Olwen Anderson's Blog

Another good reason to get out in the sun – a little!

Find a warm sunny spot to read today's blog post, as I'd like to explain more about how important some balanced exposure to the sun can be for your bones.

Vitamin D is a vitamin you can create within your own body, as long as you either eat it in your food, or expose your skin to some UVB radiation. Seems simple, you think; after all, aren't we exposed to too much sunlight now because of climate change?

Well, it seems that we're spending a lot more time out of the sunlight than we thought. Rickets, the disease of soft bones in children, is becoming more prevalent in Australia. And researchers have found that many adults are deficient in this important vitamin too. Not what you'd expect to find happening in sunny Australia.

But when you think about the amount of time we all spend indoors now, and the shrinking size of our back yards, maybe the return of rickets isn't such a surprise after all.

Vitamin D synthesis starts as soon as you step into the sunshine. Special receptors in your skin create vitamin D3 and despatch the molecules to your liver, where its metabolised to create a more potent form. Then your kidneys do some more work, turning the vitamin it into its most potent form, ready for your cells to use. 

This vitamin plays a part in monitoring your blood pressure, and regulating your immune system. But its major role is in maintaining your bone strength and calcium balance. Without adequate calcium in the right places, your bones can literally soften, bringing on rickets in children and all-too-breakable bones in the elderly.

If you can't get out in the sun for some reason, you can get some vitamin D through your food, particularly egg yolks and cod liver oil.

So, what's the right amount of sunlight for you? I can't give you a definitive figure on that; after all, different locations receive different amounts of UVB radiation (the kind of sunlight you need to make vitamin D). However its now possible to find out whether you're deficient in this important vitamin with a simple blood test.

Hope you've enjoyed receiving your free vitamin D supplement from the sun while you read today's blog post!

P.S. Since writing this post I've come across a tool to help you calculate just how much sunshine you need to get enough vitamin D. Its here: http://nadir.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD-ez_quartMED.html  Thanks to Monida of Nutrition Data for passing this on. 

Monica's written some excellent instructions to go with the tool too - you can find them here: http://blog.nutritiondata.com/ndblog/2009/08/how-much-sunshine-does-it-take-to-make-enough-vitamin-d.html

As you leave the shop, clutching a bundle of expensive but apparently necessary supplements (according to the advertisement), you wonder: "Do I really need all these, and how can I tell if they're working?" It's  a common reaction. If you purchased your supplements without professional guidance you're likely to feel a little niggling doubt about whether your purchase is working. Fortunately there are several ways to find out.

HAVE YOUR SYMPTOMS EASED?

Many people take nutritional supplements to fix a problem; perhaps aching joints, or dry skin, irritable bowel, or just low energy. Your first test is to assess whether you're actually feeling better. Ideally you would have written a list of your symptoms and their intensity before you put that first tablet in your mouth; but most of us don't, and we tend to have a poor memory for the intensity of our symptoms. It's not uncommon for a client to return to their nutritionist and announce 'nothing's changed"; but upon reviewing the list of their original symptoms they find that many have disappeared or retreated.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

Some supplements, like minerals, act slowly, so it could be several months before you feel results; others, particularly water soluble vitamins like the B and C group, act within days. Supplements that affect your skin are likely to make a difference within weeks.

WHAT'S EVERYONE ELSE SAYING?

Here's a sure-fire way to tell that those nutritional supplements are having a positive impact on your health: If friends and family are saying "gee you look well – what have you been doing?", you can be sure they're making a difference.

TRY THE STOP-START METHOD

If you've been taking something like a multivitamin for many months or years, here's a way to find out whether it's making a difference. Write in your diary how you feel today, including how much energy you have rated out of 10 (where 10 is the most energetic you could feel and 1 the most lethargic). Now stop taking the multivitamins for two weeks. Record again how you're feeling and compare it with your original reading. If you're feeling a lot worse, there's a good chance something in those multivitamins was helping.

ENLIST THE HELP OF SCIENCE

You can now use a simple urine test to measure which nutritional supplements you need. Scientists have developed functional pathology tests that measure organic acids in your urine to uncover precisely which vitamins and minerals you need, in what quantities. Your nutritionist can arrange this testing for you.

