Vitamin D Best Taken With Largest Meal of Day, Study Finds
Blood levels increased more than 50% after timing change, researchers say
(HealthDay News) — Your body may make better use of a vitamin D supplement if you take it with your largest meal, new research suggests.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic examined 17 patients with vitamin D deficiency who weren’t getting better under treatment. Over a period of two to three months, the patients were told to take vitamin D supplements with the biggest meal they ate each day.
This boosted the level of vitamin D in their blood by an average of 56 percent, the researchers said.
“This is an important finding for patients being treated for vitamin D deficiency,” study senior author Dr. Angelo Licata said in a news release from the Cleveland Clinic. “By doing something as simple as changing when you take your vitamin D supplement, you can improve the level in your blood by over 50 percent.”
The study was recently published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
More information
For more about vitamin D, see the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
– Randy Dotinga
SOURCE: Cleveland Clinic, news release, May 5, 2010
(HealthDay News) — Seventy percent of pregnant women in the United States don’t get enough vitamin D, new research reveals.
What’s more, the regimen of prenatal vitamins that many women take do not always provide enough vitamin D to boost levels when needed, researchers from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine (UCDSM) and Massachusetts General Hospital cautioned.
“Prenatal vitamins do help raise vitamin D levels, but many women start taking them after becoming pregnant,” UCDSM’s Dr. Adit Ginde said in a news release. “Although research is ongoing, I think it’s best for women to start a few months before becoming pregnant to maximize the likely health benefits.”
The finding was published in the May issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Although the study did find that some women are getting the vitamin D they need, the authors warned that many are not. Those most at risk are women with darker skin, those living in northern regions during the winter, and those who tend to cover up their skin for religious and/or cultural purposes.
In general, vitamin D levels seem to have been dropping in recent years, the researchers noted — perhaps due to a dip in outdoor activity. Vitamin D deficiency in the first years of life is associated with a higher risk for respiratory infection and childhood wheezing, while adults who lack an adequate supply bear a greater risk for heart disease and certain cancers.
Testing and supplementation could be the answer to the apparent problem. However, there may be risks from excessive vitamin D intake, the researchers said.
“We need more data from clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation in pregnant women,” study co-author Dr. Carlos Camargo, of Massachusetts General, said in the news release. “If the ongoing trials continue to show benefit, the best strategy will likely be measuring vitamin D levels through a simple blood test and choosing supplementation doses according to those levels.”
For more on vitamin D, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
– Alan Mozes
SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, news release, May 11, 2010
This Popular Drink May Damage Sperm
Guys, if you want to have children, you might want to go easy on soft drinks since they could be linked to infertility. Danish researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital have found that men who regularly drink a liter or more of soft drinks daily have a drop in sperm count by as much as 30 percent.Find out what a man’s sperm says about his chances for a long life.
The study: Led by Tina Kold Jensen, the team was curious about the effect increased soda consumption over the past few decades would have on people’s overall health. For this study, 2,500 young men were surveyed as to the types of beverages they drank each day. Each man’s sperm count was also measured.
The results: Men who did not consume carbonated beverages had 50 million sperm per milliliter of semen, compared with 35 million sperm per milliliter for those who drank one liter or more of soda a day. And that wasn’t the only difference. Soda drinkers also led less healthy lives than those who didn’t drink soda at all or as much.
If you drink soda, you should never do THIS until one hour later. Click to find out what it is.
So is it the soda or something else causing the drop in sperm count? More research is needed to find out, but Jensen is fairly certain it’s not the caffeine in soda, based on previous research. Still, Fabio Pasqualotto of the University of Caxias do Sul in Brazil, who did not take part in the study, told the United Kingdom’s hc2d health care news Web site that he thinks the change in sperm count has more to do with lifestyle than with soda consumption. In addition, those who drink a lot of soda tend to have higher urinary concentrations of Bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic which has been linked to fertility problems in men.
