The 2 supplements that I recommend the most are Fish Oil and Vitamin D. Lately, its seems that the evidence for supplemental Vitamin D is mounting at a rapid rate, and I thought it would be appropriate to write about it.

Vitamins are called vitamins because our body’s cannot function without them – they are vital to life. Almost all of them have to be consumed in the food we eat, or we will get deficiency syndromes and die. Vitamin D is different; our primary source of vitamin D is from the sun.

Vitamin D functions as a hormone in the body, which makes it unique from other vitamins. The human body can make it, but unfortunately it needs a little help to be switched on. This is the where sunlight comes in; circulating vitamin D close to the surface of the skin is altered by the sun’s radiation, converting it from D2 to D3, the active form of the vitamin.

The active form of Vitamin D governs the absorption and metabolism of Calcium in the body, and calcium is used by all cells in the body. Thus it allows for proper functioning of the entire body, but in particular the immune system, the nervous system and the skeletal system allowing for strong bones and teeth.

Right now, research is demonstrating that lower levels of Vitamin D are associated with a variety of problems. For instance, experts agree that the increased incidence of Multiple Sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions at higher latitudes is at least partly due to a lower supply of Vitamin D from the sun. People with darker skin who live in higher latitudes are more susceptable to deficiency because dark skin acts as natural sunblock, and prevents the activation of Vit D. It is no coincidence that people with lighter skin live at higher latitudes.

It’s a catch 22: direct sunlight can lead to skin cancer, and the lack of direct sunlight can lead to more cancer, weak bones, insomnia, dementia, autoimmune disease and who knows what else. I don’t recommend tanning beds because it is too easy to burn your skin with them. Dietary sources of Vitamin D are usually not adequate on their own.

The solution is to either supplement your sunlight or supplement your diet. You would need at least 30 minutes of direct sunlight sunlight on at least 3 days of the week to get it from the sun, and even with that amount you are not guaranteed optimal intake. Because I live in Vancouver, where sun is hard to find in the winter, I recommend supplementation for most patients. Walter Willet from Harvard’s school of public health recommends 1000 IU for all people, regardless of where they live, and he says that the recommendation may increase pending further research. I recommend 1500 IU per day during the dark winter months and 1000 IU per day during the brighter/ sunnier months. When in doubt with your dosage, you can have your blood tested to fine tune your optimal dosage. I shoot for 60-100 pmol/L with my patients.

Review:

Supplement 1000 IU – 1500 IU Vit D per day, or ensure > 30 minutes of direct sunlight on 3 or more days of the week.

If in doubt, have your Vit D levels tested to see what your optimal intake is.

In the December 2007 issue of Scientific American, Body, there was an article titled, “The Ultimate Blood Test”.  The article was a review of a new blood test called the Biophysical 250, the most comprehensive blood test available to date.  I was intrigued, and eventually I decided to call Biophysical Corp to learn more about the test.  After a few conversations, I was convinced that this was a test that I would be comfortable offering to my patients.

It’s called the Biophysical 250, because it measures 250 things in your blood, all at once.  For those afraid of having blood drawn, you can rest assured that the test requires only 2 tablespoons of blood.  The test covers blood markers for cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disease, infectious disease, nutritional status, hormonal status, inflammation, blood diseases, osteoarthitis, and organ dysfunction.  Biophysical Corp does not advocate testing anything that there is no treatment for, so they don’t test markers for alzheimers for instance.  Biophysical reports that in a trial of 120 clients who received the Biophysical, 27 clients had a moderate health risk, and another 15 had a major health risk.  The Biophysical 250 can help discover problems before they become problems, and there are many markers that wouldn’t normally be tested for until the disease was already apparent.   Some examples are:

• H-pylori (a bacteria associated with stomach ulcers)
• Autoimmune markers (For lupus, scleroderma, or rheumatoid arthritis)
• Insulin (high insulin levels are thought to precede type 2 diabetes)
• Cancer markers (Breast, Prostate, Colon, Pancreas, Liver, Testicular)
• Ferritin (high ferretin can be assymptomatic, and represents high iron stores, which can be harmful to the body over time)
• Thyroid Markers (thyroid disease is common, and can go a long time before being diagnosed)
• Hepatitis markers

The trouble with waiting until you get a disease, is that you stand the risk of not being able to reverse the disease process once it is diagnosed.  Cancer and autoimmune diseases are classic examples of diseases that have much better outcomes if treated earlier.

The Biophysical 250 does not replace a comprehensive annual health screen with your physician, but for those who can afford it, it can be a great, low risk adjuct to a comprehensive medical assessement for the patient that wants to know more about their existing state of health.

To learn more about the test, visit: http://www.biophysicalcorp.com/ .  The company has also come up with an abreviated version of the test that is priced more competitively, and still screens for several of the same markers.