to make a powerful germ-fighting substance called cathelicidin. And some scientists believe that cathelicidin just might be the most powerful natural antibiotic ever discovered!
It all makes sense. We know that our bodies make less vitamin D in the winter because there’s less sunlight. So the reason we get sick in the winter has nothing to do with the cold; it has to do with the fact that our vitamin D levels are lower!
Action to take: Arm yourself with the amazing protective power of vitamin D. During the summer, make sure you spend at least 15 minutes per day outside. And during the winter, spring, and fall, take vitamin D in supplement form. I recommend 5,000 I.U. ...

(2)

Then I thought of three mysteries that I first learned in medical school at the University of North Carolina: (1) although the influenza virus exists in the population year-round, influenza is a wintertime illnesses; (2) children with vitamin D deficient rickets are much more likely to suffer from respiratory infections; (3) the elderly in most countries are much more likely to die in the winter than the summer (excess wintertime mortality), and most of that excess mortality, although listed as cardiac, is, in fact, due to influenza.
Could vitamin D explain these three mysteries, mysteries that account for hundreds of thousands of deaths every year? Studies have found the influenza virus is present in the population year-around; why is it a wintertime illness? Even the common cold got its name because it is common in cold weather and rare in the summer. Vitamin D blood levels are at their highest in the summer but reach their lowest levels during the flu and cold season. Could such a simple explanation explain these mysteries?
The British researcher, Dr. R. Edgar Hope-Simpson, was the first to document the most mysterious feature of epidemic influenza, its wintertime surfeit and summertime scarcity. He theorized that an unknown "seasonal factor" was at work, a factor that might be affecting innate human immunity. Hope-Simpson was a general practitioner who became famous in the late 1960's after he discovered the cause of shingles. British authorities bestowed every prize they had on him, not only because of the importance of his discovery, but because he made the discovery own his own, without the benefit of a university appointment, and without any formal training in epidemiology (the detective branch of medicine that methodically searches for clues about the cause of disease). ...
1. Why the flu predictably occurs in the months following the winter solstice, when vitamin D levels are at their lowest,
2. Why it disappears in the months following the summer solstice,
3. Why influenza is more common in the tropics during the rainy season,
4. Why the cold and rainy weather associated with El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which drives people indoors and lowers vitamin D blood levels, is associated with influenza,
5. Why the incidence of influenza is inversely correlated with outdoor temperatures,
6. Why children exposed to sunlight are less likely to get colds,
7. Why cod liver oil (which contains vitamin D) reduces the incidence of viral respiratory infections,
8. Why Russian scientists found that vitamin D-producing UVB lamps reduced colds and flu in schoolchildren and factory workers,
9. Why Russian scientists found that volunteers, deliberately infected with a weakened flu virus - first in the summer and then again in the winter - show significantly different clinical courses in the different seasons,
10. Why the elderly who live in countries with high vitamin D consumption, like Norway, are less likely to die in the winter,
11. Why children with vitamin D deficiency and rickets suffer from frequent respiratory infections,
12. Why an observant physician (Rehman), who gave high doses of vitamin D to children who were constantly sick from colds and the flu, found the treated children were suddenly free from infection,
13. Why the elderly are so much more likely to die from heart attacks in the winter rather than in the summer,
14. Why African Americans, with their low vitamin D blood levels, are more likely to die from influenza and pneumonia than Whites are.

Nope milk won't cut it it just has synthetic Vitamin D and it isn't enough.

The effect of flu vaccines is modest at best and dangerous as they contain chemicals that destroy things we need.


(3)

British influenzologists have not been as infatuated with acquired immunity as their American counterparts. The roads first diverged between British and American virologists many years ago when three Brits (Andrewes, Laidlaw, and Smith) were credited with discovering the influenza virus; the Yanks thought Shope (who had earlier isolated the virus in pigs) should have had the honor. Then, in 1976, British experts warned the United States not to embark on the mass immunization of 43,000,000 Americans with the swine flu vaccine. The Americans ignored the British warning, which proved prophetic when swine flu failed to appear, but an outbreak of immunization related Guillain-Barre Syndrome did. The program was halted and the director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) fired. For a fascinating set of papers on influenza that deals with these and other issues—available for free— go to the CDC website.

Need more?
(4)

Vitamin D 'can lower cancer risk'
Oily fish is a source of vitamin D
High doses of vitamin D can reduce the risk of developing some common cancers by as much as 50%, US scientists claim.
Researchers reviewed 63 old studies and found that the vitamin could reduce the chances of developing breast, ovarian and colon cancer, and others.
Experts said more research was needed to draw firm conclusions.
Charities cautiously welcomed the University of California study but warned too much vitamin D could harm the kidneys and liver.
The "natural" form of the vitamin, called D3, is normally produced in the skin after exposure to sunlight, but is also obtained from certain foods such as oily fish, margarine and meat.
The easiest and most reliable way of getting the appropriate amount [of Vitamin D] is from food and a daily supplement
Professor Cedric Garland
The research, done at the University of California in San Diego, looked at the relationship between blood levels of vitamin D and cancer risk.
Survival rates for Afro-Caribbean people with breast, colon, prostate and ovarian cancers are worse than for white people, possibly because dark skins are not as good at making vitamin D, the researchers said.

Ah here is a good tip, I have much darker skin for a Caucasian, maybe this is why I catch more colds than my husband, of course he also spends more time outdoors, he smokes outside. I believe wee are just catching up with an iceberg here and we'll find that Vitamin D also boosts our immunity to lots of other problems as well. I will have to add a vitamin D supplement to my regimen. I do know taking it will eliminate a lot of pain in joints and muscles and it's a great essential fatty acid so it's a antioxident. How can I lose?

