[Vitamin D Episode 1] Vitamin D is likely to be the first nutrient to increase longevity | Dr. Esther Lyuh

If you had to choose just one nutrient

This is my one-pick without hesitation

Vitamin D is really important. If someone asked me to choose just one of all supplements, I would choose vitamin D without hesitation.  Until now, there has been no nutritional supplement that prolongs lifespan. But it's very likely that vitamin D will be the first nutrient to increase your lifespan.

Vitamin D is called...

Vitamins are named in order of discovery. They are not in order of medical importance. The first to be discovered was vitamin A. Vitamin D was discovered fourth after B and C. This vitamin was discovered in 1922 when a dog suffering from rickets was fed fish liver oil and the condition improved.

The only vitamin D that can be synthesized in the body

Unlike other vitamins, vitamin D is synthesized in the skin from sunlight.  So there are claims that it should be classified as a hormone rather than a vitamin. What matters is the Creator's intention. Why was vitamin D designed so that the body can synthesize it on its own, unlike other vitamins that must be consumed through food? Paradoxically, I interpret it as the fact that the gene that produces vitamin D arose separately through the evolutionary process because vitamin D is so important to human survival and health.

What is the role of vitamin D?

What role does vitamin D play in our body? Its best-known role is in building strong bones.  It aids in the absorption of calcium from the intestines and promotes bone formation. A lack of vitamin D can cause rickets in newborns and children and osteomalacia in adults. Neonatal rickets was a very common disease even in developed countries such as the United States until the 1930s. This disease has been reduced decisively since vitamin D was artificially synthesized and mixed with milk and other foods to be sold on the market. In the United States, most dairy producers voluntarily add 100 IU of vitamin D per 200 ml cup of milk. Canada legally mandates the addition of 35 to 40 IU of vitamin D per 100 ml of milk.

*Nutritional supplement display unit, IU

IU stands for International Unit. An internationally accepted unit for equivalent expression of biological effects rather than mass or volume in vitamins, pharmaceuticals, etc. Different supplements have different IU dosages. For vitamin A, 1 IU equals 3 μg, and for vitamin D, 1 IU equals 0.025 μg. For vitamin E, it depends on the isomer, but for alpha-tocopherol, 1 IU is 0.67 mg.

For breastfed newborns...

Vitamin D intake is very important for breastfed newborns. Breast milk is a near-perfect food rich in nutrients compared to cow's milk, but it contains very little vitamin D.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 400 IU of vitamin D daily in nutritional form for breastfed newborns until weaning. Vitamin D also plays an important role in bone health in older adults. In the United States, half of elderly patients with hip fractures had very low vitamin D blood levels of 12 ng/ml or less. Giving these older adults a daily intake of 700 to 800 IU of vitamin D reduced hip fractures by 26%.