364 THE CHINA STUDY
CHART C.2: WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION
OF MS FOR 120 COUNTRIES
180 ,-------------------------------------------~
160
140
ci.
o 120
C-
o
o
o
0' 100
o
80
60
40
•
•
20
•
o ~--_r--~----~--~~_r~~L-~. .--~--_r--~
o
South 80 60 40 20 40
20 60 80 North
Latitude Latitude
Degrees Latitude
more MS as one goes farther south (r=91 %) .15 MS is about sevenfold
greater in southern (43'S) than in northern Australia (19'5).16
A lack of sunshine, however, is not the only factor related to these
diseases. There is a larger context. The first thing to note is the control
and coordination of these vitamin D-related reactions. Control operates
at several places in this network, but, as I already said, it is the conver-
s i o n of storage vitamin D into the supercharged 1,25 D in the kidneys
that is especially critical. In considerable measure, this control is exer-
cised by another complex network of reactions involving a "manager"-
type hormone produced by the parathyroid gland located in our neck
(Chart C.3).
When, for example, we need more 1,25 D, parathyroid hormone in-
duces the kidney enzyme activity to produce more 1,25 D. When there
is enough 1,25 D, parathyroid hormone slows down the kidney enzyme
THE "VITAMIN" D CONNECTION 365
activity. Within seconds, parathyroid hormone manages how much 1,25
D there will be at each time and place. Parathyroid hormone also acts as
a conductor at several other places in this network, as shown by the sev-
eral arrows. By being aware of the role of each player in its "orchestra,"
it coordinates, controls and finely tunes these reactions as a conductor
would a symphony orchestra.
Under optimal conditions, sunshine exposure alone can supply all
the vitamin D that we need to produce the all-important 1,25 D at the
right time. Even the elderly, who are not able to produce as much vita-
m i n D from sunshine, have nothing to worry about if there is enough
sunshineY How much is "enough"? If you know how much sunshine
causes a slight redness of your skin, then one-fourth of this amount,
provided two to three times per week, is more than adequate to meet
our vitamin D needs and to store some in our liver and body fatY If
your skin becomes slightly red after about thirty minutes in the sun,
then ten minutes, three times per week will be enough exposure to get
plenty of vitamin D.
When and if we don't get enough sunshine, it may be helpful to con-
s u m e vitamin D from our diets. Almost all of the vitamin D found in our
diet has been artificially added to foods like milk and breakfast cereals.
Along with vitamin supplements, this amount of vitamin D can be quite
significant and, under certain circumstances, there is some evidence
that this practice may be beneficial. 18-21
In this scheme, sunshine and parathyroid hormone work together in
a marvelously coordinated way to keep this system running smoothly,
both in filling our vitamin D tank and in helping to produce from mo-
m e n t to moment the exact amount of 1,25 D that we need. When it
comes to getting sufficient sunshine or getting vitamin D in food, taking
light from the sun makes far more sense.
THROWING WRENCHES INTO THE SYSTEM
There are several studies now showing that if 1,25 D remains at con-
sistently low levels, the risk of several diseases increases. So then the
question is: what causes low levels of 1,25 D? Animal protein-contain-
ing foods cause a significant decrease in 1,25 D.22 These proteins create
an acidic environment in the blood that blocks the kidney enzyme from
producing this very important metabolite. 23
A second factor that influences this process is calcium. Calcium in
our blood is crucial for optimum muscle and nerve functioning, and it
TH E (H I NA STU DY
366
CHART C.3: ROLE OF THE PARATHYROID HORMONE
IN THE REGULATION OF SUPERCHARGED 1,25 D
............-....
---
.. ..
k:WWI 1 ~O
-
m u s t be maintained within a fairly narrow range. The 1,25 D keeps the
blood levels of calcium operating within this narrow range by moni-
t o r i n g and regulating how much calcium is absorbed from food being
digested in the intestine, how much calcium is excreted in the urine and
feces and how much is exchanged with the bone, the big supply tank
for the body's calcium. For example, if there is too much calcium in the
blood, 1,25 D becomes less active, less calcium is absorbed and more
calcium is excreted. It is a very sensitive balancing act in our bodies.