WHY GUESS?

Now that we have so much valuable information at our fingertips through the internet, it can seem easier and cheaper to research and choose your own supplement regime. However it can also be confusing, as so many nutritional supplements seem to be essential to your good health. If you would like to be sure that what you're spending your hard earned dollars on is what you actually need, please call me to book your in-clinic consultation. It could save you so much money in the long term!

Were you told as a child to eat your carrots “so you could see in the dark”? I was too. In typical childhood logic, the only advantage I could see for this was being able to continue reading after ‘lights out’ time. But our parents were making sure we got our daily dose of Vitamin A, an important vitamin for maintaining eyesight, the health of the immune system, and many other functions in the body like skin health and reproduction. Vitamin A is also one of a group of nutrients known as ‘antioxidants’, important in improving cell health, and protecting us from the effects of free radicals.

TYPES OF VITAMIN A

Vitamin A comes in two forms – preformed, in animal products, and beta-carotene form, in orange and leafy green vegetables.

The beta-carotene form of A is not as easily absorbed as its preformed relative, but once absorbed, the liver oversees storage and release of both types the same way. Releasing Vitamin A from storage relies on both adequate zinc and amino acid (protein) intake – and a healthy liver! Excess vitamin A is released from your body through bile or urine.

THE TWO TYPES OF VITAMIN DEFICIENCY

When considering whether you have a vitamin deficiency, remember that there are two types of deficiency – primary, which results from inadequate levels of the vitamin in your diet, or secondary, which results from problems with digestion, absorption, transport, or storage of the vitamin within your body. If you are taking medications which affect fat absorption, your vitamin A absorption may be affected, as vitamin A is fat soluble. Also, digestive disorders may affect vitamin absorption.

IS IT SAFE TO TAKE VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENTS?

In recent times there has been a great deal of debate within the scientific community about the safety of supplementing diets with vitamin A, considering our body’s natural tendency to store it. There are already labels on vitamin A supplements warning that intake over a certain amount may cause birth defects. Some recent studies blame excessive amounts of vitamin A supplementation for an increase in osteoporosis. 

If you are already healthy, and eat an orange vegetable every day, it’s difficult to become deficient in Vitamin A, and obtaining your vitamins from food is always better than having to supplement. If you are pregnant, you should be guided by your health professional’s recommendations about what supplements to take, if any. Some people need extra vitamin A to help them recover from illness, or where the immune system is deficient. Good sources of vitamin A are liver, sweet potatoes, and carrots. 

If in doubt about whether you are getting enough Vitamin A in your diet, or whether you are absorbing it properly, talk to your nutritionist-naturopath.

If you studied just a little history at school, you would have read about the problem sailors on long voyages had. In the early days of exploration, a large proportion of sailors who joined the adventure were expected to die from scurvy. This disease was caused by a diet without any fresh food at all. Fortunately the cause (vitamin C deficiency) and a solution was found, but the lessons learnt by those sailors can be applied in our modern times too – because some of us are running a little low on Vitamin C.

Vitamin C has an important part to play in your body - including digesting food, boosting immune function, making neurotransmitters like serotonin, feeding your adrenal glands to cope with stress, helping heal wounds, lowering cholesterol, and acting as an antioxidant.

Its certainly an essential vitamin in our diet. We can’t make it ourselves, although plants can. That’s why fresh raw fruit and vegies are the best food sources of vitamin C.

You may be deficient in vitamin C if you are recovering from illness, have an infection, take the oral contraceptive pill; feel stressed, anxious or depressed; have a hormonal imbalance, bruise easily, have rheumatoid arthritis, are deficient in iron, or if wounds take a long time to heal. 

To get more vitamin C in your diet eat more fresh, raw fruits and vegetables; the fresher the better. This valuable vitamin quickly degrades in the presence of heat, that’s why fresh raw food is so important. Strawberries and capsicum are particularly good sources, but any fresh fruit or veg will contain some vitamin C. By the way, when the cause and treatment of scurvy was discovered, raw onion was the preferred treatment, as the onions were so easy to store on a voyage– but can you imagine munching on a raw onion every day?!

