Two Easy Ways to Control Blood Pressure

Stephan Whole Health Source explains in this post Fructose vs. Glucose Showdown why the change in total caloric intake from sugar to corn sweeteners between 1966 and now has been so disastrous. 

The USDA site has a wonderful database that allows you access to the facts 

We may only have gone from eating 112.93lbs sweeteners annually to 136.29lbs but the big change is the source of those calories. Back in 1966 it was 97.33 lbs sugar + 14lbs corn sweeteners and now it is 62lbs sugar and 73lbs corn.

In the You Tube Video Sugar: The Bitter Truth Robert Lustig explains in detail the way fructose is dealt with in the body.

Although at one point I thought Taubes was suggesting that sugar was equally as bad as fructose in causing insulin resistance if you listen carefully to slide 47 in his Dartmouth Lecture you may be surprised. 

IMO both the Lustig and Taubes lectures are worth listening to if you want to understand what is happening in Fructose metabolism and why it isn't good for you. 

 

 

I'd like to comment on the phrase

Those who were deficient in vitamin D -- that is with less than 80 nanomoles per liter of blood --

80nmol/l = 32ng/ml and I agree absolutely with the idea that everyone with levels below 32ng/ml is deficient. 

In his video What's a Vitamin D Deficiency? Heaney explains why 32ng/ml is a deficiency state but also points out that OPTIMAL status is somewhat different from a deficient status. 

80nmol/l 32ng/ml needs to be regarded as deficiency as below that level a careful analysis of bone structure reveals actual measurable physical harm occurs to bone structure. For day to day requirements our body's ideally use around 4000iu/d and to sustain that we need a circulating level around 100nmol/l or 40ng/ml. So below 32ng = 80nmol/l insufficient calcium is being absorbed to manage calcium requirements optimally (muscle fibers use calcium to tense muscles and brain neurons use calcium to excite the neuron) and so to prevent muscles or brain seizing up though lack of calcium the bone structure has to be temporarily robbed of calcium to meet our daily needs.

While in the short term this is a better alternative than being unable to move or to think, it's a bit like using a pawnbroker to manage your daily finances. Ideally it is better to earn more money each week than you are required to spend weekly. Achieving a weekly surplus on you bank statement enables you to build a small reserve of money that you can draw on in an emergency rather than taking capital assets to the pawn broker. For you body to have sufficient Vitamin D income to meet it's daily needs a 25(OH)D of 40ng/ml 100nmol/l is required (4000iu/daily incoming Vitamin D3) in order to be assured of a reserve of D3 sufficiently robust to deal with a crisis (swine flu?) a level of 55ng/ml or 135nmol/l is the minimum required. 

 

Naturally regular full body exposure to UVB (Sunlight or Tanning Lamps) the human body attains and maintains a level around 80ng or 150nmol/l.

 

In the same way we should not simply accept advice from our credit card bankers that just making the minimum monthly payment is fine. It is for the bankers as it allows them to charge exorbitant interest rates. Ideally you should pay off your credit card in full that way you avoid any cost penalty. So we should not assume that because health professionals suggest 80nmol/l =32ng/ml is not deficiency status we should NOT assume that is a healthy level. 

 

People with chronic inflammatory conditions may need a higher reserve of anti inflammatory agents than people with no current inflammatory diagnosis. Ideally, therefore, you will get your Vitamin D levels tested and make sure you keep your level such that there is always a reserve of D3 stored in muscle and fat tissue and sufficient 25(OH)D circulating to deal with any crisis. 55ng/ml is therefore the minimum required and 60~70ng/ml ideal and up to 80ng/ml entirely natural. 

 

I don't suppose I have to explain that toxicity has not been recorded under 150ng/ml and that up to 10,000iu/daily is safe even in places where daily sun exposure is effective. Rheinhold Vieth explains this here, in detail, for those who need to know. 

Grandma was right. Drink your milk and stop drinking all that soda (or pop depending where you live.)

don't forget potassium- diet advice is saturated with lowering sodium intake, but i would argue that increasing potassium intake is even more effective- hence the old adage to eat more fruits and veggies- the contraindications for eating high potassium are kidney problems and Addison's Dz that being said, diabetics are more likely to be sodium sensitive than non-diabetics, so cutting back on salt is relatively more important for diabetics

I have always (for over 30 years) had low vitamin D levels, and was diagnosed 30 years ago with hypertension, so the theory applies to me for sure But I am curious why I always had low levels of Vitamin D. Is that a result of something going on with my body, or simply that I'm not getting enough sunlight? If it's a symptom of something else, I'd rather get that fixed, if possible, and not need to supplement (which I am doing) with tablets at all.