Remember the type of suns rays that are necessary for vitamin D production (UVB) are only available between spring blossoms and fall colors. This season is long in the Southern United States but here in Michigan late April to May marks the beginning of the vitamin D season. Allergies come with springtime as well. In this issue you will see that severity of asthma and allergies is related to low vitamin D levels. And, when you bend down to pick those flowers or weeds, your knee pain may be associated with low vitamin D levels. So take your vitamin D and get some sun for your arthritis and allergies.
Recipe of the Month
Remember our recipes are courtesy of Chef Kelly (kellychez@gmail.com). If you have recipes you would like to share or convert to follow the rules of The Vitamin D Cure send them to contact@thevitamindcure.com .
Lemon-Honey Roasted Chicken
with Warm Cucumber, Fennel and Fingerling Potato Salad
For the chicken:
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 T. Honey
• 3.5-4 lb. chicken, cut into pieces
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 t. salt
• 4 sprigs of thyme
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, chicken broth and honey.
3. Rub the chicken pieces with oil and sprinkle with salt.
4. Place the chicken, skin-side down, in a roast pan just large enough to make a single, snug layer of chicken. Pour the seasoned broth over the chicken and tuck the thyme sprigs among the chicken pieces.
5. Roast for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken skin-side up and roast for another 20 minutes or until chicken reaches 160 degrees.
For the Salad:
• 1.5 lbs. fingerling potatoes, halved (larger ones cut in quarters)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 lb. haricot verts, steamed
• 3 medium stalks celery, trimmed and sliced
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
• 1 medium bulb fennel, trimmed, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 T. fresh lemon juice
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and place potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet; toss with 1 T. olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2. Roast until tender, about 25-30 minutes and let cool slightly.
3. To serve combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat evenly with olive oil and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Serve with roasted chicken.
Vitamin D in the News
Serum levels of vitamin D, sunlight exposure, and knee cartilage loss in older adults: The Tasmanian older adult cohort study.
Arthritis Rheumatism. 2009 Apr 29;60(5):1381-1389
University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, and Monash University Medical School, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
In the Vitamin D Cure we talk about optimizing vitamin D to prevent osteoarthritis or loss of cartilage. This study is confirmation of its importance over time. A total of 880 randomly selected subjects (average age 61 years, 50% women) were studied at baseline, and 353 of these subjects were studied 2.9 years later. Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) were assessed, and sunlight exposure was assessed by questionnaire. MRI of the right knee was performed to determine knee cartilage volume and defects. Knee x-rays and knee pain were also assessed. RESULTS: The mean 25(OH)D serum level was 21.1 ng/mL (52.8 nmoles/liter) at baseline. Winter sunlight exposure and serum 25(OH)D level were both positively associated with medial and lateral tibial cartilage volume (the lower the D level the less the cartilage volume), and a serum 25(OH)D level
Serum vitamin D levels and markers of severity of childhood asthma in costa rica.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2009 May 1;179(9):765-71.
Channing Laboratory, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Higher vitamin D intake during pregnancy has been associated with a lower likelihood of asthma symptoms in early childhood. This study looks at vitamin D levels as a marker of asthma severity in childhood. The researchers examined 616 Costa Rican children between the ages of 6 and 14 years. RESULTS: Of the 616 children with asthma, 175 (28%) had insufficient levels of vitamin D (
Maternal Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated with Bacterial Vaginosis in the First Trimester of Pregnancy.
J Nutr. 2009 Apr 8.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA 15261.
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a highly prevalent vaginal infection that is associated with complications of pregnancy. Vitamin D exerts an influence on the immune system and may play a role in BV. This study examined the association between maternal vitamin D and the prevalence of BV in early pregnancy. Women (n = 469) enrolled in a pregnancy study at 32 ng/mL. There was a dose-response association between 25(OH)D and the prevalence of BV. The prevalence declined as 25(OH)D increased to 80 nmol/L, then reached a plateau. Remember from the Vitamin D Cure that you want your level to be at or above 35 ng/mL. Compared with a serum 25(OH)D concentration of 30 ng/mL, there were 1.65-fold and 1.26-fold increases in the prevalence of BV associated with a serum 25(OH)D concentration of 8 and 20 ng/mL, respectively, after adjustment for race and sexually transmitted diseases. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with BV and may contribute to the strong racial disparity in the prevalence of BV.
Vitamin D Success Story
Please share your successes at success@thevitamindcure.com or online at Amazon. Your success story has a powerful impact on motivating others to change their lifestyle.
This months success story comes from Angel at …..@arosurf.com
I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Dowd and his book/blog/efforts! Hoo RA!
After a lifetime of trials and challenges I was finally diagnosed with celiac disease at the age of 44. My doctor had the right mind to check my vitamin D level (21ng/mL) and gave me an Rx. This led me out of my lifelong depression. Much body pain subsided; daily pain was nonexistent, yet pains were great and hard to recover when I went to the gym to work off my 100 excess pounds with a trainer 3x/week. (I didn’t know what fibromyalgia was though had experienced it for years).
After I thought my gut healed with a gluten-free diet, I decided to stop supplements. By the next winter my vitamin D had gone down to 17ng/mL, and I was a depressed mess and in pain again.
After reading a few websites, listening to a fibro sufferer on You Tube and reading your book, I finally realized how important the supplements were to my diet. I started taking them earnestly since May of last year, got one to two hours daily sunshine, and my November tests last year was 64 ng/mL. My pain is gone and when I exercise I am sore for one day, which is normal and reasonable!
I weighed around 250 lbs at the time of my celiac diagnosis, gained 22 pounds trying all the gluten-free grained products and/or when I didn’t know what to eat, I’d eat Yoplait, sometimes up to 5 a day (can you say HFCS?!) before figuring out what pre-diabetes was. I’ve lost 50 lbs now, and being able to exercise routinely has changed my life. THANK YOU SO MUCH for being part of my life! I try to tell everyone about your book, and what a difference it has made to me….
…I had my immediate family members vitamin D levels tested and my husband’s vitamin D was 13!!!!! My daughter’s was 23. My hubby has gout, high blood pressure, stiffness, and metabolic syndrome. Talk about a heart attack waiting to happen! HE resisted my efforts for heaven’s sake. “We” likely saved his life. No doctor ever thought to do this simple test. Both family members are taking supplements now. (BTW, I’ve also read Loren Cordain’s, Daniel Amen’s, and Jack Challem’s books! and also Carolyn Dean’s The Magnesium Miracle + many more — your book was a great compilation of much of the info I’ve read elsewhere!)
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU etc. I eat up your blog! (no calories!)