I promised to keep you abreast of the flood of new science related to vitamin D and health so here goes….

• In a study that included 554 generally healthy middle-aged adults, those with lower vitamin D levels had stiffer arteries and poorer blood vessel function.  Those with full-fledged vitamin D deficiency had abnormal blood vessel function on par with people with diabetes or high blood pressure.  (American College of Cardiology Meeting, New Orleans, LA April 2011)
• In an evaluation of 5,200 people followed over a 5 year period of time, those with below average vitamin D levels were 57% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes relative to those with higher levels. (Diabetes Care Online, March 2011)
• Amongst 237 healthy overweight and normal weight children, “most” were deficient in vitamin D and those with the lowest vitamin D levels had more body fat and lower levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, May 2011)
• In one of the first studies to look at vitamin D levels and the progression of breast cancer, researchers found that breast cancer patients with low levels of vitamin D had poorer outcomes and worse scores on every major tumor marker used to predict recurrence.  (Annual Meeting of American Society of Breast Surgeons, April 2011)

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