It might seem easier to just take a supplement – but C-rich foods also contain other vital nutrients that can help your body absorb and utilise the vitamin C better. Bioflavinoids, essential for the proper absorption and use of C, appear in C-rich foods. Interestingly, your body will actually absorb small doses of vitamin C more effectively than mega doses.

Here’s a tip – if you have been prescribed an iron supplement, remember to take it with a vitamin C-rich food for best absorption.

Naturopaths often use vitamin C as a treatment, but with caution. Some people should approach supplementing with care, particularly those with a family history of kidney disease, those who tend to contract bladder infections, those who are about to go into surgery, and those on the oral contraceptive pill. So, if you suspect that you may be low on vitamin C, see your health professional for an assessment before reaching for the supplements. But in the meantime, enjoy more fresh fruit and veg for a vitamin C boost!

Here's a tip to stop that sneezing fit in its tracks. Pop into the supermarket and pick up a bottle of 500mg chewable vitamin C tablets.

When you feel the sniffles coming on, chew on a tablet. Vitamin C is a natural anti-histamine, so it will tone down your symptoms for around 15minutes. Then you may need another tablet if you're feeling sniffly again.

***Note: people with kidney disease, pregnant women, and those taking the oral contraceptive pill or medication, should not use this remedy without checking first with their doctor. This remedy is useless for anaphylactic allergic reactions. You should always consult your doctor regarding your health concerns. This blog is not intended to replace qualified professional medical advice. If you ignore this warning, and get sick or die as a result, we'll just chalk it up to the ongoing process of natural selection.***

I'll write more about the benefits of vitamin C in another blog soon.

Ever wondered why vitamin E is so often available as a vitamin E cream? And why this is such a valuable nutrient for the health of your cells? Read on and I'll explain.

Because vitamin E is so widely available in food its unusual to encounter someone with a frank deficiency, although this vitamin is often used therapeutically by naturopaths as a supplement (usually alongside other nutrients).

This is one of the rare vitamins that you can absorb through your skin and mucous membranes, hence its popularity as an ointment. Once in your body, one of the main tasks of vitamin E is to help preserve the health of your cell membranes by acting as an antioxidant.

Your cell membranes are actually made up of fat molecules joined together by miniscule magnetic attraction, rather like oil floats on the top of water. These membranes are vulnerable to attack by free radicals, (molecules missing an electron who can damage cell membranes). A good supply of Vitamin E in your body can prevent these free radicals from causing damage to your cell membranes.

Vitamin E has a reputation as a free radical scavenger and oxidation-preventer in other parts of your body too. Within the gastrointestinal tract, it prevents vitamin A from being oxidised before absorption. High quality fish oil (omega 3) supplements routinely contain vitamin E, to prevent oil in the capsules from going rancid.

Although vitamin E supplements are sometimes used to promote cardiovascular health, or as an antioxidant, it is very popular as an ointment. It can slow premature aging of skin, and help heal damaged skin tissue and scars.

The best way to obtain your vitamin E is from food. There are several different varieties of vitamin E (tocopherols). Obtained from food, vitamin E will contain all the tocopherols, plus added nutrients. Vitamin E capsules may contain only one tocopherol of the vitamin (usually the alpha version), and may be synthetic. Yet another reason to focus on improving your nutrition with high quality food rather than taking supplements.

The best food sources of vitamin E are cold pressed oils, eggs, sunflower seeds, offal, molasses, peanuts, soy beans and lima beans.

If you are taking a vitamin E supplement, check the label: Natural vitamin E's technical names are preceded with d- (e.g d-alpha-tocopherol). Synthetic vitamin E will be labelled as dl- (e.g dl-alpha-tocopherol). Although cheaper to produce, synthetic vitamin E is not absorbed as easily as its natural cousin.

Now you know why vitamin E is so valuable, including for your skin, consider buying a tub of vitamin E-enriched body lotion next time you're shopping.