I am seeing news reports of supplements causing physical illness and actually not doing any good at all with the possible exception of Vitamin D. As with any substances ingested there is risk so I can not deny that, but these supplements have passed the test of time with little or no trouble. Certainly one has to do reasonable supplementation and not be reckless. I will also tell you that all this must be kept in perspective. Why are they doing it?
Any substance can become poison if used recklessly and without fore thought. What I suggest with supplements maybe helpful and has been researched and proven, in my mind, to be helpful.
For a example poisoning and bad judgement there is the case of a contest in which the person who drank the most water in a short time won. Well this lady won and she ingested two gallons of water. She got a headache acke and died. There are well understood mechanisms why this can happen to a healthy person. Generally people do not swallow that amount of water in a short period of  time and that is a good thing. Any thing or substance can be abused. All I am doing is suggesting you use your head. That person did not.
I am also seeing attempts to legislate the supplement market such that they have to live up to a drug standard. I can assure you this is a attempt to gain control of the supplement markets by the drug companies. Supplements are a multibillion dollar industry.
Our food and life styles present us with a problem. The foods just do not supply the amount of nutrients needed. As we age our ability to absorb these nutrients is adversely effected. All these factors make supplementation very important.
 I suspect you will here more horror stories about supplements in the news. I would consider taking those stories with a grain of salt. Perhaps a whole salt shaker worth.
I am going to blog in the near future on my history of supplementation with vitamin D. There is a new chapter and I think you will find it interesting.
BB

Vitamin D Council News Letter

Updated health condition summary: Vitamin D and breast cancer

We have completely updated our breast cancer health condition summary!

Read the latest research on the link between vitamin D and breast cancer.

Read the summary here! Vitamin D Council Members Blog New randomized controlled trial finds that vitamin D influences blood pressure, even in healthy young adults
December 21, 2013 -- Jeff Nicklas Vitamin D has been shown to improve cardiovascular health in high-risk populations. Does the same hold true in healthy groups? Continue reading → (membership required) Dear Dr Cannell: Legal recourse and the Mondale Amendment
December 20, 2013 -- John Cannell, MD Dr Cannell writes to a mother accused of abusing her baby, who showed multiple signs of rickets. Continue reading → (open access) New RCT: Vitamin D decreases insulin resistance during pregnancy
December 19, 2013 -- John Cannell, MD A new study shows that vitamin D lowers insulin resistance, which is generally common during pregnancy. Continue reading → (membership required) New cohort study shows association between sun exposure and risk of Crohn’s disease
December 18, 2013 -- Jeff Nicklas A recent prospective cohort study found a relationship between resident sun exposure and risk of Crohn’s disease but not ulcerative colitis. Continue reading → (membership required) Become a member today!
Vitamin D News Room Study finds higher vitamin D levels associated with active juvenile idiopathic arthritis
December 23, 2013 A surprise finding shows higher vitamin D levels in active juvenile idiopathic arthritis compared to inactive juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Continue reading → Study: Link between vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune thyroid disease
December 21, 2013 New research out of South Korea suggests there is an association between vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune thyroid disease. Continue reading → New research: Somali immigrants in Sweden suffering from severe vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy
December 19, 2013 New study shows pregnant Somali women in Sweden are severely vitamin D deficient, with one-third of the women having undetectable vitamin D levels. Continue reading → Like Tweet Forward to Friend Copyright © 2013 The Vitamin D Council, All rights reserved.
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     Vitamin D Council Newsletter December 17, 2013 View this email in your browser Supporters of the Vitamin D Council New health condition summary: Vitamin D and Alzheimer’s disease

We have published a new patient friendly summary on the link between vitamin D and Alzheimer’s disease.

Read about the latest research on the link between vitamin D and Alzheimer's disease.

Read the summary here! Have you seen Professor Heaney's blog?

Check out Professor Robert Heaney’s blog at http://blogs.creighton.edu/heaney/.

