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Could veggie burgers increase your lifespan? Many experts insist that switching to a vegetarian lifestyle can greatly increase overall health, leading some to ditch their pork rinds like an old smoking habit. Still others swear by an omnivorous diet, saying that occasional New York steak never hurt anyone. Is a fresh helping of tofu just what the doctor ordered, or only a lot of empty calories?
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Myth: Our Needs for Vitamin D Can Be Met By Sunlight
- From Weston A Price Foundation
By Weston A. Price Foundation - for Wise Traditions
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Do your research
Plenty of vegan foods are fortified with vitamin D. You can buy fortified soy milk, orange juice, breakfast cereals... Or take a multi-vitamin. And/or spend time outdoors in the sunlight.
More resources:
http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutrition/vitaminD.php
http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/bones
I've been vegan over two years and vegetarian 26 years prior and I've NEVER had a nutrient deficiency. Eat a wide variety of foods, learn about nutrition, and use common sense.
- ElaineVigneault
October 8, 2008 10:07AM
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Side: Yes
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Why are you limiting the vitamin D source to sunlight?
The whole point is moot in regards to the main discussion of is a vegetarian diet healthier? Eating a diet of vegetables will provide plenty of vitamin D for you body which you acknowledge albeit saying they are possibly not utilized as well. So why are you listing a sunlight myth as evidence in proving a vegetarian diet is not optimal? I'm not sure it's even a well accepted myth, rather seems to just be one more bit of ammo Weston A Price misuses.
The latest and seemingly most comprehensive study comparing D2 and D3 concludes that in fact vitamin D2 is just as effective. Below I quote Dr Michael Holick who explains the latest study to date.
" To determine whether vitamin D2 was as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining circulating blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, a study was conducted whereby healthy adults received either 1,000 IU of vitamin D2 or 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 in a capsule once a day in the winter for 11 weeks. In addition, one group received a placebo capsule and one group received a capsule that contained 500 IU of vitamin D2 and 500 IU of vitamin D3 daily for 11 weeks. Blood levels of both 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 were determined by state of the art method using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy. Holick et al, (Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, J Clin Endocrinol Metab 93:677-681, 2008;) reported that the blood levels of 25-hydroxvitamin D rose to the same degree in the healthy adults who took either 1,000 IU of vitamin D2 a day or 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day for 11 weeks. The group that received vitamin D2 also had their blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 measured. There was no significant drop in the blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3. To determine whether the mixture of vitamin D2 with vitamin D3 would alter the blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the adults who received 500 units of vitamin D2 with 500 units of vitamin D3 also raised their total blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in an almost an identical manner as the adults who received 1,000 IU of vitamin D2 or 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day for 11 weeks. The authors concluded that ingesting 1,000 IU of vitamin D2 or 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day during the winter (at a time when sun exposure had no influence on blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D) that both vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 were equally effective in maintaining the blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Furthermore, vitamin D2 did not have a negative influence on serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3. Adults who took 500 units of vitamin D2 with 500 units of vitamin D3 had similar increases in their blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D suggesting that vitamin D2 taken with vitamin D3 does not have any negative influence on the metabolism of vitamin D3.
The authors reviewed in their Conclusion several studies that had previously reported that vitamin D2 was as biologically effective as vitamin D3 in both pregnant women and in healthy adults. This study confirms these observations and adds to the body of scientific literature demonstrating that at least when healthy adults take 1,000 IU of vitamin D2, they can be assured that it is as effective as taking 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 "
- Mythos
March 26, 2009 9:45AM
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balance the argument
What you fail to consider in your argument is balance. While it may be true that people who eat moderately (animal flesh and organs as well as plant matter) are healthier than those who don't, we live in a nation where people overeat, and they overeat cows, chickens, and pigs. By providing examples of vegetarians who overeat and omnivores who do not, you provide a weak analogy. In addition, you fail to note that plants do contain vitamin D; you fail to note that people do take multi-vitamins for Vitamin A and D; you fail to note that people can receive extra calcium through tablets.
I remain uncommitted on this issue because health factors do vary: I believe most people who choose a vegetarian diet for health reasons are healthier and evidence does show vegetarians live longer, but what makes a person healthy is moderation (and, yes, genetics).
This forum did not discuss the ethical issue of the way the United States raises and slaughters animals , which is a fact in why many people turn to vegetarianism . I would have liked this issue addressed.
- readingmaster
November 22, 2009 12:18PM
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