From: unk...@googlegroups.com   
      
   Originally published November 6 2014   
      
      
   Vitamin D improves memory and brain cell function   
   by David Gutierrez, staff writer    
      
   (NaturalNews) Spending more time in the sun to boost your vitamin D levels may   
   help stave off the cognitive decline associated with aging, according to a   
   study conducted by researchers from the University of Kentucky and published   
   in the Proceedings of    
   the National Academy of Sciences on September 29.   
      
   The study suggests that a vitamin D supplement helps accelerate the biological   
   mechanisms responsible for recycling and renewing neurotransmitters (signaling   
   chemicals) in an area of the brain that plays a key role in memory and   
   learning. This leads to    
   an improved ability of neurons to receive and process signals related to   
   memory formation and retrieval.   
      
   "This process is like restocking shelves in grocery stores," researcher Nada   
   Porter said.   
      
   Study confirms higher recommended doses   
   Scientists have long known that vitamin D plays a critical role in forming and   
   maintaining healthy bones and teeth. In recent years, they have begun to learn   
   that the vitamin is also essential to immune function, and that insufficient   
   levels may increase    
   the risk of cancer, autoimmune diseases and other health problems. Studies   
   suggest that low vitamin D levels may also increase the risk of age-related   
   cognitive decline.   
      
   In the new study, researchers placed rats on diets with either high, medium or   
   low levels of vitamin D3. After six months, they tested the rats' ability to   
   remember the location of a platform in a water maze. They then moved the   
   platform, and tested the    
   rats' ability to remember the new location.   
      
   "This was a more challenging task and, therefore, more sensitive to the subtle   
   changes in memory that occur with aging," Porter said.   
      
   Rats who had been on the high-vitamin-D diet used shorter routes to reach the   
   new platform than the other rats, and also reached it more quickly. The paths   
   that they used tended to be relatively simple and consist of few direction   
   changes. In contrast,    
   the paths used by the low-dose rats resembled the loopy drawings made by   
   kindergarteners.   
      
   The researchers also found that the rats on the high-dose diet showed changes   
   in gene expression in the region of the brain known as the hippocampus, which   
   is believed to play a central role in cognition and memory formation and   
   consolidation. These rats'   
    brains showed accelerated transport of neurotransmitters.   
      
   The vitamin D dose that produced improvements in rats was equivalent to a dose   
   50 percent higher than the Institute of Medicine's current daily   
   recommendation for humans, which is based on the levels needed for bone   
   health. The levels in the study are    
   consistent, however, with the higher daily doses that many vitamin D experts   
   are now recommending.   
      
   The researchers noted that the D3 form of vitamin D is associated with very   
   few side effects.   
      
   Sunlight improves brain health   
   A number of prior studies have suggested a connection between vitamin D and   
   cognitive decline. Some studies have shown that dementia patients have lower   
   vitamin D levels than their healthy counterparts. A study published in the   
   Journal of Geriatric    
   Psychology in 2009 found that low vitamin D levels were associated with worse   
   performance on tests of attention, memory and orientation in time and space.   
      
   Other studies have suggested that vitamin D can also lower the risk of   
   Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia and even depression.   
      
   Although vitamin D can be found in certain foods (mainly those that are   
   artificially fortified), the best source of the vitamin is ordinary sunlight.   
   Light-skinned people can generate all the vitamin D their bodies need with   
   about 15-30 minutes of    
   unprotected sun exposure on their faces and hands daily; darker skin requires   
   correspondingly longer exposure (up to twice as much).   
      
   Sources:    
      
   http://www.latimes.com   
      
   http://www.naturalnews.com   
      
   http://www.naturalnews.com   
      
   http://www.naturalnews.com   
      
   http://www.naturalnews.com   
      
   http://science.naturalnews.com   
      
      
   http://www.naturalnews.com/z047536_vitamin_D_memory_brain_cell_function.html   
      
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