(5)

Rationale: Vitamin D was used to treat tuberculosis in the pre-antibiotic era. Prospective studies to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on antimycobacterial immunity have not previously been performed. Objectives: To determine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on antimycobacterial immunity and vitamin D status. Methods: A double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted in 192 healthy adult tuberculosis contacts in London, UK. Participants were randomized to receive a single oral dose of 2.5 mg vitamin D or placebo and followed up at 6 weeks. Measurements and Main Results: The primary outcome measure was assessed with a functional whole blood assay (BCG-lux assay) that measures the ability of whole blood to restrict luminescence, and thus growth, of recombinant reporter mycobacteria in vitro; the read-out is expressed as a luminescence ratio (luminescence post-infection/baseline luminescence). Interferon-gamma responses to the M. tuberculosis antigens early secretory antigenic target-6 and culture filtrate protein 10 were determined with a second whole blood assay. Vitamin D supplementation significantly enhanced the ability of participants' whole blood to restrict BCG-lux luminescence in vitro compared to placebo (mean luminescence ratio at follow-up 0.57 vs. 0.71 respectively, 95% CI for difference 0.01 to 0.25; P=0.03) but did not affect antigen-stimulated Interferon-gamma secretion. Conclusions: A single oral dose of 2.5 mg vitamin D significantly enhanced the ability of participants' whole blood to restrict BCG-lux luminescence in vitro without affecting antigen-stimulated Interferon-gamma responses. Clinical trials should be performed to determine whether vitamin D supplementation prevents reactivation of latent tuberculosis infection.

You can take your vitamin D in Cod liver oil but, WORD OF CAUTION HERE: Cod Liver oil contains lots of vitamin A as well as D, if you want to get more D in your diet I suggest you buy the D-3 listed here with a coupon I was offered as a good customer of this most excellent company, I like their supplements because they are made in the US, are safe, and the least expensive I've seen anywhere. I will get no commission on this if you click it here; if it bothers you that I'm trying to make a living here.

and still takingCellPower™ and
~4 essential minerals for diabetics
~SELENIUMhelps immune system,fights infection and aids circulation
~MAGNESIUMhelps to relax you, aids stress and muscle relaxing
~CHROMIUMimproves insulin sensitivity, and helps lower blood sugar.
~ZINC especially to help you heal.
*************************************
Be sure to check out my new favorite interactive health message group healthwatch
Write to me at Webriter@verizon.net or use the comment or chat features. I do appreciate the feedback even if it’s negative, Christian Biblical stories
Natural herbal remedies
blessings

-----THE GARDEN GNOME



~~~Jokes and Inspiration~~~
Reality is nothing but a collective hunch.
-- Jane Wagner, Lily Tomlin in "The
Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the
Universe"

Last night I dreamed I ate a ten-pound
marshmallow, and when I woke up the pillow was gone.
-- Tommy Cooper

There is only one thing a philosopher can be
relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other
philosophers.
-- William James

~~~
Computer Haikus – Part 3

A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

~~~
The DVD player had conked out and we weren't able to watch the movie we'd rented. Then my husband had a brilliant idea: "Why don't we use the PlayStation?" We pushed all the buttons, but couldn't get it to work, so we gave up and went upstairs. We were reading in bed when our 17-year-old son appeared in our doorway.

"Someone left a DVD in my PlayStation," he said.

"We were trying to watch a movie on it," my husband admitted, "but we couldn't get past the parental control screen."

"What a shame," our son said as he smiled and closed the door.
~~~
My father was often away on lengthy tours of duty, leaving my mother to manage five kids by herself. While he was away we used to sneak into their room to sleep. So before shipping out one time, Dad reminded us to respect Mom's space and sleep in our own rooms. Upon his return, as he disembarked the plane with the rest of his unit, my brother ran up to him, jumped into his arms and loudly announced, "Dad, you're going to be so happy. While you were gone this time nobody slept with Mom."
~~~
One evening my new husband called to have me pick him up from work. Since I had never been on the military post before, I was a little reluctant, but I agreed to attempt the task. While I drove through the base, a young soldier in his camouflage uniform stepped out onto the street. I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him, and the screeching tires attracted the attention of a nearby MP. I was in tears as the officer approached my car. "I didn't see him!" I blurted out.

"Well, ma'am," the MP remarked, grinning at me, "that's kind of the point."
~~~
During reservists' training, my commanding officer was briefing his colleagues on the battalion's mission. While he was highlighting the key objectives of our task -- serious business, aimed at motivating the troops -- he was suddenly interrupted by a ringing cell phone. The tune? "Mission Impossible."
~~~
During basic training one lesson stood out from all the others: Keep your mouth shut unless given permission to talk. But I didn't realize how well our instructors had hammered this point home until one evening when we sat down to eat. My table mate started her evening prayer with, "God, request permission to pray."

~~~~
Boarding a military transport plane, I noticed hydraulic fluid pouring from the tail section. "Excuse me," I said to a crew member. "Do you know the aircraft has a leak?"

"Yep," he said as he continued on his way.

"Aren't you concerned?" He shrugged. "Well," I asked, "how do you know when you're out of fluid?"

"When it quits leaking," he answered.
~~~
Have a perfectly splendid day, be Blessed and at peace, be content and you willbe doubly blessed.

Sources
(1)http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.ph via
Dr. Robert Jay Rowen newsletter see www.womenshealth.com
(2)https://secure.secondopinionnewsletter.com/newsletterOffer707/index.html?c=SODC07
(3)http://www.vitamindcouncil.com/newsletter/2006-oct.shtml
(4)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4563336.stm
A Single Dose of Vitamin D Enhances Immunity to Mycobacteria
(5)http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/200701-007OCv1