Vitamin D Deficiency In Brown People Living In The West

[dalsingh101]

Apparently there is a wholesale deficiency of vit D in the brown population in the west. This vitamin was naturally generated through sunshine absorption by the skin in the hotter climes we originally came from.

I have been taking supplements for a few weeks now and notice that it helps clear the skin amongst other things. It is also good for strong bones:

"It is crucial for the absorption of calcium, which is key in the formation of healthy bones. Deficiencies can lead to rickets, poor tooth formation, stunted growth and general ill health."

The supplements I take are fish oil based but I saw some seed based ones for those whose rehit prohibits this.You only need to take one a day.

Just thought the brothers should know.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5299184.stm

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071218/vitamin_071218/20071218?hub=Health

[Matheen]

They also mention afro-carribbean children. Spending time outdoors is the best way to get vitamin D, but not much sunshine in the winter, so make sure kids get a balanced diet. Also, in the West, milk, cereals etc are fortified with vitamin D.

[amardeep]

Im actually gonna start taking Vitamin D as my doctor told me im short of it

[dalsingh101]

They also mention afro-carribbean children. Spending time outdoors is the best way to get vitamin D, but not much sunshine in the winter, so make sure kids get a balanced diet. Also, in the West, milk, cereals etc are fortified with vitamin D.

Having a job that involves spending long periods indoors doesn't help either.

[SURYADEV]

I would recommend reading the book by Dr Atkins "COmplete guide to natural Health".

A brilliant book on well being and nutrition and a very good section on Vit D deficiency.

[Xylitol]

drinking cold milk actually leads to a lot of health problems over time according to bhagat ji's health pothi (which is now online by the way). It can cause all sorts of sinus nasal congestion problems.

thanks for the heads up re vitamin D.

[bhooliya]

Here is something good. Just enter any email and you will have access to his one hour lecture.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/16/my-one-hour-vitamin-d-lecture-to-clear-up-all-your-confusion-on-this-vital-nutrient.aspx

[dalsingh101]

Does Vit D improve men's mental processing powers?

http://www.theprovince.com/health/Daily+does+vitamin+hones+minds+Study/1615993/story.html

New research involving more than 3,000 European men suggests vitamin D, the "sunshine" vitamin, may boost cognitive function in middle-aged and older brains.

Men with higher levels of vitamin D performed consistently better in a simple pen and paper test that measured attention and how fast the brain processes information.

It's not proof of cause and effect. But the finding adds to growing evidence that vitamin D does more than keep bones healthy. Recent studies indicate the vitamin protects against some cancers, heart attack and stroke, as well as such auto-immune diseases as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes.

Vitamin D is primarily synthesized in the skin from sun exposure. It also comes in supplements, and in smaller amounts in milk and such oily fish as sardines, mackerel and fresh salmon.

The new data come from the European Male Aging Study. In all, 3,133 men aged 40 to 70 from eight test centres in Italy, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, the U.K. (Manchester), Spain, Hungary and Estonia were included in the analysis.

The researchers didn't see an association with vitamin D and memory.

But they did see a link between lower blood levels of vitamin D and poorer performance on a test assessing processing speed — essentially, a measure of how well information is transported around the brain, from nerve cell to nerve cell. "It underpins how rapidly your brain can process information," says lead author David Lee, a research associate at the University of Manchester. "It's a very sensitive test. It's very sensitive to aging as people grow older."

The association between vitamin D and processing speed was strongest in men aged 60 and older.

The study is published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

"We can't at this stage say there is a biological link between vitamin D and how well your brain works," says Lee. But even when education, physical activity, alcohol consumption and other factors were taken into account, "we still saw this association between vitamin D levels and cognitive performance."

Receptors for vitamin D are widely distributed throughout the brain. Arguably, there's a reason the receptors are there, Lee says.

As well, evidence from animal studies suggests that vitamin D has a protective effect on neurons and may regulate the production of certain neurotransmitters.

While the new study involved men only, Lee said there's no biological reason to presume the finding would be different in women. "But we're always cautious about extrapolating that to different segments of the population."

