Vitamin D and Heart Health

More good news for Vitamin D which is rapidly becoming a very important disease prevention nutrient! I recommend getting your vitamin D levels checked, especially if you are overweight (vitamin D is stored in fat so not as much is available, over the age of 50 (vitamin D formation by the sun in your skin decreases as you age), or do not get much sun exposure. If you can't get your levels checked, you might want to consider taking a Vitamin D supplement of 400-1000 IU/day. Its inexpensive and worth it!

MONDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that extra vitamin D could make a major difference in heart disease risk among people who have low levels of the nutrient.

Researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray, Utah, report in two new studies that vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk of other chronic diseases, too.

"Vitamin D replacement therapy has long been associated with reducing the risk of fractures and diseases of the bone," study author Dr. J. Brent Muhlestein, director of cardiovascular research, said in a center news release. "But our findings show that vitamin D could have far greater implications in the treatment and reduction of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions than we previously thought."

The researchers found that patients who boosted their vitamin D levels to 43 nanograms per milliliter of blood or higher reduced their rates of diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, high blood pressure and heart disease. They were also less likely to die during the study period.

According to the researchers, a level of 30 nanograms per milliliter of vitamin D is considered normal.

"Although randomized trials would be useful and are coming, I feel there is enough information here for me to start treatment based on these findings," Muhlestein said, adding that increasing vitamin D intake by 1,000 to 5,000 international units a day may be a good idea in some cases.