The body produces vitamin D when bare skin is exposed to the sun’s UVB rays.  This has raised concerns that sunscreen use may inhibit vitamin D production. According to a new study however, sunscreen does not prevent vitamin D synthesis.

Researchers from the Medical University of Lód? and King’s College London conducted their study using participants who were on a one-week sun holiday in Tenerife. Forty participants were given sunscreen and advised on correct application. Half of them used a sunscreen with a high UVA protection factor, and half used a sunscreen with a low UVA protection factor. 22 participants used discretionary sunscreen use and 17 participants were from a non-holiday group.

The researchers monitored sunscreen usage, behavior, UV radiation exposure, clothing cover, and sunburn. They also measured serum vitamin D levels.

All of the participants that used sunscreen showed a statistically significant increase in serum vitamin D levels. Participants in the non-holiday group showed a decrease in vitamin D levels. The participants who used the high UVA protection sunscreen had the highest increase in serum vitamin D levels. High UVA protection sunscreens transmit more UVB than low UVA protection sunscreens.

In addition, participants in the UVA sunscreen groups did not get sunburn, while those in the discretionary sunscreen group did.

The study was published online ahead of print on May 8, 2019 in theBritish Journal of Dermatology.

Liver fibrosis occurs when the healthy tissue of your liver becomes scarred and therefore cannot work as well. If the scarring continues to progress, it results in liver cirrhosis. According to researchers from Mahidol University, Thailand, vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of liver fibrosis.

The researchers reviewed 18 studies that examined the association between vitamin D and liver health. Fourteen of the studies examined the association between vitamin D levels and liver fibrosis in people with chronic liver disease. The other four studies investigated genetic variations that affected vitamin D levels related to liver fibrosis.

They found a significant association between low vitamin D levels and an increased risk of liver fibrosis. They also found a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in people with liver fibrosis, and suggested that vitamin D status might be useful as a marker of the progression of liver fibrosis. 

The researchers also suggested that vitamin D supplementation might help reduce the risk of liver fibrosis.

The study was published in the January, 2019 issue of Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.

Approximately 70-80% of the US population does not meet the daily-recommended intake for magnesium. A new study has found that having the correct intake of magnesium may be needed to optimize vitamin D levels.

The study included 180 participants between the ages of 40 and 85 who were taking part in the Personalized Prevention of Colorectal Cancer Trial. Half of the participants took a magnesium supplement and half took a placebo. The amount of magnesium taken was personalized based on baseline dietary intakes and their calcium-to-magnesium intake ratio. The doses were designed to decrease the calcium-to-magnesium ratio to approximately 2:3. Changes in vitamin D status were tracked throughout the study.

The researchers found that the impact of magnesium supplementation was dependent on the initial levels of vitamin D.  Participants with baseline vitamin D levels that were close to insufficient or lower (below 30 ng/ml), saw increases in vitamin D levels as a result of magnesium supplementation. However, participants with baseline vitamin D levels that were between 30 and 50 ng/ml saw decreases in vitamin D levels as a result of magnesium supplementation. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, It was published in the December 2018 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Estradiol is a sex hormone that is the most important form of estrogen in humans. In women, it plays a key role in the development and functioning of the reproductive system, as well as in the growth of certain bones. A new study has found that supplementation with vitamin D3 and omega-3 fatty acids may help increase estradiol and vitamin D levels in vitamin D deficient women.

86 pre-menopausal women who were vitamin D deficient participated in the study. The participants were divided into four groups:

1. Received 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 once a week;
2. Received 1,000mg of wild salmon and fish oil containing 300mg of omega-3 once a day;
3. Received 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 once a week and 1,000mg of wild salmon and fish oil containing 300mg of omega-3 once a day;
4. Received a placebo

Participants took the supplements for 8 weeks. Fasting serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D and serum estradiol were assessed at baseline and at the end of the study. In addition, mid-follicular serum levels of vitamin D and estradiol were assessed at 8 weeks.

The researchers found that supplementation with vitamin D3 alone resulted in a significant increase in vitamin D levels and a significant decrease in estradiol levels. Supplementation with omega-3 alone resulted in a significant decrease in vitamin D levels and a significant increase in estradiol levels. Supplementation with vitamin D and omega-3 resulted in significant increases in both vitamin D and estradiol.

The study was conducted by researchers from Jordan’s Applied Science Private University and Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences. It was published February 4, 2019 in the journal Clinical Pharmacology: Advances and Applications.

Poor insulin sensitivity results in sustained elevation of insulin due to an inability to force glucose into muscle tissues, and is a risk factor for diabetes. According to a new study, vitamin D may help promote greater insulin sensitivity.

680 Brazilian women aged 35 to 74 years participated in the study. The researchers took fasting blood samples to measure vitamin D and glucose levels.nThe women were also interviewed to determine if they took vitamin D supplements, and the amount of exposure they got to the sun. 3.5% of the participants reported using vitamin D supplements.

When the researchers compared vitamin D levels and glucose levels, they found that vitamin D levels greater than 30 ng/ml were positively associated with low glucose levels. Habitual exposure to the sun was also positively associated with low glucose levels. Vitamin D deficiencies were found to be positively associated with high glucose levels.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Sao Paolo School of Public Health. It was published January 18, 2019 in the journalMenopause.

Cardiorespiratory fitness is the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen to the muscles during exercise. A recent study suggests that blood levels of vitamin D may be linked to cardiorespiratory fitness.

Participants in the study included 1,995 people between the ages of 20 and 49 years who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) from 2001-2004. 45% were women, 49% were white, 13% had hypertension, and 4% had diabetes. The researchers used survey-weighted linear regression to examine the relationship between maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and vitamin D levels.

