Extracted from my daily email... Goodness know how I signed up to it somewhere years ago..just found it interesting reading..
Vitamin D—bones are just the beginning!
When most people think of Vitamin D they think “strong bones” but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Yes, it’s true that Vitamin D works with parathyroid hormone (PTH) to regulate the level of calcium in your blood and therefore encourages healthy bones (and osteoporosis prevention too).
But it’s also important for the health of the “bones” that you flash each time you smile—your TEETH!
Studies have shown that in men and women over 50 years of age, a lack of Vitamin D is associated with increased risk of periodontal (gum) disease.
An immune boost
Vitamin D also helps regulate your immune system activity by helping to prevent excessive, inflammatory immune responses (such as those seen in autoimmune conditions like Crohn’s, colitis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, Type 1 diabetes and Graves’ disease).
You see, your immune system’s “T-cells” are some of the culprits behind your immune system going haywire and attacking your healthy tissues.
But your T-cells also have receptors for Vitamin D on them. So when Vitamin D can step in and “calm down” your T-cells, that can help discourage their harmful inflammatory actions.
Now we’ll start with the biggies—Cancer
Researchers have been intrigued for a long time about Vitamin D’s role in preventing cancer, since studies have shown that people who live in southern latitudes (where they get more sun exposure and hence their bodies can make Vitamin D) have lower levels of certain cancers.
Turns out they were on to something.
You see, Vitamin D plays an active role in your cell activity—in other words, helping to regulate cell multiplication and cell death.
Now, by definition cancer is out-of-control, excessive cell multiplication, along with a concurrent slowing down in cell death. That’s what allows tumors to form and take over surrounding tissues—they multiply like rabbits and don’t die off.
But Vitamin D’s action to encourage proper cell activity shines through here--scientific studies have found that Vitamin D acts to decrease the growth of cancer cells and stimulate the death of those deadly cells.
Next up—Type 2 diabetes
The role of Vitamin D in regulating calcium goes beyond your bones and teeth.
Because calcium plays a major role in your body’s ability to regulate glucose and insulin levels, having adequate blood calcium (which in turn depends on having healthy levels of Vitamin D) is important to prevent Type 2 diabetes.
In addition, Vitamin D also supports proper pancreatic function to help control glucose in the bloodstream (since your pancreas produces insulin).
It even fights our #1 killer—HEART DISEASE
Several studies have been conducted linking low levels of Vitamin D to an increased risk of heart disease including heart attack, peripheral artery disease, congestive heart failure and atherosclerosis.
For example, a study conducted by researchers at Harvard University found that people who had low levels of Vitamin D were twice as likely to have a heart attack as those who had adequate D levels.
In another study done in the state of Utah, researchers examined Vitamin D levels and heart disease in nearly 30,000 men and women and found that those with lower levels of Vitamin D were more likely to have cardiovascular disease.
This is merely another example of Vitamin D’s anti-inflammatory efforts in action.
You see, inflammation in your arteries is a leading contributing factor to high blood pressure, arterial damage, atherosclerosis and ultimately heart disease.
So many researchers believe (and I agree) that Vitamin D’s anti-inflammatory properties most certainly can help protect against heart disease.
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