Day 3

Yesterday I  received a brief physical exam and medical history, a fasting blood and urine sample, body fat measurement, a muscular strength test, a DEXA scan and an optional biopsy of breast and abdominal fat tissue. I opted out of the biopsy because if there are any cancerous cells in my breast, I do not want to trigger or aggravate the tissue.

These results will remain undisclosed until the end of the study.

The researchers said that they would freeze the samples from the beginning, middle and end of the study and send them in all together at the end of the year.

I am very curious and NEED to know. So I am planning on going to my physician and get a blood test done. I also plan to do a little research on my own to change only

Few variables in my diet for a month or two and repeat the blood test to see if there are any changes.



Blog information should not take the place of medical advice. We encourage you to talk to your health care providers (doctor, registered dietitian, pharmacist, etc.) about your interest in, questions about, or use of dietary supplements and what may be best for your overall health. Any mention in this publication of a specific brand name is not an endorsement of the product. 

Day 2

To qualify, I needed to pass a blood test that my Vitamin D is below average.
We were then randomly placed into a Vitamin D or placebo group.  The vitamin D levels between 10 and 32 ng/mL is considered "insufficient" in this trial. The study pill contains 2000 IU or the placebo (with no active ingredient) and a computerized program selected me into a group, which is unknown to the participants as well as the researchers. It will take a year for me to find out which group I am in. 

The real risks of an overdose occur only after 50,000 IU and 3000 IU are regularly administered. As for the “under dose risk” researchers believe that there will not be great impact of living with insufficient Vitamin D for another year.

Yesterday, I walked home with a bottle full of a half a years supply of either Vitamin D or a placebo under my arm.

Since I always forget if I took my pill for that day, I pasted a tiny calendar on my bottle and highlight the date after I take Vitamin D for that day.

Well I passed the test; I think my level was at 28ng/ml.

PS  My father worked for Casimir Funk who coined the term, Vitamin.

Vita for life and Amin for the amino acids necessary for growth and health.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_the_did_the_word_vitamin_come_from

The discovery of the vitamins began with experiments performed by Hopkins at the beginning of the twentieth century; he fed rats on a defined diet providing the then known nutrients: fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and mineral salts. The animals failed to grow, but the addition of a small amount of milk to the diet both permitted the animals to maintain normal growth and restored growth to the animals that had previously been fed the defined diet. He suggested that milk contained one or more "accessory growth factors" essential nutrients present in small amounts, because the addition of only a small amount of milk to the diet was sufficient to maintain normal growth and development. An amine is any of a class of basic organic compounds derived from ammonia by replacement of hydrogen with one or more monovalent hydrocarbon radicals The first of the accessory food factors to be isolated and identified was found to be chemically an amine; therefore, in 1912, Funk coined the term
vitamine, from the Latin vita for "life" and amine, for the prominent chemical reactive group. Although subsequent accessory growth factors were not found To be amines, the name has been retained-with the loss of the final"-e" to avoid chemical confusion. The decision as to whether the word should correctly be pronounced "vitamin" or "veitamin" depends in large part on which system of Latin pronunciation one learned - the Oxford English Dictionary permits both.

Blog information should not take the place of medical advice. We encourage you to talk to your health care providers (doctor, registered dietitian, pharmacist, etc.) about your interest in, questions about, or use of dietary supplements and what may be best for your overall health. Any mention in this publication of a specific brand name is not an endorsement of the product. 

Day 1

Today is the first day of my 365 day commitment to ViDA  (Vitamin D, Diet and Activity Study). I do not know if this is going be a blessing or a curse. The 7 stages of a project have set in. In case you have never heard of these, here they are: 
1.  Enthusiasm 
2.   Sobering 
3.    Disillusionment 
4.     Fear/Panic 
5.      Search for the Guilty 
6.       Punishment of the Innocent
7.        Praise and Honors for the Non-Participants 

I guess, I am only at stage 3 – disillusionment. This is going to be more work that I expected and signed up for. The project dictates more and more.

This study performed at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) is for postmenopausal women over 50 who are interested in losing weight. They offer a free exercise and nutrition program. The main goal of there study is “ to test the effect of Vitamin D supplementation on weight loss and to identify lifestyle-related factors that may decrease the risk of developing breast cancer”.

We commit to following:

1.     Take a pill daily

2.     Keep a food journal

3.     Attend two 45 minute exercise sessions/week at FHCRC exercise facility

4.     Complete three additional 45 minute exercise sessions on your own each week.

5.     Attend/complete study questionnaires and testing sessions.

But know we need to:

1.     wear a pedometer and track our movements

2.     keep a more detailed food journal including converting and counting our caloric intake.

3.     Attend a weekly nutrition class for an hour

4.     The exercise room has limited availability and is only open in the afternoons Monday –Wednesday.

5.     Optional  was to give breast biopsies at the beginning and the end of the program (I opted out).

This is more than I originally signed up for and I get angry when forced to do extra redundant chores with my limited time resources.

I will focus on the positive – research has shown that losing weight will give you more energy, relieve tension, help to make you relax and sleep better. Exercise has also been proven to revert diabetes and heart disease. They also claim that being leaner and more active can reduce the risk of breast cancer – who knows for sure.

I know that I will feel better (under group pressure) when I exercise more and lose some excess weight. WISH ME SUCCESS!

Blog information should not take the place of medical advice. We encourage you to talk to your health care providers (doctor, registered dietitian, pharmacist, etc.) about your interest in, questions about, or use of dietary supplements and what may be best for your overall health. Any mention in this publication of a specific brand name is not an endorsement of the product.