BPA linked to impotence in men
Chinese factory worker study suggests more potential hazards from the plastics chemical
(HealthDay News) — Exposure to high levels of the controversial plastics chemical bisphenol A (BPA) significantly raised the risk of sexual dysfunction, including impotence and low sex drive, among Chinese factory workers, a new study has found.The researchers stressed that the workers were exposed to BPA levels about 50 times higher than what most Chinese or Americans would be exposed to in everyday life.
Even so, they said the study adds to a growing body of research that shows that the ubiquitous chemical may be harmful to humans. BPA, used to make polycarbonate plastic (hard, clear plastic) and epoxy resin, is found in electronic and medical equipment, cars, sports safety equipment, and food and drink containers, including plastic bottles and the lining of cans.
Why You Just Can’t Stop Eating
If you just can’t stop eating your favorite fatty foods–such as ice cream, burgers and fries–you can blame your brain.
That’s the word from researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern, who have concluded in a laboratory study with mice that tasty foods, especially those high in fat, send a signal to the brain to keep eating. Specifically, the molecules of some types of fat travel to the brain, which then instructs the body not to stop eating just yet.
HealthDay News reports that the type of fatty acid that appears to do the most damage is palmitic acid, which is found in beef and dairy products, such as butter, cheese and milk.
“Normally, our body is primed to say when we’ve had enough, but that doesn’t always happen when we’re eating something good,” study senior author Deborah Clegg, an assistant professor of internal medicine, said in a university news release. “What we’ve shown in this study is that someone’s entire brain chemistry can change in a very short period of time. Our findings suggest that when you eat something high in fat, your brain gets ‘hit’ with the fatty acids, and you become resistant to insulin and leptin,” which are chemicals that tell the body to stop eating, Clegg said. “Since you’re not being told by the brain to stop eating, you overeat.”
How long does the effect last? In the rodents, it lasted three days after eating the food.
The study findings were published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
–From the Editors at Netscape
One Vitamin Helps You Lose Weight
You’re all set to begin your new weight loss program. The diet book has been read, the treadmill is working and you just bought cute new workout shorts. One more thing: Go to your doctor and get your vitamin D levels checked.
The level of vitamin D in your body at the start of a low-calorie diet can predict your weight loss success–or failure, according to a study from the University of Minnesota. “Vitamin D deficiency is associated with obesity, but it is not clear if inadequate vitamin D causes obesity or the other way around,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Shalamar Sibley, an assistant professor of medicine.
The study: The circulating blood levels of vitamin D were measured in 38 overweight men and women before and after they followed a diet plan for 11 weeks consisting of 750 calories a day fewer than their estimated total needs. Each participant’s fat distribution was measured with DXA (bone densitometry) scans.
The results: On average, the participants had vitamin D levels that many experts would consider to be in the insufficient range. But Sibley discovered that the baseline, or pre-diet, vitamin D levels predicted weight loss in a linear relationship.
For every increase of 1 ng/mL in level of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol–the precursor form of vitamin D and a commonly used indicator of vitamin D status–the dieters lost almost a half pound more on their calorie-restricted diet.
For each 1-ng/mL increase in the active or “hormonal” form of vitamin D (1,25-
In addition, higher baseline vitamin D levels predicted greater loss of abdominal fat. “Our results suggest the possibility that the addition of vitamin D to a reduced-calorie diet will lead to better weight loss,” Sibley said.The study findings were presented at The Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
–From the Editors at Netscape
Why Men Should Have Sex Daily
Men who want to be fathers should have sex every day to improve the quality of their sperm and increase their fertility.
Led by Dr. David Greening, doctors at a private fertility clinic in Sydney, Australia tested 118 men, all of whom had damaged sperm. When the men had sex daily for just one week, there was a dramatic change in their sperm: The amount of DNA damage to the sperm was significantly reduced. Specifically, they found that after seven days, 81 percent of the men showed at least a 12 percent decrease in the amount of damaged sperm. And all they did was have sex!
Conventional wisdom holds that men should abstain from sex before their partners undergo in-vitro fertilization, since it’s thought that abstinence elevates sperm levels. Now this theory has been turned upside down. Greening says he instructs couples seeking fertility advice to start by having more sex. “Some of the older men look a little concerned,” he explained to The Associated Press. “But the younger ones seem quite happy about it.”
