Dr Jonathan Wright
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Congestive Heart Failure: Calcium Plus Vitamin D - An Important Balancing Act
In a previous e-Alert I told you about how calcium can aid weight loss.
Now a new study has revealed important information about a vitamin that can help regulate calcium levels in heart muscle cells. It's a win/win situation: good for weight-loss, and good for the heart.
Calcium rules and regulations
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) occurs when the expansion and contraction of heart muscle cells is impaired, reducing the heart's ability to pump blood throughout the body.
Because previous research on animals has demonstrated the possibility that low levels of vitamin D may play a role in heart failure, Researchers at the Department of Nutrition Science, University of Bonn, Germany, designed their study to examine the effect of vitamin D on human hearts.
Over a period of five months, fasting blood samples were collected from 54 Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients. Their samples were compared to similar samples taken from a group of 34 healthy subjects who did not have CHF.
An analysis of the samples revealed that the group of 54 Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients had vitamin D levels significantly lower than the healthy group. In fact some in the Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) group had D levels that were only half of the average level found in the other group. Furthermore, those with the lowest vitamin D levels tended to have the most severe symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).
Because impaired calcium metabolism is known to contribute to the dysfunction of heart muscles, the Bonn researchers concluded that their study helps confirm that vitamin D may have an important effect in regulating the calcium levels within the muscle cells of the heart.
How much - and from where?
This Bonn research is the most recent in a series of studies that illustrate the importance of vitamin D in heart health. In an e-Alert I sent you last year. I told you about a University of California, San Francisco, US study that showed how vitamin D may cut the risk of heart disease in older women by as much as one-third, primarily due to the ability of vitamin D to prevent the build-up of calcium deposits in the arteries.
Mainstream authorities, continue to insist that you don't need to supplement with vitamin D. But studies like these confirm the benefits that nutritionally oriented physicians have known about for years.
US physician, Dr. Jonathan Wright believes strongly in the importance of vitamin D: 'Although the final proof isn't in (and probably won't be in our lifetimes), it's very likely that if you're over 40 and supplement your diet with a generous amount of vitamin D, you can lower your risk of prostate, breast, and bowel cancer along with your risk of 'essential' hypertension, osteoporosis, and tuberculosis. Young adults can lower their risk of multiple sclerosis as well.'
Dr. Wright recommends a daily vitamin D intake between 1600 and 2000 IUs - and as much as 4000 IUs for those of us over 40. According to Dr. Wright, it's impossible for most people to get enough vitamin D from the sun alone (especially for those of us living here in the UK!) - and he discourages the use of dairy products because of the many other health concerns they raise. Instead, he suggests other food sources like salmon and sardines - or even good old-fashioned cod liver oil, which provides over 1300 IUs of vitamin D per tablespoon.
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