Tips From The Professor: Vitamin D & Children's Allergies Dr. Stephen Chaney
With the beautiful Spring flowers comes a whole new allergy season.
And, of course, not all allergies are seasonal. Allergies to foods, animal dander, mold and dust mites occur all year around.
If your children suffer from allergies, here is something that you should know:
Dr. Michal Melamed and colleagues have just reported a major clinical study (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, published online February 16, 2011) showing that children and adolescents with low blood levels of vitamin D are much more likely to suffer from allergies than those with adequate blood levels of vitamin D.
They looked at vitamin D status (as measured by 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in the blood) and sensitivity to 17 different common allergens in 3136 children and adolescents aged 1 to 21 in the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) database from 2005 and 2006.
The data were adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, obesity, socioeconomic status and hours spent watching television, playing video games or on the computer (a measure of activity level - or more strictly speaking inactivity level).
They found that children and adolescents with low blood levels of vitamin (< 15 ng/ml of 25-hydroxy vitamin D) were significantly more likely to suffer from 11 of the 17 allergies tested than those with adequate blood vitamin D levels (> 30 ng/ml of 25-hydroxy vitamin D).
For example, they were significantly more likely to suffer from allergies to peanuts, ragweed, oak, dog dander and dust.
This is an important finding because previous studies by Dr. Melamed and others have shown that up to 70% of children in this country have low blood levels of vitamin D and that the incidence of vitamin D deficiency has increased significantly in recent years - perhaps linked to all the video games & computer use of today's children.
Dr. Melamed suggested that it is perhaps no coincidence that many children suffer from allergies and that the incidence of allergies in children is also increasing.
Around 16 million children (16% of the population) suffer from allergies, and the incidence of children suffering with allergies has increased by 18% in just the last 10 years.
So, if your children suffer from allergies, one thing that you could do for them is to make sure that they are getting sufficient levels of vitamin D in their diet.
Dr. Melamed states: "The latest dietary recommendations calling for children to take in 600 IU of vitamin D daily should keep them from becoming D deficient."
Of course, vitamin D is not a magic bullet. It is just one of many things that you can do to reduce the risk of allergies in your children.
A holistic approach to allergy reduction would include a good diet that provides all of the essential nutrients and a supplemental source of friendly bacteria to support a healthy intestine and immune system.
It would also include non-toxic cleaning products to reduce environmental allergen exposure.
To Your Health! Dr. Stephen G Chaney
--Support this blog, purchase Shaklee Products!
And, of course, not all allergies are seasonal. Allergies to foods, animal dander, mold and dust mites occur all year around.
If your children suffer from allergies, here is something that you should know:
Dr. Michal Melamed and colleagues have just reported a major clinical study (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, published online February 16, 2011) showing that children and adolescents with low blood levels of vitamin D are much more likely to suffer from allergies than those with adequate blood levels of vitamin D.
They looked at vitamin D status (as measured by 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in the blood) and sensitivity to 17 different common allergens in 3136 children and adolescents aged 1 to 21 in the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) database from 2005 and 2006.
The data were adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, obesity, socioeconomic status and hours spent watching television, playing video games or on the computer (a measure of activity level - or more strictly speaking inactivity level).
They found that children and adolescents with low blood levels of vitamin (< 15 ng/ml of 25-hydroxy vitamin D) were significantly more likely to suffer from 11 of the 17 allergies tested than those with adequate blood vitamin D levels (> 30 ng/ml of 25-hydroxy vitamin D).
For example, they were significantly more likely to suffer from allergies to peanuts, ragweed, oak, dog dander and dust.
This is an important finding because previous studies by Dr. Melamed and others have shown that up to 70% of children in this country have low blood levels of vitamin D and that the incidence of vitamin D deficiency has increased significantly in recent years - perhaps linked to all the video games & computer use of today's children.
Dr. Melamed suggested that it is perhaps no coincidence that many children suffer from allergies and that the incidence of allergies in children is also increasing.
Around 16 million children (16% of the population) suffer from allergies, and the incidence of children suffering with allergies has increased by 18% in just the last 10 years.
So, if your children suffer from allergies, one thing that you could do for them is to make sure that they are getting sufficient levels of vitamin D in their diet.
Dr. Melamed states: "The latest dietary recommendations calling for children to take in 600 IU of vitamin D daily should keep them from becoming D deficient."
Of course, vitamin D is not a magic bullet. It is just one of many things that you can do to reduce the risk of allergies in your children.
A holistic approach to allergy reduction would include a good diet that provides all of the essential nutrients and a supplemental source of friendly bacteria to support a healthy intestine and immune system.
It would also include non-toxic cleaning products to reduce environmental allergen exposure.
To Your Health! Dr. Stephen G Chaney
--Support this blog, purchase Shaklee Products!
No comments:
Post a Comment