Vitamin D Deficiency Widespread Among Pregnant Mothers and Babies

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition, Vitamin D deficiency is alarmingly widespread in pregnant mothers and even more so in their babies. The results of the University of Pittsburgh study are startling considering that 90% of the women tested were taking "vitamin supplements" during pregnancy

Needless to say, not all vitamin supplements are created equal!

Getting back to the study, 400 women (half of them Caucasian and half of them African American) were given blood tests during pregnancy and at birth (along with their babies). The results were astonishing... more than 80 percent of the black women and almost 50 percent of the white women were vitamin D deficient. Even more disturbing, their newborn infants fared much worse; 92% of the black babies and 66% of the white babies proved vitamin D deficient!

Vitamin D deficiency is by far the most common vitamin deficit in this country. In its most severe form it can cause rickets, a softening of the bones that leads to deformity and certain death if not corrected. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with heart disease, impaired immunity, diabetes, increased risk of asthma and mental disorders, and autoimmune disorders such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Vitamin D is one of those critical nutrients that is utilized in so many ways that we can scarcely afford to be deficient. And yet, as this study shows, we certainly are... thank God for MagnifiCal!!!