Betsy Bell

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D2 (or ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (or cholecalciferol). Vitamin D obtained from sun exposure, food, and supplements, is biologically inert and must undergo two hydroxylation reactions to be activated in the body. Calcitriol is the active form of vitamin D found in the body. The term vitamin D also refers to these metabolites and other analogues of these substances.

Calcitriol plays an important role in the maintenance of several organ systems. However, its major role is to increase the flow of calcium into the bloodstream, by promoting absorption of calcium and phosphorus from food in the intestines, and reabsorption of calcium in the kidneys; enabling normal mineralization of bone and preventing hypocalcemic tetany. It is also necessary for bone growth and bone remodeling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts.

Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen. Deficiency can arise from inadequate intake coupled with inadequate sunlight exposure; disorders that limit its absorption; conditions that impair conversion of vitamin D into active metabolites, such as liver or kidney disorders; or, rarely, by a number of hereditary disorders. Vitamin D deficiency results in impaired bone mineralization and leads to bone softening diseases, rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, and possibly contributes to osteoporosis. Vitamin D2 was chemically characterized in 1932. In 1936 the chemical structure of vitamin D3 was established and resulted from the ultraviolet irradiation of 7-dehydrocholesterol.

Chemically, the various forms of vitamin D are secosteroids; i.e., steroids in which one of the bonds in the steroid rings is broken. The structural difference between vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 is in their side chains. The side chain of D2 contains a double bond between carbons 22 and 23, and a methyl group on carbon 24.

Vitamin D2 (made from ergosterol) is produced by invertebrates, fungus and plants in response to UV irradiation; it is not produced by vertebrates. Little is known about the biologic function of vitamin D2 in nonvertebrate species. Because ergosterol can more efficiently absorb the ultraviolet radiation that can damage DNA, RNA and protein it has been suggested that ergosterol serves as a sunscreening system that protects organisms from damaging high energy ultraviolet radiation.

Vitamin D3 is made in the skin when 7-dehydrocholesterol reacts with UVB ultraviolet light at wavelengths between 270–300 nm, with peak synthesis occurring between 295-297 nm. These wavelengths are present in sunlight when the UV index is greater than 3. At this solar elevation, which occurs daily within the tropics, daily during the spring and summer seasons in temperate regions, and almost never within the arctic circles, adequate amounts of vitamin D3 can be made in the skin after only ten to fifteen minutes of sun exposure at least two times per week to the face, arms, hands, or back without sunscreen. However, season, geographic latitude, time of day, cloud cover, skin cover, skin color, smog, and sunscreen affect UV ray absorption and vitamin D synthesis. For example, sunlight exposure from November through February in Boston is insufficient to produce significant vitamin D synthesis in the skin. With longer exposure to UVB rays, an equilibrium is achieved in the skin, and excess vitamin D simply degrades as fast as

it is generated. In humans, D3 is as effective as D2 in vitamin D hormone activity in circulation, although others state that D3 is more effective than D2. However, in some species, such as rats, vitamin D2 is more effective than D 3.

Further Reading

• Vitamin D Biochemistry
• Vitamin D Supplementation
• Vitamin D Deficiency
• Vitamin D Overdose

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on “Vitamin D” All material adapted used from Wikipedia is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Wikipedia® itself is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia

CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE  by Dr. Rusty Oats

I would like to address a situation that was brought about by my open-heart surgery. When I first became involved with Shaklee, it always amazed me when someone who used Shaklee food supplements suffered from some acute or degenerative disease. If Shaklee food supplements were so powerful, why hadn’t the victim been protected? Now that I’ve had open-heart surgery, I’ve heard people (even friends) say, “I thought you were taking all those vitamins so you would stay healthy.    What happened?” I’d like to spend the next few minutes telling you exactly “what happened.”

First of all, let me tell you a little about my background. Both my parents died at an early age of heart disease.  Neither one of them had a second chance.  My cholesterol level has been as high as 480. When I was in college, it was 360 and no one cared!  In addition to having the familial history of heart disease, I consumed a very high-fat diet. When June and I were first married and she was finishing Pharmacy school, we would eat a half of beef every six months…just the two of us! Also, during my late teens and early twenties I smoked cigarettes. I gave up cigarettes during my tour of duty in the U S Army in favor of a pipe. I continued smoking a pipe (and an occasional “mooched” cigarette) until I was 40 years of age.

In 1983 we were introduced to Shaklee and we began to study and learn about nutrition and its effect on the body. We began eating low-fat meals and increasing the fiber in our diet. Along with these dietary changes, we began a complete program of Shaklee nutritional supplementation. I watched my cholesterol level drop to an all time low of 180. I have always monitored my blood pressure and presumed that my blood pressure of 120/80 mm Hg was well within the normal parameters.

In January of 2000 while in Florida on business and vacation, I awoke one morning with pain in my left arm and slight tightness in my chest. It did go away after a short period, but upon returning to Nebraska, I decided to see a doctor to find out why. He thought my blood pressure was a little high and put me on a very low dose of blood pressure medication. He also determined through blood work that my cholesterol was a little elevated. He did assure me that because of my physical condition and my appearance, he thought a heart attack was out of the question. We scheduled a complete physical exam because it had been 4 or 5 years since my last exam, and he told me that I might want to consider taking one of the medicines that will lower cholesterol. Two weeks later I had a physical examination and he explained to me that I was in pretty good health. He had run a lot of tests except for an EKG. I asked him about the EKG and he said that because I had one during my sinus surgery a year previously, it probably wasn’t imperative; but that he would do one anyway. After seeing the results of the EKG, he became concerned and said that it looked like I had an “event” and he referred me to a Cardiologist.

I met with the cardiologist the following week and he reviewed my tests. After examining me, he thought that I was in too good of physical shape to have a heart problem. The EKG did have some irregularities and he wanted to do some additional testing. He ordered an echo-cardiogram and a stress test. Less than an hour after the stress test was completed at the hospital, he called me at home to tell me that an angiogram would be necessary because the tests showed that part of my heart was dead! I indeed had suffered an “event”…a heart attack at some time.

The angiogram only confirmed the worst. I had several blockages in my coronary arteries and open-heart surgery was indicated…as soon as possible. I had the surgery.  The  surgeon performed a quadruple bypass. The four major coronary arteries were blocked at 100%, 99%, 97% and 93%. He says that I am the luckiest man alive and that I should have dropped dead from a heart attack long before now. When I explained my diet and my program of supplementation with soy protein, essential fatty acids and others; he told me that without those changes to my lifestyle, I probably would not be alive today. He said that the supplements had added 15 years to my life. Without them, I would have needed the surgery 15 years ago and the prognosis would not have been as good. While recuperating in the hospital, the lady who administered the stress test came to visit me. She just wanted to look at me because she claims that with the very little blood flow to my heart, I should have died on the treadmill! My cardiologist then explained to me that if I returned to work, he would give me just two years to live! Thanks for Shaklee and the choice we had that allowed me to never return to my job again.