Well, all you nor'easters and extreme nor'westers, living under near-perpetual cloud cover, have another supplement to add to your daily regimen...
http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/77/95337.htm?printing=true "...This important nutrient is best known for building strong bones and teeth -- key to preventing osteoporosis -- but low levels have also been linked to an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, muscle and bone pain, and perhaps more frightening, a greater chance of cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, ovaries, esophagus, and lymphatic system...In other words, without enough vitamin D, cells can multiply too quickly and promote cancerous tumors. Yet between 20% and 80% of all Americans have low enough levels to classify them as vitamin D-deficient, says Holick, who also directs clinical medical research at Boston University.... "One reason: Most of the body's vitamin D comes from sunlight exposure on bare, unprotected skin... "..."From November through March, many people can't get enough vitamin D from sunlight, no matter how much exposure they have," Garland tells WebMD. "This is especially problematic east of the Mississippi River and from Philadelphia north, because there's a lot of sulfur coal in the air, producing what we call `acid haze,' a precursor of acid rain. It prevents ultraviolet vitamin D getting through the air on days where there's a lot of pollution." "Pollutants aside, Holick adds that his research indicates that during these winter months, there's insufficient vitamin D from sunlight in most of the country north of Atlanta. This may explain, at least in part, why some studies dating back to the 1940s find that after adjusting for other factors, people in New England states have a higher overall cancer death rate than those in sunnier climates. More recently, he says studies have specifically linked vitamin D deficiency, which can be detected with a blood test, to several non-skin cancers. "But the problems extend beyond cancer. A study to be published in next month's Mayo Clinic Proceedings suggests that vitamin D deficiency may be responsible for unexplained bone and joint pain. "And two years ago, Finnish researchers noted in The Lancet that people who got vitamin D supplements through adulthood were 80% less likely to develop type 1 diabetes than their non-supplemented peers..." Debbi Oh, The Horror Of Burning Chocolate! Maru ;) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