As blood calcium goes up, 1,25 D goes down, and when blood calcium
goes down, 1,25 D goes Up.1 . 24 Here's the kicker: if calcium consump-
0
t i o n is unnecessarily high, it lowers the activity of the kidney enzyme
and, as a consequence, the level of 1,25 D .1.25 In other words, routinely
consuming high-calcium diets is not in our best interests.
The blood levels of 1,25 D therefore are depressed both by consum-
i n g too much animal protein and too much calcium. Animal-based
food, with its protein, depresses 1,25 D. Cow's milk, however, is high
both in protein and calcium. In fact , in one of the more extensive stud-
ies on MS that is associated with lower levels of 1,25 D, cow's milk
was found to be as important a factor as latitude mentioned earlier. 26
For example, the association of MS with latitude and sunshine shown
in Chart C.2 also is seen with animal-based foods shown in Chart
C.4.14
One could hypothesize that diseases like MS are due, at least in part,
to a lack of sunshine and lower vitamin D status. This is supported by the
observation that northern people living along coastlines (e.g., Norway
THE ·VITAMIN" 0 CONNECTION 367
and Japan) 26 who consume lots of vitamin D-rich fish have less MS than
people living inland. However, in these fish-eating communities with
lower rates of disease, much less cow's milk is consumed. Consuming
cow's milk has been shown to associate with MS26 and Type 1 diabetes 27
independent of fish intake.
In another reaction associated with this network, increased intakes
of animal protein also enhance the production of insulin-like growth
factor (IGF-1, first introduced in chapter eight) and this enhances
cancer cell growth. 5 In effect, there are many reactions acting in a co-
o r d i n a t e d and mutually consistent way to cause disease when a diet
high in animal protein is consumed. When blood levels of 1,25 Dare
depressed, IGF-1 simultaneously becomes more active. Together, these
factors increase the birth of new cells while simultaneously inhibit-
ing the removal of old cells, both favoring the development of cancer
(seven studies cited biS) . For example, people with higher-than-nor-
mal blood levels of IGF-I have been shown to have 5.1 times the risk of
CHART C.4: WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION OF CALORIE CONSUMPTION
FROM ANIMAL-BASED FOODS FOR 120 COUNTRIES14
54
•
48
42
-v;-
..:;
0
36
Iii
u
•
Iii
...
0 30
.... •
.£
•
III
"0
24
...
0
0
•
•
..
Iii
18
E
•• •• •
·c
•• •• • •
«
•
"#.
•
12
•
-... ••. ·a·• •
•• •
... •
6
• •
0
40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40
South North
Latitude Latitude
Degrees Latitude
TH E CH I NA STU DY
368
advanced-stage prostate cancer.28 If combined with low blood levels of
a protein that inactivates IGF-I 29 (Le., more IGF-l activity), there is 9.5
times the risk of advanced-stage prostate cancer. 2S This level of disease risk
is alarming. Fundamental to it all is the fact that animal-based foods like
meat and dairy3Q-32 lead to more IGF-I and less 1,25 D, both of which
increase cancer risk.
These are only a few of the factors and events associated with this
vitamin D network. With the right food and environment, these events
and reactions cooperate in an integrated manner to produce health ben-
efits. In contrast, when the wrong food is consumed, its adverse effects
are mediated by not one, but many, of the reactions within this network.
Also, many factors in such foods, even beyond the protein and calcium,
participate in causing the problem. And, finally, it often is not one dis-
ease but many that are likely to occur.
What impresses me about this and other networks is the convergence
of so many disease-causing factors operating through so many different
reactions to produce a common result. When that common result is
more than one disease, it is even more impressive. When these various
factors are found in one type of food and this food is epidemiologi-
cally related to one or more of these diseases, the associations become
still more impressive. This example begins to explain why dairy foods
would be expected to increase the risk of these diseases. There is no
way that so many intricate mechanisms, operating in such synchrony to
produce the same result, are only a random unimportant happenstance.
Nature would not have been so devious as to refine such a useless in-
ternally conflicting maze. Networks like this exist throughout the body
and within the cells. But of even more importance, they are highly inte-
g r a t e d into a far larger dynamic called "life."
References
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