Cheese is a naturally rich source of vitamin D. So are
egg yolks, butter, liver and fatty fish. Milk and some breakfast cereals are
fortified with D. Sunlight stimulates skin to manufacture the vitamin. Click
the image for more information about it. |
Vitamin D Is Good for Your Gums
By Rosalie Marion
Bliss August 26, 2004
Getting enough vitamin D, either through the diet or from
sunlight, could be important for oral health, based on findings of a recent
study funded in part by the Agricultural
Research Service. The analytical study looked at a possible connection
between vitamin D levels in the blood and periodontal disease, a widespread
chronic inflammatory condition marked by a loss of attachment of the thin
ligaments that connect teeth with their surrounding bone sockets. Periodontal
disease is a primary cause of tooth loss, particularly among the elderly.
The study was conducted by Bess Dawson-Hughes, a physician
specializing in bone health and nutrition, together with colleagues in academia
and medicine. Dawson-Hughes is director of the
Bone
Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer
USDA Human Nutrition Research Center
on Aging at Tufts University in Boston,
Mass.
The scientists studied relevant data on 11,202 men and women
aged 20 or older who participated in the third
National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey. The scientists analyzed data on periodontal attachment
loss and blood levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3, a biomarker indicating vitamin
D levels accumulated from both dietary intake and exposure to sunlight.
The population was ranked into five groups from lowest to
highest in terms of blood levels of vitamin D. Four out of the five groups--80
percent of those studied--had lower-than-desired vitamin D levels. The
scientists found that the higher the levels in volunteers' blood serum, the
better their periodontal health. Among men and women aged 50 and older, on
average, those in the groups at the low range of vitamin D levels had 25 to 27
percent more attachment loss than had those in the highest range.
The scientists suspect that vitamin D cuts down on the
inflammatory response that leads to periodontal disease.
Confirmational studies are needed, but the findings suggest
important oral health implications related to vitamin D intake. An adequate
intake for dietary vitamin D has been established as a range from 200 to 600
international units (IU) daily, depending upon age group, although recent
evidence suggests that more vitamin D may be needed.
ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. |