BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: vitamins

How Diet Builds Better Bones: Surprising Findings on Vitamin D, Coffee, and More

Vitamins might seem like the key to those who want strong bones; however, studies have recently shown it vitamins contribute, but other foods you may never have known are helping.

Many women have a condition known as osteoporosis or osteopenia, both of which relate to bone weakening or bone loss. Claudia Wallis wrote in her article in Scientific American that around 20% of women aged 50 and up have osteoporosis, and more than 50% suffer from osteoporosis. Notably, men have lower cases of these bone-weakening conditions(4% develop osteoporosis, and 33% develop osteopenia). Many adults over 50 also develop an osteoporotic fracture ( a fracture in one hip, wrist, or vertebra). Wallis feels a cause for these high cases is the misunderstanding about what diet and supplements contribute.

One reason is the inconsistency in nutrition and bone health studies. Our bones are always changing and constantly replenishing themselves, so accurate data on bone health is hard to find. Calcium is the crucial nutrient involved in building bones. Vitamin D then allows the gut to absorb calcium from our food. Therefore, doctors recommend people take vitamin D supplements to treat and maybe prevent the bone loss that comes with aging.

Surprisingly, this past summer New England Journal of Medicine discovered that taking vitamin D over 5 years showed no reduction in the rates of fractures in adults aged 50 and older in a huge study. Research conducted by the same team showed that vitamin D supplements did not affect improving bone density. As a matter of fact, the study showed vitamin d did not improve the risk of cancer or heart disease either.

Following these significant findings, theNew England Journal of Medicine published an article stating that medical professionals need to put an end to ordering unnecessaryblood tests on vitamin D levels. Leader of the study, Meryl LeBoff of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston told Scientific American, “Food and incidental sun exposure likely provide enough vitamin D for healthy adults.” However, she noted that the study was not done on patients who had osteoporosis in the past, and for some people, it is smart to continue taking vitamin D and calcium supplements.

 

For the majority of people, calcium-rich food help maintains strong bones. LeBoff feels the best source of calcium is food, for she stated, “because there are so many other nutrients, and you have a more continuous absorption than with a pill.” One unusual source of calcium if from coffee. Although over consuming coffee can have harmful effects(over six cups of coffee can cause calcium to be lost in urine), a moderate about could overall benefit your bones. Ching-Lung Cheung of Hong Kong University said “Coffee intake, if not excessive, should be safe for bone,” he says, “and if you still have concerns, add milk! He led a study that showed that people who drink have a greater bone density in their upper thigh bone and lumbar spine. Alcohol is the same way in that moderate intake will promote strong bones, but excessive drinking can disrupt hormones that promote healthy bones.

Overall, the best way to take care of your bones is to live a healthy lifestyle incorporated with a balanced diet, and exercise. Weight-bearing exercises boost healthy bone formation all through your lifetime. You don’t have to stress about it though; just make sure you’re moving your body and making nutritious choices and your bones won’t cause you any bone-breaking problems.

In AP Biology this year, we talked about feedback loops and how they function to maintain the regulation of homeostasis and how hormones and feedback loops function in the body’s endocrine systems. When you break or fracture a bone, your body uses hormones to stimulate a feedback loop to reinforce a stimulus that leads to the replenishment of the bone.

We Eat What We Are: The Importance of Microbes in Our Gut

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Photo of microbes (licensing information here)

Ever since the discovery of the microbes, scientists have become very aware of the miniature world of microbes. This early awareness was later translated to an understating of how bacteria and other microbes effect the world we live in. Of course, early scientific and medical research often focused on microbes that cause diseases and how to treat them. However scientists have become aware that each individual is in fact a biome of microbes living on our exterior and inhabiting our interior organs.  Bacteria also play an important role in digestion helping us break down certain foods, producing vitamin and allowing for efficient absorption of nutrients. Increasingly, investigators have began exploring how the micro biome in our digestive track impacts our health and wellbeing.

Gut bacteria appear to play a role in matters of obesity, the development of certain types of cancer and ulcers. They do so by producing certain chemicals that affect a variety of health outcomes. Gut bacteria also produce a wide variety of neurology related chemicals that affect mental processes such as depression and anxiety disorders. Some studies now point to a relationship between autism and particular levels of gut bacteria.

The recognition of the importance of gut bacteria in health and disease have implications in a number of areas. First of all it suggests that a healthy diet should involve the encouragement of the development of good gut bacteria. It also suggests that gut bacteria diversity is a positive goal. Lastly, the results of many of these studies of the significance of gut bacteria in regard to disease point to the need to incorporate the study of an individuals gut bacteria as part of the treatment regiment to fight particular illnesses

 

 

Avoid Your Vitamins?

Credit: aithom2 flickr, some rights reserved


Taking additional vitamins, or dietary supplements, has always been viewed as being positive for our diets. Parents often encourage their young children to take multi-vitamin pills on a daily basis. Flintstones Vitamins (above), which consist of vitamins such as iron, calcium, and vitamin C, are among one of the most popular multi-vitamin supplements. I even remember my parents making me take them every morning when I was a kid. Many people continue to take these dietary supplements when they are adults. Daily vitamin supplements are also extremely popular among elderly people.

The question is, do these vitamin pills truly have positive health benefits if consumed along side a normal diet? A recent study in the New York Times challenges these long-held beliefs behind dietary vitamin supplements.

In this large study, scientists followed 38,772 women who averaged 62 years of age. Over 19 years, almost half of the women died, and scientists were surprised to find out that those who consumed multivitamins or supplements of folic acid, iron, magnesium, or zinc were more likely to die over the period than those who did not take any multivitamins or supplements. Thus,  “older women who used common dietary supplements died at slightly higher rates than women who did not rely on supplements.”

The scientists were also able to notice trends from their results that showed what effects the different supplements and multivitamins had on the women’s lives. For example, supplements like iron were “directly associated” with an increase in death among the women. Certain supplements like vitamin A & vitamin D had no affect at all on the women’s lives. Multivitamins were responsible for a 2.4 % increase in risk of death. Calcium supplements, however, actually decreased the risk of death.

After a study like this one, it may be necessary to re-consider the notion that taking additional vitamins is a positive addition to our diets. Parents might now want to reconsider giving their child a Flintstone Vitamin with his breakfast every morning, and a grandmother might want to lay off the daily pills.

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