Health, Microbes, and More
Many people complain of frequent colds and upper respiratory infections. Perhaps even every month. This is an especially big problem for those suffering from chronic sinusitis, because every cold and sore throat also leads to a sinus infection. So a goal is to try to reduce the number of infections, and daily vitamin D supplements ...continue reading "Fewer Respiratory Infections With Vitamin D Supplements"
Disappointing results from a large study of more than 18,000 adults that looked at whether daily vitamin D supplements for 5 years helps prevent depression. The Harvard Medical School researchers found that vitamin D didn't prevent depression or improve mood. The study was large (more than 18,000 adults over the age of 50), double-blind (no one knew ...continue reading "Study Finds That Vitamin D Supplements Don’t Prevent Depression"
Once again a study finds health problems from supplements. This time, researchers found that several bodies of evidence (the long-running American Nurses' Study and two studies in Norway) found a higher risk of hip fracture in postmenopausal women who took high doses of both vitamin B6 and B12. Interestingly, B12 alone seemed to not be ...continue reading "High Dose Vitamin B Supplements and Hip Fractures"
For a few years I've been noticing that studies of vitamin D have had mixed results for a number of medical conditions. A number of times initial studies found an association with low levels of vitamin D and a number of medical conditions, but follow up well-designed studies are just not finding the same results ...continue reading "Recent Vitamin D Studies Have Mixed Results"
The results of a recent study by Vanderbilt University may help explain why some people have difficulty raising their low vitamin D levels - it may be that their magnesium levels are low. It appears that magnesium may regulate vitamin D levels - when vitamin D levels are low, magnesium supplementation raises vitamin D levels, ...continue reading "Magnesium Regulates Vitamin D Levels In the Body?"
The last post was about several reviews of vitamin D studies, and how when people are put randomly into different groups and then followed for a while - that the studies generally are not finding the same wonderful effects of higher levels of vitamin D in the blood that observational studies are finding - instead ...continue reading "Five Studies Looking at Vitamin D and Health"
The controversy over whether people should be supplementing with vitamin D or not, and whether there are health benefits or harms from vitamin D supplementation is heating up. While observational studies have found health benefits with higher vitamin D blood levels, the beneficial results have generally not held up (or mixed findings) when people were ...continue reading "Mixed Findings In Vitamin D Supplement Studies"
Vitamin D supplements are incredibly popular, but whether vitamin D supplements should be taken during pregnancy and at what dose is still debated, and studies have had conflicting results. Now a review by Canadian researchers of 43 studies of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy found that there is "insufficient evidence to guide recommendations during pregnancy". ...continue reading "Vitamin D Supplements During Pregnancy?"
A recent study found that significantly increasing dietary fiber intake after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer was associated with a lower death rate - from both colorectal cancer and overall mortality (from any cause). The 1575 men and women (all healthcare professionals) in the study had received a nonmetastatic colorectal cancer diagnosis (it had not ...continue reading "Definitely Increase Fiber Intake After A Colon Cancer Diagnosis"
A major new report about colorectal cancer found that a number of lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity) increase or lower the risk of colorectal cancer. The report was an analysis of global research studies and was published by the American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund. They found that there is strong evidence that: ...continue reading "How to Decrease the Risk of Colorectal Cancer"