Dr. Green says:  Yesterday I posted about Vitamin D being involved with chronic pain.  Today, here is more about this important nutrient.

Vitamin D is essential for much more that just building bones and teeth. In addition to enabling normal mineralization and health of the skeleton, Vitamin D helps the body do a number of things including:


• Assists in cell growth
• Aids neuromuscular function
• Reduces inflammation
• Reduces the risk of breast cancer in women
• Boosts your immune system




Additionally, Vitamin D helps to prevent the following medical issues:
• Osteoporosis
• Multiple Sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions
• Rickets in children
• Osteomalacia in adults


Considering the numerous health issues it is linked to, getting too little vitamin D will cause your body to will operate far below its potential.


In the world of pain and chiropractic, one of those in particular is of interest to us: inflammation reduction. 


When you injure yourself, your body has a natural healing process that begins with the acute healing phase. 


During the acute phase, your body ships specialized cells into the area to clean up the debris and damage and set the stage for new healthy growth. As the vascular permeability increases to allow the needed chemicals in, up to 10x the blood volume comes to that area and swelling occurs. Through the healing process, the swelling should reduce back to its pre-injury size. 


You can assist your body in decreasing the swelling with rest, ice, compression, elevation (RICE), soft tissue massage toward the body’s core, and by consuming foods that have anti-inflammatory effects. Vegetables consistently have anti-inflammatory properties as well as some spices and foods high in Vitamin D!


How much to consume? 


Researchers have found many people to have low levels of this essential vitamin, and a deficiency in vitamin D is not something you want to have. 


As of November 2010, the recommended baseline vitamin D intake for those over 70 is 800 International Units per day to stay healthy. 


Those under 70 years old should take 400 IU per day with an upper limit of 4,000 IU per day, kids between 4 and 8 years should take in up to 3,000 IU per day, and children 1 to 3 years should not have more than 2,500 IU per day.


So how do you get enough? 


The Institute of Medicine set a recommended dietary allowance for vitamin D from a combination of diet, supplements, and sun exposure. The best source of natural vitamin D is sunlight (Fine by me!!). Just 10 to 15 minutes of exposure without sunscreen each day usually gives you enough. 


Know, though, that because of the melanin in dark skinned people, it is more difficult to produce vitamin D up to 90 percent. Also, during Norway Winters, it's hard to get enough Vitamin D.  You many have to supplement.


 It is also naturally found in butter, eggs, salmon (Yay!), cod, mackerel, fish liver oils and added to fortified foods such as milk, orange juice, and cereal.


More on Vit D coming soon.

Salt is A-OKAY!

Dr Green says: Anyone with a basic knowledge of human physiology knows if you eat too much salt, you urinate it out.  Eat a lot of cholesterol and your body simply makes less.  The advice you get from the government via tv, radio and print is designed to do only one thing: MAKE MEDICAL COMPANIES RICH!  

Want to get sick and lose all your money?  Just keep following government medical advice. 

New Research Calls Salt Guidelines Into Question

Study Suggests Reducing Sodium May Increase Unhealthy Blood Fats; Critics Say Study Is Flawed

By Brenda Goodman, MA
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Nov. 9, 2011 -- Everyone knows that too much salt is bad for you, right? Well, according to new research, not everyone is convinced.

Reducing dietary sodium (salt) helps lower blood pressure a little, but it also may increase levels of some hormones and unhealthy blood fats, a new review of studies shows.

Researchers say that means cutting back on sodium may not have a substantial health benefit.

But critics say the review draws faulty conclusions because it relies on too many small, short-term studies. They say the weight of research evidence shows clear health benefits when people cut back on sodium.

The review is an analysis of data from more than 167 studies of people with normal or high blood pressure who were randomly assigned to eat either high- or low-sodium diets.

It found that eating less than 2,800 milligrams of sodium a day helped lower blood pressure. But the reductions were small -- an average of 1% for people who had normal blood pressure to begin with and 3.5% for people with high blood pressure.

But cutting back on salt appeared to have other effects, too.

People on lower-sodium diets had an average 2.5% increase in cholesterol and a 7% increase in bad blood fats called triglycerides compared to people who were eating more than 3,450 milligrams of sodium -- an amount that's close to what the CDC says the average American eats every day.

Higher cholesterol and triglyceride levels are thought to be associated with an increased risk of heart disease, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Researchers say it's not clear why cutting back on sodium may affect blood fats.

Lower-sodium diets also boosted levels of the hormones renin and aldosterone, which can raise blood pressure. Researchers say that may be one reason that slashing salt from the diet has only modest effects on blood pressure.

"The theory that you can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing salt intake and thereby blood pressure is tempting. But our study shows that the effect of reduced salt intake on blood pressure in healthy persons is only 1%," says study researcher Niels A. Graudal, MD, DrMedSci, in an email to WebMD.

"Furthermore, reduced salt intake leads to an increase in lipids [blood fats], which is bigger than the reducing effect on blood pressure. Therefore it is likely that reduced salt intake does not have a beneficial effect. On the contrary the net effect may be harmful," says Graudal, who is a senior consultant in the departments of rheumatology and internal medicine at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

The study is published in the American Journal of Hypertension.

Vitamin D And Your Pain

It might not surprise you to hear that I've treated a lot of low back pain in my practice, but what might surprise you is that a vitamin deficiency might be contributing to the pain that many people experience.  


A recent study out of Canada looked at patients who had chronic back pain and found that there was a significant rate of vitamin D depletion in these patients.  When given Vitamin D supplementation patient showed improvement in reported pain levels.


Who is deficient is Vitamin D?


It is estimated that 60% of people are  deficient in vitamin D.  


Why is this?  


Vitamin D is obtained from two sources: the sun and food.  
Because we are spending more time indoors and in the Winter there isn't much sun, people are not getting exposed to the sunshine and therefore not getting vitamin D.   


As far as food sources go, the good news is that fish is one of the best sources of vitamin D and most Norwegians consume fish on a regular basis but it still might not be enough.


Are you deficient?


Most people don’t know if they are vitamin D deficient.  You can obtain a blood test that will test your levels of vitamin D.  You can ask your medical doctor about this test next time you see them or your next physical.


What can you do?


You might considering increasing your vitamin D intake.  Prevention is better than cure.  As we get more into the winter it is going to be harder to get outside and more of our bodies will be covered preventing sun exposure.   Vitamin D can easily be obtain in food and supplement form.   You need to supplement for a couple of months in order to feel any difference.  Vit D is fat soluble so it takes time to build up in the body.


For a list of foods with the highest levels of vitamin D click HERE.  


If you don’t find yourself eating many of the foods on the vitamin D list you can get vitamin D through supplementation.  Vitamin D3 has been found to be the most beneficial.  
Most of the studies done on vitamin and pain have looked at lower back pain, but it would stand to reason that if you have other pains such as neck, upper back and shoulder pain that vitamin D might also help.  There are numerous benefits from getting a healthy dose of vitamin D and very few risks if taken appropriately.