He’s written some great blogs recently, including “Pellagra and the Four Ds,” “Some Rules for Studies Evaluating Nutrient Effects,” and “The Sodium Story.”
  Click here to donate today. Vitamin D Council Members Blog Vitamin D and risk of infection after gastric bypass surgery
December 16, 2013 -- John Cannell, MD Antibiotics and getting rid of bacteria in hospitals have both been tried in an effort to limit infection. What about strengthening the immune system? Continue reading → (membership required) A visual look: Does latitude relate to incidence of type 1 diabetes?
December 14, 2013 -- Jeff Nicklas In this new blog we explore the global incidence of type 1 diabetes to see if it relates to latitude and sun exposure. Continue reading → (open access) Mega dose or daily dose vitamin D for the breastfeeding mother?
December 13, 2013 -- Brant Cebulla A new randomized controlled trial reports, if you dose adequately, the breastfeeding mother can provide vitamin D in her breast milk by either single large monthly dose or by daily supplementation. Continue reading → (membership required) Why does the Vitamin D Council recommend 5,000 IU/day?
December 10, 2013 -- John Cannell, MD Organizations and institutions each recommend widely varied daily intake of vitamin D. How did the Vitamin D Council settle on 5,000 IU/day? Continue reading → (open access) Become a member today!
Vitamin D News Room Vitamin D status may predict risk of relapse in people with tuberculosis
December 16, 2013 A new study published in BMJ Open has found that vitamin D status may predict the risk of relapse in people with tuberculosis. Continue reading → New research suggests vitamin D status is a predictor of disability and death after stroke event
December 11, 2013 A new study out of China has found that vitamin D levels predict short-term disability outcomes and death in those who suffered acute ischemic stroke. Continue reading → New animal study discovers how vitamin D may work in multiple sclerosis
December 10, 2013 Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have found that vitamin D blocks damaging immune cells from getting to the central nervous system. Continue reading → The Vitamin D Geek shirt

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What does a partent have to lose by giving a good probiotic to a autistic child? Nothing, imho, and home made sauer kraut has the highest count of ten Trillion colony count per 2 to 4 ounces.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/269828.php

Vitamin D Council Members Blog Case-control study: Low vitamin D levels found at onset of type 1 diabetes
December 9, 2013 -- Jeff Nicklas Researchers recently found vitamin D levels to be significantly lower among children with type 1 diabetes compared to children with other diseases. Continue reading → (membership required) Does vitamin D testing misdiagnose African-Americans?
December 7, 2013 -- Tom Weishaar A recent publication suggested African-Americans are being misdiagnosed from vitamin D tests. How accurate is the information in this study? Continue reading → (open access) A look at the recent Lancet review study
December 6, 2013 -- Brant Cebulla A new study has come out in the journal the Lancet, and we have received many emails requesting that we address it. In this blog, we explain the design of the study and its argument. Continue reading → (open access) New review: Does vitamin D supplementation help cancer patients?
December 5, 2013 -- Rebecca Oshiro Researchers conduct systematic review on vitamin D supplementation and outcome for cancer patients. They conclude we need more research. Continue reading → (membership required) New study finds low vitamin D associated with increased risk for community-acquired pneumonia
December 4, 2013 -- Jeff Nicklas Researchers using NHANES data have found that those with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to have (or have had) community-acquired pneumonia. Continue reading → (membership required) Vitamin D and T2D: Where does research stand, where are we headed?
December 3, 2013 -- Brant Cebulla A new RCT shows that vitamin D does not help glucose control. What does this mean moving forward and where is research headed in vitamin D and T2D? Continue reading → (membership required) Become a member today!
Vitamin D News Room New study shows low vitamin D intake may lead to greater cognitive decline
December 5, 2013 Researchers have found that low vitamin D intake may lead to brain damage as we age, according to results of their new animal study. Continue reading → A new study shows vitamin D may help with pain and depression in women with type 2 diabetes
December 4, 2013 New research out of Loyola University, Chicago, has shown that vitamin D may help alleviate pain and depression in women with type II diabetes. Continue reading → Fifth International Symposium on vitamin D and vitamin D analogs set to take place in May, 2014
December 3, 2013 The 5th International Symposim on Vitamin D and Analogs in Cancer Prevention and Therapy is set to take place in Germany. Continue reading →

I go to work and find a co worker has stated things about me that are not true. How do I react? Am I in control of how I act? What effect will it have on me. Will it cause my outlook for the day to be less than optimistic. In some case I may take that problem home and my family will suffer because I can not get it off my mind. It may effect my relationship with my family. Was it my choice on how I reacted? Actually there are factors that influence how well I adjust to this kind of stress.

Another scenario. I have gained weight and got on a diet and no matter what I do the pounds just don't come off. Some people lose weight easily and they tend to be thin any how. Why not me? Still another scenario. I lose a close relative and it causes a grief that I find hard to deal with and put behind me. It effects how I perform my activities of the day.

