

Subject: Vitamin D-3 need
sent: 5 Dec 97

Iguanas NEED, specifically UV-B rays in which to aid in the production of the 
vitamin D-3 which aids in the absorption
of CALCIUM. Without UV-B to help create the D-3 Vitamin
Iguanas can not absorb Calcium and thus develop weak and
brittle bones often termed as Metabolic Bone Disease, Fibrous Osteodystrophy 
and/or Nutritional Secondary
Hyperparathyroidism. You can provide this UV-B quite simply by adding a Vita-
Lite to the enclosure and allowing about 12 hours of exposure to it per day.

http://www.escape.com/~iggyden/igcare.html

If this can happen to Iguanas then without light it can happen to our bodies.  
Suspect we will need to stock up on vitamin D-3 or supply UV-B light to our 
bodies in the proper minimum quantities.  

The following is from:
Bi 231 Anatomy & Physiology PCC
Lecture: Integument Dr. Walters
Much of this is from Tortora & Marieb

a. In sunny areas, 1 hour/week of arm/face exposure to sun enough for making 
adequate vitamin D3, so no dietary supplement would be required. Aging reduces 
ability to make
vitamin D3; have 4-fold reduction after age 70. Topical sunscreens may prevent 
vitamin D3 synthesis. Latitude is important: at our latitude, the sun's angle is 
low in the winter months & the ozone absorbs photons so well that no vitamin D 
is made in the skin between November & February

b. Milk has vitamin D3 added, so can go without sun. Other foods: fatty fish 
like salmon, eggs, butter, liver

c.  vitamin D deficiency: if drink no milk &completely cover skin in sun or 
don't go outside
 
d. if get enough sun to cause mild sunburn, equivalent to taking 10,000 to 
25,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D.

e. If no skin production of vitamin D, should take 400-600 IU/day, otherwise 200 
IU/day is recommended.

f. If liver or kidney disease, get calcitriol deficiency. Ingesting vitamin D3 
or synthesizing it in skin is ineffective. Need take Rocaltrol (calcitriol) 
1,25(OH)2VitD3

See the following for the full text:
http://www.pcc.edu/academ/sylsci/lifesci/marc/skin.htm

The major role of vitamin D is calcium homeostasis - it does this by integrating 
absorption of calcium from the intestine with mobilsation and deposition of bone 
and its excretion in the kidney. 

Vitamin D : What happens if you don't get enough?

A deficiency of vitamin D is known as hypovitaminosis D. Hypovitaminosis D 
causes decreased intestinal absorption and bone resorption of calcium, leading 
to low levels of blood calcium. Low levels of blood calcium stimulate 
compensatory parathyroid hormone production. This results in demineralisation of 
bone which presents as rickets in young growing mammals and osteomalacia in 
adult mature mammals. In
mammals other symptoms include : loss of appetite, slow growth, general 
weakness, digestion problems and stillbirths. In fowl, symptoms include retarded 
growth,
lameness, abnormal bone development, thin shelled eggs and fertility problems.

Rickets is a disease of growing bones in which the deposition of calcium and 
phosphorus is abnormal. This results in the bones being weak, easily broken and 
the
legs may be bowed. It may also result in convulsions and tetany. 

Near the bottom of the file is a table that gives the daily need of various 
common animals.  See Table III : Daily Requirements for Vitamin D (adapted from 
Miller & Norman)

For more complete technical information see:
http://numbat.murdoch.edu.au/nutrition/vitD/tpvitD.html



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more data on this subject:

From Dr. Robert Marshall's office newsletter October 1995 he states:

Many researchers calculate the life span (or "genetic potential") of mankind to 
be around 145 years of age. Yet, the average lifespan of an American is only 
75.5 years. What happened? Maybe we can take a few lessons from 5 well-known 
human cultures whose peoples routinely live from 120 to 140 years of age.  These 
5 cultures are: the Tibetans of northwest China, the Hunzakut of eastern 
Pakistan, the Georgians from Russia, the Vilcabamba of Ecuador and the Titicaca 
of the Peruvian Andes. They are all famous for there large number of 
centenarians.  The Georgians consider "youth" to be from 0 to 80 years of age, 
"middle-age" from 80 to 100 years, and the seniors are those from 100 to 160 
years of age!

Although the longest lived peoples all have differing lifestyles and locations, 
they have 6 common denominators: 1) they live at elevations ranging between 
8,500 to 14,000 feet in mountain valleys, 2) the annual rainfall is less than 2 
inches, 3) there is no heavy industry to pollute their air, food or water, 4) 
Western allopathic medicine was not historically available for them to take 
(they used herbs and natural remedies), 5) their water source for drinking and 
irrigation comes from "glacial milk" water with precious ground-up minerals from 
glaciers that actually make the water look milky, 6) they use only natural 
fertilizers for their crops (manure, plant debris, irrigation with "glacial 
milk").

He goes on to explain "Glacial milk" is a solution of ionically dissolved 
elements and suspension of finely ground rock dust with an average particle size 
of 7,000 times smaller than a human red blood cell. The bottom line is there is 
a lot of colloidal minerals ready for biological use in the water they consume 
and grow there crops with.  

About 10 years ago from a friend - I heard that the Darma (sp) or "hymns of the 
dawn child" a many volume book from about 10,000 to 12,000 BC in Asia, had in it 
a passage that indicated that "some of the boys had come down to eating" in 
other words the beings in this area took in air, water, and minerals.  They 
looked at "eating" as we would (now days) look at someone taking drugs.  

My comments: I think after the shake up of the PS there will be plenty of 
minerals in all water, some good and some bad. We will learn how to filter out 
the bad.  Ultimately, when the sun comes back growing should be very good, and 
the bad chemicals will eventually go away for all water.  The use of Herbs will 
come back naturally as a matter of necessity.  I believe number 3) through 6) 
above will come about through natural causes of the PS, and that 1) and 2) are 
not a major factor.  Thus, we should start to see mankind living much longer for 
those born after the PS.  

We can help the process along by producing, mineral rich, toxin free, 
organically grown (or as close to it as we can) food and herbs in our PS 
shelters.  This, I believe to be attainable, and is something we can all work to 
achieve.  If we lay out the technology of how to do this, then we will have an 
improved live style ahead for all those living now.  Something to look forward 
to - more healthy food, that helps to clean and rebuild the body. 