Most Canadians have low levels of vitamin D.

Fewer than one per cent of the men in the study were taking supplements. "So we believe that the levels of vitamin D we see reflect, to a large degree their sun exposure," Lee says. The researchers didn't look at diet. "But as a rule most people get most of their vitamin D from sun exposure."

In the study, the more physically active the men, the higher their vitamin D levels. Men who are physically active tend to be outside more.

How much sun exposure is optimal?

"We're not talking about people lying in the sun for hours," Lee says. Rather, he says a daily dose of 10 to 15 minutes of unprotected sun exposure during the middle of the day in the summer is sufficient.

The Canadian Cancer Society recommends 1,000 international units of vitamin D a day in fall and winter, and year round for those over 50 or with darker skin.

[dalsingh101]

Here is something good. Just enter any email and you will have access to his one hour lecture.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/16/my-one-hour-vitamin-d-lecture-to-clear-up-all-your-confusion-on-this-vital-nutrient.aspx

The doses the Dr. was mentioning seemed seriously high compared to my supplement goli! They are D3, 10 ug and 400 IU. Can any medical minded veer/pan explain the ug IU thing?

I must say, with all of what I am reading in my research, it seems like Vit D is some type of super vitamin. It borders on the incredulous!

[Kaljug]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

I would suggest that y'all recommend vitamin D supplementation (if neccesary) to all your female relations. I firmly believe that the relatively high incidence of mental illness in Indian women living in the West is partly due to lack of sun (and hence vitamin D).

The doses the Dr. was mentioning seemed seriously high compared to my supplement goli! They are D3, 10 ug and 400 IU. Can any medical minded veer/pan explain the ug IU thing?

ug is micrograms, IU is international units. In the case of vitamin D, 1ug = 40 IUs, according to this book:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/323417/Vitamin-D

Regards,

K.

[HSD1]

I would suggest that y'all recommend vitamin D supplementation (if neccesary) to all your female relations. I firmly believe that the relatively high incidence of mental illness in Indian women living in the West is partly due to lack of sun (and hence vitamin D).

lol. I'm surprised no one on here went nuts when you said that.

[dalsingh101]

Indian women are having high levels of mental health issues in the west?

I always knew some of them were pagal! hee hee

[HSD1]

I always knew some of them were pagal! hee hee

Dont say that! Now sikh girls all over the country will use your comment as an example of oppression that they will rebel against my getting drunk off their faces and shagging anything that moves.

[dalsingh101]

Dont say that! Now sikh girls all over the country will use your comment as an example of oppression that they will rebel against my getting drunk off their faces and shagging anything that moves.

To late. A lot of them have already started doing this....

What a classy act they are...lol

You know, this forum is pretty much bibi-less? Wonder why that is? hhmmmm

Edited December 12, 2009 by dalsingh101

[Kaljug]

Hmm.

I was actually trying to make a serious point. SE Asian women of our mothers' generation have a relatively high incidence of mental illness, especially if they came from India after their teenage years and especially if they do not speak English fluently. This is partly due to the experience of a clash of cultures, partly due to living a sheltered upbringing and not having achieved a degree of individuation and self-reliance, partly due to neglecting their own emotional and mental development, and to a small degree due to not getting out into nature and letting their skin absorb as much sunlight as they need.

Many women of that generation will end up in a doctor's surgery complaining of physical problems that are rooted in mental health issues, and some of them end up in the clutches of some witchdoctor baba because, due to a lack of basic psychology, they believe that someone is practising kala jadu on them.

From personal experience, I've met an auntie ji who began visiting some idiot pandit because she started having dreams of being attacked by a snake (she would have been better off visiting a Freudian analyst who would have explained the serpent symbolism in a few hours), another who had a psychotic break after intense mental turmoil due to her children leaving home (children who had been her only interest in life), and dozens more who had some sort of underlying mental condition they were trying to cure through paath or superstitions.

It's sad, because much of these problems could have been avoided had these auntie jis taken care of their own health and diet and had access to information on mental health and psychology.

