What would happen if Vitamin D was first added...

[Buckeye_Democrat]

Last edited Sat May 9, 2020, 09:52 AM - Edit history (1)

... to food such as milk and cheese today, like when it was initiated by government in the 1930's?

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-milk

Why milk has vitamin D added

In some countries, including Canada and Sweden, vitamin D is added to cow’s milk by law. In the United States, it’s not mandated, but most milk manufacturers add it voluntarily during milk processing.

It has been added to cow’s milk since the 1930s when the practice was implemented as a public health initiative to reduce rickets, which causes poor bone development and deformities in children.

While milk doesn’t naturally contain vitamin D, it’s a good source of calcium. These two nutrients work well together, as vitamin D aids calcium absorption into your bones, thus helping strengthen them.

The lighter the skin, the easier to convert sunlight to Vitamin D. It's why people who moved out of Africa to Northern climates long ago developed lighter skin over many generations.

Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, and it was much more prevalent in blacks than whites without dietary supplementation. (It's still more prevalent, just not as frequent with dietary supplements.)

If government had promoted it TODAY rather than the 1930's, would a bunch of racist white people be protesting with guns and carrying signs like, "Hands off my baby's milk, morans!"

[Mike 03]

1. It should be more widely known. But it's not like this is hidden information.

I learned this years ago. Also, in most cases it takes a while to build up one's vitamin D if one is deficient. It's not like you can just take a bunch of vitamin D one day and get your levels up. For some people it's hard to get their levels up and takes months.

The counterintuitive aspect has to do with the darkness of one's skin. This means that people of color in hot, sunny environments who receive a lot of direct sunlight can still be low. (Vitamin D deficiency is pervasive in Iran, one of the hardest-hit countries with respect to Covid). I remember reading a case report about a golf course maintenance guy who was out in direct sun all day but was extremely low on vitamin D.

This is something to consider, too. Although, I don't know if it has been confirmed:

Recommendation for vitamin D intake was miscalculated, is far too low, experts say
Science Daily

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150317122458.htm

Researchers at UC San Diego and Creighton University have challenged the intake of vitamin D recommended by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Institute of Medicine (IOM), stating that their Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D underestimates the need by a factor of ten.

In a letter published last week in the journal Nutrients the scientists confirmed a calculation error noted by other investigators, by using a data set from a different population. Dr. Cedric F. Garland, Dr.P.H., adjunct professor at UC San Diego's Department of Family Medicine and Public Health said his group was able to confirm findings published by Dr. Paul Veugelers from the University of Alberta School of Public Health that were reported last October in the same journal.

"Both these studies suggest that the IOM underestimated the requirement substantially," said Garland. "The error has broad implications for public health regarding disease prevention and achieving the stated goal of ensuring that the whole population has enough vitamin D to maintain bone health."