The year is coming to an end. Maybe also for you a dense year full of events that might be good or also difficult – where the supposedly difficult or bad things often need a little time to reveal the good in them. It’s the quality of time that sometimes makes you feel like you’re waking up in a spinning clothes dryer. Things are turned upside down, the old gives way – more or less voluntarily – to the new. In this time it is all the more important to regularly take time for yourself. Especially silence – a commodity which is becoming more and more rare and therefore more precious – needs to be cultivated: Meditation, yoga, Qi Gong, Jin Shin Jyutsu, walks in the forest or letting yourself be carried away by the sounds of the sound bed. All of this helps us to trust our A.I. (body intelligence) in difficult situations, to remember our strength and to be able to act from our center.
Is Soy Healthy?
No, it is not. The soy industry butters $80 million each year in its efforts to sell soy as healthy to health-conscious people. However, it is becoming more and more apparent how many – sometimes serious – health problems soy can cause. Just the female hormones (phytoestrogens) it contains can disrupt development in children and negatively affect fertility and libido in adults.
Here is a small selection of problematic ingredients:
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- Protease inhibitors – prevent the breakdown of proteins and can lead to malnutrition, growth disorders, digestive problems, and pancreatitis.
- Phytic acid – blocks the absorption of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc, leading to deficiency symptoms.
- Lectins and Sapponins – are associated with leaky gut syndrome (intestinal wall becoming partially permeable) and other gastrointestinal and immune problems.
- Oxalic acid – May cause kidney stones and vulvodynia.
- Oligosaccharides – Which cause flatulence and has earned soy the reputation as the “king of musical fruits.”
For those who want to know more, here is a good report from the Huffington Post or a summary of Dr. Kaayla’s book “The Whole Soy Story” (both in English). And here’s another German-language article.
Vitamin D – we need it more than ever
Most of us love the sun and yet we are told that we need to protect ourselves from sunshine. So we cover our bare skin with fabric or with sunscreen for fear of skin cancer. This certainly continues to be good advice, and yet recent research shows that sunshine – or more accurately, the vitamin D it produces – is more important to our health than we previously thought.
We know that extreme vitamin D deficiency causes rickets (softening of the bones). It is also known that even a mild deficiency of vitamin D increases the risk of bone fractures. What’s new is the realization that not only does vitamin D play an important role in bones, but that if we don’t get enough of it, we’re at increased risk for autoimmune diseases like MS or type 1 diabetes and even certain cancers, and we’re also more susceptible to infections.
There are two ways we get vitamin D: through food intake and by exposing our skin to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from the sun. Cells in the outermost layer of our skin, the epidermis, produce a substance called 7-dehydrocholesterol, which reacts with UVB light to form a precursor (provitamin) of vitamin D. Our kidneys convert this provitamin into the active form, which then docks with receptors in the intestines and bones and helps regulate calcium levels – a crucial process for bone formation.
In addition to the kidneys, there are several other types of immune cells that can convert vitamin D to its active form, and many of these also have vitamin D receptors. The first indication that vitamin D could play an active role in the immune system was obtained as early as the 1960s in studies on multiple sclerosis. It was noticed that there seemed to be more MS cases at higher latitudes (i.e., more northerly). More and more data now point to a direct link to sun exposure. In 2011, an Australian team evaluated hundreds of studies examining the link between MS and sun exposure and concluded that this trend does indeed exist. This is with a few exceptions, such as Scandinavia, which has fewer MS cases than would be expected at the corresponding latitude – but here again it should be noted that people in Scandinavia consume a lot of oily fish, a food rich in vitamin D.
The case of Iran is also interesting. Between 1950 and 1970, Iran was heavily influenced by Western fashion. With the Islamic revolution in 1979 came a big change here. Men dressed moderately and women covered their bodies almost completely – skin that had previously been allowed to bathe in the sun was now suddenly in darkness. No data exist on MS before the revolution, but the period between 1989 and 2006 showed an 8-fold increase in MS cases (around 6 per 100,000 people).
Further evidence of a direct link between MS and sunlight, or vitamin D, was shown in a study by the Harvard School of Public Health: in people with incipient MS who had low vitamin D levels, initial symptoms worsened markedly and also had a poorer prognosis. Also, the study showed that young people with low vitamin D levels were twice as likely to develop type 1 diabetes than those with normal levels.
Now how much vitamin D does the body need? There is no uniform guideline here. In England and the United States, one recommends – with focus on healthy bones and teeth – 20 nanograms per milliliter of blood. However, a strong immune system needs more. So other places recommend 30 to 100 ng/ml.