See here for some information on health issues amnong the SE asian communities:

http://www.sawnet.org/health/

K.

[dalsingh101]

One thing I have noticed Kalyug, is that women who come from nonwestern backgrounds seem to invariably explain things going wrong in metaphysical terms.

This worldview, consisting of various mysterious malignant forces, does seem to get out of control for many later on in life. This isn't unique to Sikh/Asian women as the African community suffers from the same thing.

Other than educating them with a more rational worldview that explains things in terms of cause and effect, biology, psychology, I can't see any solution. To be honest, the worldview they have seems to be embedded by then and even trying to educate them seems futile as their original perception seems hard wired by then.

On the whole though, I've noticed that women seem much more inclined to interpret things through what most of us would call superstitition or metaphysics, then men. This includes western educated ones also. They seem to have a disposition for this?

[Dharma]

Vitamin D deficiency been linked theoretically to Multiple Sclerosis because the disease is more common in places with less sunlight. The highest per capita incidence in the world is in Scotland. And I recently read that South Asians born in the UK are more susceptable to MS than those who migrated here as adults. Diet and sunlight in the formative years might be important factors here.

Personally I do take cod liver oil for the Vitamin D but I don't bother with any other nutritional supplement.

[Kaljug]

One thing I have noticed Kalyug, is that women who come from nonwestern backgrounds seem to invariably explain things going wrong in metaphysical terms.

This worldview, consisting of various mysterious malignant forces, does seem to get out of control for many later on in life. This isn't unique to Sikh/Asian women as the African community suffers from the same thing.

Other than educating them with a more rational worldview that explains things in terms of cause and effect, biology, psychology, I can't see any solution. To be honest, the worldview they have seems to be embedded by then and even trying to educate them seems futile as their original perception seems hard wired by then.

On the whole though, I've noticed that women seem much more inclined to interpret things through what most of us would call superstitition or metaphysics, then men. This includes western educated ones also. They seem to have a disposition for this?

I was at a gurdwara some time back on Soho Road, Birmingham where they have small support groups for women where they can discuss these kind of issues with an Indian counsellor or psychologist. It is a great idea and by all accounts pretty successful in getting bibiyaan to adopt a more rational point of view where it concerns mental health issues and in getting them to be more open about their problems with their family and peers.

Ideally, there would be something like this in every gurdwara.

Given that sometimes cases of spiritual disturbance to sometimes (very rarely) occur, it would also be pretty cool to have attached to every major gurdwara someone who was conversant with such things. That way, bibiyan would be less inclined to visit those charlatan mantra-yantra-tantra conmen who advertise in Des Pardes.

Women are naturally more intuitive and psychic than most men, but also sometimes - at least in the previous generation of Punjabis who migrated to the UK - less well educated. Both of these are reasons that explain your observations.

K.

Edited December 13, 2009 by Kaljug

[dalsingh101]

Women are naturally more intuitive and psychic than most men, but also sometimes - at least in the previous generation of Punjabis who migrated to the UK - less well educated. Both of these are reasons that explain your observations.

I would be more specific and say that women have a stronger predisposition to use emotions as the basis of their decisions whereas with men, at least those in the west, try and use logic to pinpoint the causes of things. I don't know why you think they are more psychic? I would be interested to hear your views on this.

I'm also not sure about your last point above as the vast majority of both the men and women who made up the wave of immigration over the 60s/70s generally seem to be educated to minimal levels if at all. Thing is, this reliance on jadu mantar wallay is also seen amongst relatively educated bibian as well the unparh. So it appears to involve more complex factors than simple education?

Edited December 14, 2009 by dalsingh101

[Kaljug]

I would be more specific and say that women have a stronger predisposition to use emotions as the basis of their decisions whereas with men, at least those in the west, try and use logic to pinpoint the causes of things. I don't know why you think they are more psychic? I would be interested to hear your views on this.

