How could a "simple" vitamin be so important? - Open Main Website

• Vitamin D is not a "simple" vitamin - it was mis-classified when first discovered.
• Vitamin D is not really a vitamin at all - once activated it becomes a steroid hormone.
• Activated Vitamin D regulates the action of over 1000 genes - via dedicated Nuclear Receptors.


What's so special about Nuclear Receptors?


• Vitamin D Receptors (VDRs) are present in most tissues of the body and many common cancers.
• VDR's can regulate gene expression by either activating or deactivating the target gene system.
• Activated VDR's can have different effects in each organ and even each cell type within that organ.
• Many different regulatory effects have already been identified - but more are being discovered every year.


VDR activation is known to have the following specific actions:

• In the intestines VDR's control the production of transport proteins, which are involved in calcium absorption.
• In the bone marrow, kidney, and parathyroid VDR's control calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood.
• In many body tissues VDR's control cell proliferation and differentiation - which suppresses cancer development.
• In the epithelium and some other cells VDR's regulate synthesis of a wide range of anti-microbial peptides.


By various mechanisms Vitamin D is know to affect the following:

• Various bone diseases at all stages of development from in-utero to the elderly.
• A number of muscular and neurological conditions caused by calcium deficiency.
• Resistance to many microbial infections - including Influenza & Tuberculosis.
• The onset and progress of several common cancers - by triggering programmed cell death.
• The onset and progress of many auto-immune conditions - including Multiple Sclerosis.
• The regulation of blood pressure and the deposition of arterial plaque.