Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Will vitamin D enriched bread solve worlwide deficiencies?

With most people unable to get enough vitamin D from sunlight or foods, scientists are suggesting that a new vitamin D-fortified food -- bread made with high-vitamin D yeast -- could fill that gap. Their study appears in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The researchers suggest that up to 7 in 10 people in the United States may not get enough vitamin D, which enables the body to absorb calcium. Far from just contributing to healthy bones, however, vitamin D seems to have body-wide beneficial effects. Vitamin D insufficiency has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, allergy in children, and other conditions. They provided rats bread baked with a high vitamin D2 yeast and had an effect that seemed just as beneficial as vitamin D3.

Bonnie - how man ways is this wrong?
  1. Using vitamin D2. The usable form is D3
  2. Most bread consists of empty carbs and contributes to weight gain, thus negating the benefits of whatever small percentage of vitamin D2 would get absorbed.
  3. With the number of gluten intolerant persons rising rapidly, there are better ways to fortify with vitamin D.
  4. Public health experts already had a wonderful solution for vitamin D deficiency before milk took over as the main vitamin D foodstuff...it was called Cod Liver Oil.

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