When researchers examined the data, they found that the participants who had the highest levels of vitamin D had cardiovascular fitness that was 4.3 times better than those with the least. After adjusting for confounding factors — including age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking, hypertension, and diabetes — the top quartile still had cardiovascular fitness that was 2.9 times better than those in the bottom quartile. Each 10 nmol/L increase in vitamin D was associated with a statistically significant 0.78 mL/kg/min increase in VO2 max.

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine conducted the study. It was published online ahead of print on October 30, 2018, in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Vitamin D can be found in milk, fortified cereals, fish, and eggs. Your body also processes vitamin D from the sun, but it becomes harder for our bodies to process it as we age. A high-quality vitamin D supplement is always a good option if you feel that you’re not getting enough through diet and sun.

High blood sugar levels trigger inflammation, which in turn can cause insulin resistance. A recent study suggests that vitamin D supplementation may help reduce inflammation in people with type 2 diabetes.

For this systematic review, researchers identified 28 randomized controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation that looked at inflammatory markers in people with type 2 diabetes. They chose 20 for their final analysis. Participants in the studies ranged from 15 to 118 people and vitamin D dosages ranged from 200 IU to 6000 IU daily or from 50,000 IU to 60,000 IU weekly. A few studies used a single bolus dose of 300,000 IU.

Intervention duration ranged from eight weeks to 12 months, with the majority lasting 12 to 24 weeks. Most of the studies used a placebo as a control, but two used usual care and three used calcium supplementation. Eight of the studies examined inflammatory markers as primary outcomes, while the rest examined them as secondary outcomes.

The researchers found that, when compared with a control, vitamin D supplementation was associated with significantly lower C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) levels. All three are markers of inflammation.

They also noted that vitamin D supplementation was associated with significantly increased leptin levels but did not seem to have an effect on adiponectin, interleukin-6m or E-selectin levels.

Researchers from Pure North S’Energy Foundation and University of Saskatchewan led the study. It was published on May 25, 2018, in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

Vitamin D can be found in milk, fortified cereals, fish, and eggs. Your body also processes vitamin D from the sun, but it becomes harder for our bodies to process it as we age. A high-quality vitamin D supplement is always a good option if you feel that you’re not getting enough through diet and sun.

Previous research suggests that too-high doses of vitamin D may lead to toxicity. However, a recent study suggests that taking high doses of vitamin D over the long term is safe.

Participants in the study included 5,108 people between the ages of 50 and 84 who were given either a high-dose vitamin D3 supplement (100,000 IU vitamin D) or a placebo monthly for an average of 3.3 years. The researchers administered a blind coded questionnaire that included an open-ended question about adverse events attributed to the supplement.

At the conclusion of the study, 419 participants (16.5%) taking vitamin D and 399 (15.8%) taking the placebo reported more than one adverse event. The difference is not significant.

Researchers from the University of Auckland led the study. It was published online ahead of print on August 3, 2018, in Clinical Nutrition.

Vitamin D can be found in milk, fortified cereals, fish, and eggs. Your body also processes vitamin D from the sun, but it becomes harder for our bodies to process it as we age. A high-quality vitamin D supplement is always a good option if you feel that you’re not getting enough through diet and sun.

Obesity, not having children, being older than 60, heavy drinking have all been identified as risk factors for breast cancer. A recent study suggests that higher levels of vitamin D may be associated with a lower risk of developing breast cancer.

For this study, researchers examined data from two randomized clinical trials that included a total of 3,325 people. They also looked at a prospective study that involved 1,713 people. All of the participants were age 55 or older, with an average age of 63. The data was collected between 2002 and 2017 and all of the participants were free of cancer at the beginning of the study. The researchers followed the participants for a mean period of four years.

Over the course of the study periods, 77 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed, for an age-adjusted incidence rate of 512 cases per 100,000 person years.

They found that participants with blood levels that were higher than 60 ng/ml were at one-fifth the risk of developing breast cancer, when compared with those whose levels were less than 20 ng/ml. This is substantially higher than the 20 ng/ml recommended in 2010 by the Institute of Medicine.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, conducted the study. It was published on June 15, 2018, in PLOS ONE.

Vitamin D can be found in milk, fortified cereals, fish, and eggs. Your body also processes vitamin D from the sun, but it becomes harder for our bodies to process it as we age. A high-quality vitamin D supplement is always a good option if you feel that you’re not getting enough through diet and sun.

Many expectant mothers are vitamin D deficient, which may put their babies at risk, as fetuses are entirely reliant on their mothers for vitamin D. A recent study suggests that vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy may reduce the risk of infants being small for gestational age and may also improve growth during infancy.

For their analysis, researchers screened 728 potential studies and narrowed it down to 24 randomized controlled trials with a total of 5,405 participants. All of the studies researched the relationship between vitamin D supplementation and infant health. The main outcomes and measures were fetal or neonatal mortality, small for gestational age, congenital malformation, birth weight, and preterm birth.

Vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of small for gestational age without risk of congenital abnormality. Neonates with vitamin D supplementation had higher weight at birth, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months. In additiona, no negative side effects were seen with vitamin D supplementation.

Researchers from the University of Montreal and McGill University conducted the study. It was published on May 29, 2018, in JAMA Pediatrics.

Vitamin D can be found in milk, fortified cereals, fish, and eggs. Your body also processes vitamin D from the sun, but it becomes harder for our bodies to process it as we age. A high-quality vitamin D supplement is always a good option if you feel that you’re not getting enough through diet and sun.