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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Explains Why You Should Worry About a Vitamin D Deficiency, September 7, 2011
This review is from: Vitamin D For Dummies (For Dummies (Health & Fitness)) (Paperback)
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If you regularly use sunscreen to protect against sunburn and skin cancer, or if you live far from the equator, or if you always cover up with clothing when you go outdoors, you are at risk of developing a Vitamin D deficiency. As this book explains, adequate Vitamin D ("the sunshine vitamin") is manufactured by the body whenever the skin receives sufficient exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. But if you don't get enough exposure to the sun--and don't take Vitamin D supplements--then you may develop serious bone diseases (such as rickets, osteomalacia, or osteoporosis); and you will definitely lose out on the many likely benefits of having an adequate level of the active Vitamin D hormone (calcitriol) in your bloodstream.
As this book explains, recent research studies strongly suggest that the Vitamin D hormone does far more than help build strong bones by regulating calcium in the body. Calcitriol seems to play a role in protecting the immune system (including protecting against autoimmune diseases); preventing cancer (especially colon and breast cancer); improving heart health; avoiding diabetes and asthma; treating psoriasis; preventing brain diseases (such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, autism, depression, and seasonal affective disorder); and managing your weight. The book describes all of these diseases and their symptoms, and how calcitriol levels may relate to them.
Written by a physician, the book explains in easy-to-understand language exactly how Vitamin D and calcitriol are known to function in your body, and how these substances operate to prevent bone disease. However, the bulk of the book consists of educated conjecture about the possible preventive and protective effects of calcitriol that are merely suggested by recent studies of the Vitamin D hormone. Because the book has so much repetitive conjecture, I rate it at 3 stars ("it's okay"). Nevertheless, the book is an excellent choice if your doctor--like mine--has recently ordered you to be tested for a Vitamin D deficiency, and you are wondering why Vitamin D testing has recently come into such vogue with family doctors.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Its strength is its weakness, July 8, 2011
This review is from: Vitamin D For Dummies (For Dummies (Health & Fitness)) (Paperback)
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This book's strength is that it is current, incorporating the state of the research on vitamin D and the latest evidence-based recommendations for intake through at least November 2010, when the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science set the Daily Reference Intakes (RDA, adequate intake, and upper limits) for vitamin D. Its weakness is that, based on that very same research, there are an awful lot of caveats and qualifying comments peppered throughout the book. Combined with the usual "Dummies" style of constantly referring readers to other chapters and pages plus to other "Dummies" books, I found all the "we just don't know"/"more research is needed" comments to be a little too CYA and downright irritating at times.
I think it would have been more effective to include an introductory summary of all of vitamin D's probable (Part II) and possible new (last chapter) functions; a wholesale caveat or two about the current state of the research, then, could have been added to this summary so Dr. Rubin would not have had to repeat himself so much later. As the book is compiled now, it reads like it was rushed to press years too soon. The information really is so important, however, that I think the decision to publish it now was a wise one. It just could have been organized differently to make it less irritating to read.
The information included in the book, especially the chapters about getting vitamin D from our diet and the sun (including the skin type/sun exposure chart and link to an online calculator based on location and other pertinent factors), ranged from helpful to intriguing. Rubin tells us why "vitamin" is a misnomer for D and further enlightens us as to how its active form works in the body. He tells us why it's not just rickets and our bones we need to be concerned about; the chapters on how vitamin D is thought to impact the myriad diseases that plague us are eye-opening food for thought. I was surprised at how vastly different most of this information is from what I learned in school about the function and importance of vitamin D.
Although Dr. Rubin is very cautious with his "we need more research"/"we just don't know" scientific approach, it became clear to me from reading this book that a lot of my health problems now (including "worrisome" osteoporosis diagnosed in my forties, disabling depression, fibromyalgia, and thyroid disease) might well have been exacerbated, if not outright caused, by chronic vitamin D deficiency. Fortunately, Rubin gives sound guidelines to follow to reverse my deficiency without overdoing it.
Parents, especially, should read this book so they understand the implications for their children of not receiving adequate nutrition (including prenatally) and some measured exposure to sunlight. Those adults who avoid the sun entirely and those who think they are getting their vitamin D on a tanning bed need to read this book. I will be interested in re-reading "Vitamin D for Dummies" again when it is updated to include completed research results, and I'll certainly be following the topic of vitamin D more closely on the internet from now on.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Should be a Must-Read, June 30, 2011
This review is from: Vitamin D For Dummies (For Dummies (Health & Fitness)) (Paperback)
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Lately there has been a lot in the news about vitamin D. Not only is the latest research suggesting that it maybe useful in the prevention of cancer, osteoporosis, and many other conditions, but new research also suggests that many Americans are suffering from a deficiency. Anyone wishing to separate the myths from the facts and wants to learn if they may be deficient and/or benefit from supplementation would do well to check out this book. Like all the dummies books, the information is straightforward, organized and written with the layperson in mind.
As someone who suffered from a vitamin D deficiency and thought that I was pretty well-educated on the subject, I was surprised by how much I learned from this. For instance, I had no idea that optimal levels of vitamin D may even assist in successful IVF attempts or that someone with my skin type would have to be in the sun for over an hour and a half in the winter in order to make enough vitamin D. (This last fact alone is worth the price of the book. Many people are under the impression that direct exposure to sunlight will provide all the vitamin D that they need. There is even a very popular vegan diet book that perpetuates this myth.)
Overall, a must-read for anyone interested in their health.
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