All these events will cause any normal person stress, but it would be good thing if it effected us less and in the process we could lose some weight too. Is there one thing we could do that would make all these things have a better outcome? Yes there is and it is really simple and cheap. The cost is nothing. No need for pills or go to a doctor for the latest anti anxiety or weight loss program. We are nothing more than a bunch of cells connected together and nourished by what we eat. This is more true than we ever believed before.

We have all heard the latest diet fad and of the pill that just melts away the pounds. This has nothing to do with what I am about to tell you.
In fact there are many cells in our bodies, how many there are I do not know exactly but I do know our cells are outnumber ten to one by bacteria. Bacteria are very small. At this point it is important to leave behind that all bacteria is bad. In fact many are very good for you.
I will tell you a story. They took a pregnant rat and at term pregnancy did a C section. The off spring where delivered into a sterile environment...no bacteria at all. Half the off spring where put in a normal enclosed environment that had a normal amount of bacteria and fed a normal diet. The other half where put into a sterile environment with no bacteria at all. A completely enclosed sterile place to live and grow. They where fed a food exactly the same as the rats in a non sterile environment, except the food they got was sterilized. Which group did better? The group in the non sterile environment did the best. Gained weight and prospered with all the indications of health and the ones in the sterile environment gained less weight and generally was less healthy looking. First, we can not eat sterile food and live in a sterile environment to lose weight and why would we want to if we where less healthy in the process? Such a sterile life would not be worth living especially seeing as our health would suffer. So what is the answer?

Another study took rodents that where obese and removed some of their bacteria from there gut. They took those bacteria and put them in the gut of skinny rodents. The skinny rodents gained weight and became obese. Could the bacteria cause us to gain weight if it is the wrong kind. Yes it can and does. A calorie is not always the same. It depends!Another story. Rodents that where obese and rodents that where skinny where stressed equally. The obese ones reacted with more alarm. Could the bacteria make that much difference. Yes it can and does.

They have taken skinny rats and made they more stressed by simply cutting the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve wanders all over the body. One of its tracts is between the gut and the brain. The bacteria in your gut talks, kinda, to your brain. Good bacteria a better day. Bad bacteria not so good and you get sicker easier. I am not going to go any further with this than to say in addition to all the good effects your immune fuction improves a lot. Less of everything bad because the bacteria that are good cause less inflammation ( heard that before some where).
So the world has not changed. It still has all the complexities of the stuff we see everyday, but by doing this you have improved your outlook on life and made it a better place for those that interact with you. Everyone is happier and their is nothing wrong with that. All it takes is two to four ounces of home made fermented food. I like sauerkraut. Lots of instruction on the Internet on how to do it.
BB

This is the kind of study that confuses everyone and at times professionals quote. But, how much vitamin D was used in this study. It does not say in the article I have put below. I know however that it was 400 iu. A inconsequental dose. No wonder they saw no improvement in the study. That amount is what is in a multivitamin. Another way of saying it might be exposing the body in a bathing suite for thirty seconds is about what a person would get during the summer, if white skinned at noon. Small potatoes as they say. One has to be careful about the studies that come out as they can be of lousy quality, like this one is.
BB
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/study-casts-doubt-whether-extra-vitamin-d-prevents-000147089.html

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UVA+B SunFriend – the cool new gadget for getting good amounts of sun exposure while avoiding sunburn – has teamed up with the Vitamin D Council as part of a fundraising effort. For every SunFriend you buy for $45 (retail price will be $49) today, the Vitamin D Council will get $10. Click here to visit the Indiegogo site to participate for their last day: http://igg.me/at/SaferSunTime/x/4814896
 
Thank you for your support!
Vitamin D Council Members Blog RCT: Vitamin D supplementation helps a few cardiovascular markers but not all
November 29, 2013 -- Jeff Nicklas
In new randomized controlled trial, vitamin D helps reduce t-PA and PAI-1 markers, but doesn’t affect other markers. Continue reading → (membership required) Dr. Cannell on vitamin K2
November 27, 2013 -- John Cannell, MD
If only vitamin K1 comes from dietary sources, how does the body get necessary vitamin K2? Continue reading → (open access) New intervention study: Vitamin D helps fetal growth
November 26, 2013 -- Brant Cebulla
New research out of Iran suggests that vitamin D during the third trimester of pregnancy can improve fetal growth. Continue reading → (membership required) Become a member today!
Vitamin D News Room NHANES study finds vitamin D intake higher among high income groups
November 28, 2013
What kind of socio-economic factors play into how much vitamin D you might be getting? Recently, researchers from Texas Woman’s University wanted to find out. Continue reading → --