People with high levels of vitamin D in their blood probably live longer than people with low amounts of vitamin D in their blood, according to an epidemiological meta-study published in BMJ. The compilers had access to data on 26,018 people aged between 50 and 79.
Study
The researchers gathered their data from 8 previously published studies in which European and American epidemiologists had followed participants for 4 to 16 years. At the start of the studies the researchers measured the concentration of vitamin D – or to be more precise: 25-hydroxy-vitamin D – in the participants’ blood.
During the studies 6,695 participants died – 2,624 from cardiovascular disease and 2,227 participants from cancer.
Results
The participants with relatively little vitamin D – to be precise: 25-hydroxy-vitamin D – in their blood were 1.57 times more likely to die than the participants who had relatively high levels of vitamin D in their blood.
When the researchers analysed their data they discovered that the protective effect of a high level of vitamin D was greater in people who had already developed cardiovascular disease [first figure below] than in people who had no cardiovascular disease [second figure].
The researchers also noticed the same patter when they compared the cancer survivors with people who did not have cancer. A high level of vitamin D had a protective effect in the first group [first figure below] and not in the second [second figure below].
Conclusion
Large numbers of the population have less vitamin D in their blood than the amount doctors consider to be optimum. Thats why most western governments advise people who don’t get outdoors much to take extra vitamin D. Read more about vitamin D supplementation here.
Effect of timing of protein and carbohydrate intake after resistance exercise on nitrogen balance in trained and untrained young men.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Resistance exercise alters the post-exercise response of anabolic and catabolic hormones. A previous study indicated that the turnover of muscle protein in trained individuals is reduced due to alterations in endocrine factors caused by resistance training, and that muscle protein accumulation varies between trained and untrained individuals due to differences in the timing of protein and carbohydrate intake. We investigated the effect of the timing of protein and carbohydrate intake after resistance exercise on nitrogen balance in trained and untrained young men.
METHODS:
Subjects were 10 trained healthy men (mean age, 23?±?4 years; height, 173.8?±?3.1 cm; weight, 72.3?±?4.3 kg) and 10 untrained healthy men (mean age, 23?±?1 years; height, 171.8?±?5.0 cm; weight, 64.5?±?5.0 kg). All subjects performed four sets of 8 to 10 repetitions of a resistance exercise (comprising bench press, shoulder press, triceps pushdown, leg extension, leg press, leg curl, lat pulldown, rowing, and biceps curl) at 80% one-repetition maximum. After each resistance exercise session, subjects were randomly divided into two groups with respect to intake of protein (0.3 g/kg body weight) and carbohydrate (0.8 g/kg body weight) immediately after (P0) or 6 h (P6) after the session. All subjects were on an experimental diet that met their individual total energy requirement. We assessed whole-body protein metabolism by measuring nitrogen balance at P0 and P6 on the last 3 days of exercise training.
RESULTS:
The nitrogen balance was significantly lower in the trained men than in the untrained men at both P0 (P <0.05) and P6 (P <0.01). The nitrogen balance in trained men was significantly higher at P0 than at P6 (P <0.01), whereas that in the untrained men was not significantly different between the two periods.
CONCLUSION:
The timing of protein and carbohydrate intake after resistance exercise influences nitrogen balance differently in trained and untrained young men.
PMID: 25096224 [PubMed – in process] PMCID: PMC4155766