Personal experience (the trait runs in the female side of my family). Also, the vast majority of spirit mediums in the African Traditional Religions and African derived religions I've studied (at least those in which women are allowed to participate) like Santeria, Palo Mayombe, Umbanda, Espiritismo, Kimbanda, Sansi etc tend to be women (or homosexual men).

I'm also not sure about your last point above as the vast majority of both the men and women who made up the wave of immigration over the 60s/70s generally seem to be educated to minimal levels if at all. Thing is, this reliance on jadu mantar wallay is also seen amongst relatively educated bibian as well the unparh. So it appears to involve more complex factors than simple education?

YMMV, but most of the men who came here in the 60s and 70s were more educated than their women folk, though perhaps not by much. Yes, educated women make use of such people from pure ambition (usually for their children rather than themselves), but it's much more common among the less well educated. However, you are right, lack of education doesn't explain it altogether.

I believe women are much more likely to resort to magical means to get their way because they may not be able do so through more orthodox channels in traditionally patriarchal societies like our own. This was the case in medieval Britain also when women during the with craze were found to be making pacts with the Devil to obtain their ends. (Yes, many of these women burnt at the stake were innocent of any wrongdoing, but there are too many similarities in the descriptions of their actions across many countries and cultures to be purely fantasies.)

It was the same in many communities of Africans enslaved by the Europeans also. Many felt that, since the white Jesus seemed to work only for the whites, why not take up with his opposite? You still have remnants of this tradition in Haiti where Roi Lucifer (King Lucifer) is actively petitioned for aid against powerful and otherwise untouchable enemies.

K.

[HSD1]

I was on about the young sikh women who are under 30 who blame sikh guys for every conceivable problem they encounter. I didnt realise you were on about older women, who do suffer a lot more than white women of the same age. I think a lot of it has to do with reconciling their petty assumptions with the real world. Gurudwaras are full of old biddies going on about how clever their kids are, how chaste and well mannered they are, how they will end up in Ox-bridge etc etc. When the kids get D's in their Maths GCSE, start having abortions or end up at UCE or Hertfordshire (/joke, sorry I couldnt resist guys, going to any uni is better than sitting on your arse), they have to face facts. And understandably that is deeply disturbing for many of these mothers. It's like spending all your time playing a board game, only to realise near the end that you didnt even really know the rules and ended up losing badly. Some of these mares dont need more sunshine, but a different vitamin D - Diazepam.

[dalsingh101]

Vit D deficiency linked to Alzheimers:

http://www.sikhnet.com/news/vitamin-d-deficiency-increases-risk-alzheimers-disease-122

[Guest]

Read on various message forums that people who took vitamin D3 supplements, 4-5000 IU per day felt immensely better and even younger after sometime. It should be safe for several months since we are all deficient to use such a high dose. Then you can get a blood test to ensure you don't overdo it. 

[dalsingh101]

Sea turn on Vitamin D in UK?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sundeprived-britons-lack-vitamin-d-say-health-experts-10432845.html

[BhagatSingh]

Regarding the earlier discussion on magic. I don't think it's wise to rule out magical explanations all the time. Don't make that the #1 explanation, sure, but certainly have open space for that possibility, in case it arises.

Our education is a certain type of education, one where there is no space for magic. So we are taught from childhood not to believe that stuff and we are given rigid explanations of the universe from authority figures (teachers) citing other authority figures (scientists in textbooks). However magical things do happen, and when they do the "educated" folks usually cannot accept it as the case. They will actively deny what is in front of them because they are so opposed to it.

I mean there are magical stories and anecdotes even in Guru Granth Sahib. We are sikh and we are supposed to read them, understand them, believe them and use them to advance to a higher spiritual level. How does education help understand these stories in Guru Granth Sahib?

It doesn't. In fact, it makes you opposed to them. You get so involved in questioning them that you miss the point of why they are even there to begin with.

This is not the fault of "educating" as a process for learning, which is a good thing. Rather it is the fault of the type of education we are given, a strictly materialistic, rigid, anti-magical, and maybe even anti-spiritual type of education.

Edited August 12, 2015 by BhagatSingh