Why does frequent sex reduce DNA damage in sperm?
It gets sperm out of the testes quickly. AP notes that if sperm is in a man’s body for too long, it has a higher chance of getting damaged.
While other researchers think this study holds promise, they don’t agree that it proves daily sex for men who have fertility problems will actually result in more babies. “Looking at sperm DNA is just one part of the puzzle,” Bill Ledger, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Sheffield, who was not connected to the research, told AP. “Maybe this will improve pregnancy rates, but we still need to do more studies.” He is concerned that telling couples who have fertility problems to have sex daily could be a major stressor in their relationship. “This may add even more anxiety and do more harm than good,” he told AP.
Greening gets the last word: “If you want to have a baby, our advice is to do it often.”
The research was announced at a meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam.
–From the Editors at Netscape
Men Who Eat THIS Have Better Sperm article from Compuserve ‘What’s New.’
The Worst Time to Conceive a Baby Is… article from Netscape Home & Living.
The basics of acupuncture are explained in this article Anne Kinchen co-authored with local energy healer, Bob Wachsberger. It was published in the November-December 2004 issue of Balanced Living Magazine.
Treating infertility with acupuncture is the topic of this article by Anne Kinchen, co-authored with local energy healer, Bob Wachsberger. It was published in the March-April 2006 issue of Balanced Living Magazine.
Anne has been telling her patients this for years. Randine Lewis has been saying the same thing as well. Now mainstream scientists are finally proving the seemingly obvious. Stress is a major problem for infertility patients.
Nothing beats the Emotional Freedom Technique for relieving stress quickly and easily. EFT is a remarkably simple technique which employs light tapping on specific acupuncture points. This article explains how it was used to remedy a woman’s infertility.
In America, we tend to go to our acupuncturists weekly for treatments. In China they see their acupuncturists a few times per week. This article from itmonline.org, RESTRUCTURING AMERICAN ACUPUNCTURE PRACTICES, by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon explains which approach is better.
Anne is featured in this Plain Dealer article which was published when she first started practicing in Cleveland.
This PD article is about Anne’s neat office space.
This article from The New York Times, explains why acupuncture continues to grow in popularity among the public and in acceptance among mainstream allopathic doctors.
Dr. Randine Lewis is the nation’s leading authority on treating infertility with Traditional Chinese Medicine. This encouraging article she wrote tells of some of her many successes in treating infertile women who failed to respond to conventional medical treatments.
This article explains how acupuncture and stress reduction can aid women with fertility problems when regular medicine fails them.
One of Anne’s patients wrote this piece detailing her journey to pregnancy with acupuncture and ART. As Anne often says, “Acupuncture is a process, not a procedure.” You have to be patient. Sometimes, very patient, as this writer explains.
TCM often uses herbs to treat fertility problems. This article explains how they are used and why as well as how to use them in conjunction with Western medicine.
While it’s usually the woman who comes to the office for infertility treatment, male factors account for half the infertility problems in couples. This article explains what acupuncture can do to improve sperm quality.
What does having a low sperm count really signify? Can acupuncture be of any help here? Of course it can. That’s why this link is on this page. Read how acupuncture can help men when they are the reason why the woman isn’t getting pregnant.
This journal article from the highly respected InterNational Council on Infertility Information Dissemination, Inc. will answer all your questions about semen quality as it relates to achieving pregnancy.
Pregnant women are often told to eat fish but not all fish are safe anymore. This article about fish shows which fish are safe to eat, which are unsafe and why.
This article about fish is a lot shorter than the previous article listing only the most popular fish without a lot of background information.
HRT for menopause symptoms has come under increasing scrutiny. A recent study shows another possible unwanted side effect — asthma.
Castor oil packs were first popularized by Edgar Cayce. Since his time, many people have found relief from various ailments with this simple, non-toxic, non-invasive method.
Q&A on organic foods (PDF) — Information on organic foods and their benefits.
The effect of fertilizers on aquatic systems (PDF) — from the Organic Trade Association.
Acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer significantly improves the reproductive outcome in infertile women: a prospective, randomized trial. A 2006 article from Fertility & Sterility (medical journal).