If we now assume that 20 ng/ml is enough and you live above a latitude of about 35 degrees (north of San Francisco, Seville, Seoul or south of Melbourne – so also us here in Switzerland), then there is a high probability that you have a vitamin D deficiency at least part of the year. Between November and March (or June to August in the southern hemisphere) the angle of the sun is such that in the higher latitudes only a few UVB rays reach the earth, making it difficult for us to produce enough vitamin D through the skin. Unfortunately, you can’t build up a reservoir of vitamin D either, as stores dwindle after about 30 days.
In England, a study showed that in winter and spring, about half of people had vitamin D levels below the UK recommendation and about 15% were deficient year-round. For people with darker skin who live at higher latitudes, the risk is even greater, as they need longer UVB exposure to produce the same amount of vitamin D.
For fear of skin cancer, it is understandable that people cover their skin during the summer months, and even moisturizers and makeup now often include sunscreen. This is despite the fact that there is more and more evidence that sunlight reduces the risk of getting other types of cancer.
The good news is that getting enough vitamin D is relatively easy. A fair-skinned person in England only needs to bathe their face and arms for about 10 minutes in the midday summer sun to produce something twice their daily requirement, where dark-skinned people need about 40 minutes here (see image). There are even apps that show you how to get enough vitamin D without getting sunburned.
But the sun doesn’t always shine, and we can’t always go outside when we want to. What if it’s cloudy or you’re “stuck” in the office? Dense clouds and shadows roughly halve the amount of vitamin D the body can synthesize, and glass blocks it altogether. UVB rays also fade early in the morning and early evening (while UVA rays remain the same). In the tanning salon, we expose ourselves mostly to UVA rays and very little to UVB.
Can I meet my vitamin D needs through food?
Current US and UK guidelines recommend between 15 and 25 micrograms of vitamin D / day (total from sun and food). A 100 gram pack of smoked salmon would therefore be sufficient. So would 3 cans of 160 gram tuna. But unless you eat a lot of oily fish, it’s unlikely you’d be able to get the amount you need from food alone.
It’s recommended to take about 10 micrograms of vitamin D daily in supplement form – especially pregnant women, nursing mothers, people over 65, and those who don’t get much sun exposure.
Nutritional supplements are not without risk. You can’t get an overdose from sunbathing because anything that is produced too much is broken down by the body. But if vitamin D is taken directly, it can lead to high levels of calcium in the blood, which in turn can damage the kidneys – but it’s not yet clear at what doses this can become a problem.
Recommendations differ here. UK recommends taking no more than 25 micrograms/day of vitamin D as a dietary supplement, with the upper limit in the U.S. being 100 micrograms.
Ongoing clinical trials in which vitamin D is given as a dietary supplement to people with cancer and MS will show the extent to which vitamin D is helpful here. Early results show positive influences on MS symptoms.
A walk in the sun is always a treat for body and soul. With the new findings, we know that our cells also benefit from it. So go out and enjoy the sun and nature – of course always in moderation 🙂
How much?
How much sun is too much? While roasting in the sun until you get sunburned is certainly not healthy, evidence is hardening that protecting yourself too tightly is counterproductive. People who live in sunnier lower latitudes have a lower risk of developing certain cancers, including breast, prostate, and colon cancer.
Why is that? Many tumor cells have receptors for vitamin D, which indicates that these cells respond to vitamin D. It is known that vitamin D can slow tumor growth and even induce certain types of malignant cells to commit suicide.
How do I get my daily dose?
You can get 15 micrograms of vitamin D (the recommended daily dose) by:
- 0.5 teaspoon cod liver oil (also available as capsules and this is what I take daily and recommend)
- 88 g smoked salmon (wild caught)
- 10 teaspoons margarine (not recommended because margarine is rich in dangerous trans fats)
- 15 eggs (so I’ll stick with cod liver oil beads)
- 15 bowls of enriched cereal (still sticking with the cod liver oil beads)
2.8 kg of Swiss cheese (cod liver oil beads are less on)
In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a poem from someone dear to me:
You, heart.
You were born long ago,between light and darkness.
Created out of love and gratitude.
You grew out of time long past; out of Atlantis.
As hope for a finite eternity.
You brave rain and storms too.
You delight in love, friendship, doing.
You are unconditional, striking full of strength.
Without intention, You are awake, striking for me day and night.
You are my rhythm, my sure path.
My purpose is to follow You wherever You go.
I will follow you and love you.
I will live Your rhythm.
and love will eventually win!
Andrea Lara
Now I wish you and your loved ones an Advent season full of miracles, a reflective Christmas and a good start into the New Year.
Sincerely
Gerald