Supplementation of vitamin D is effective in preventing overall mortality in a long-term. It is not significantly effective in a treatment duration shorter than 3 years. 

Vitamin D therapy significantly decreased all-cause mortality with a duration of follow-up longer than 3 years. No benefit was seen in a shorter follow-up periods. 

The following subgroups of long-term follow-up had significantly fewer deaths:

• female only,
• participants with a mean age younger than 80,
• daily dose of 800 IU or less,
• participants with vitamin D insufficiency and cholecalciferol therapy.

The combination of vitamin D and calcium significantly reduced mortality and vitamin D alone also had a trend to decrease mortality in a longer time follow up.

According to Professor Bruce Ames, a biochemist at UC-Berkeley, our foods contain 10,000 times more natural pesticides than synthetic ones - plants develop their own defenses against fungi and predators. 

Although the minuscule amounts of synthetic pesticides in our foods pose negligible health risks, some activists actually advise consumers not to eat fruits and vegetables at all if they can’t afford organic varieties — in spite of 100 years of evidence that those who eat the most conventionally grown fruits and vegetables have half the cancer rates for practically every type of cancer and live longer than those who eat less.

90% Of the cases “exposed” in EWG’s 2010 list involved levels of pesticides 1,000 times lower than the chronic reference dose - the level of daily exposure likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime of chronic exposure. 

Dr. Carl Winter and Josh Katz, UC-Davis:

The potential consumer risks from exposure to the most frequently detected pesticides on the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list of foods are negligible and cast doubts as to how consumers avoiding conventional forms of such produce items are improving their health status.

In India, most people adhere to a vegetarian diet, which may lead to cobalamin deficiency. About 75% of the subjects had metabolic signs of cobalamin deficiency, which was only partly explained by the vegetarian diet.

The study population included 204 men and women aged 27–55 y from Pune, Maharashtra, India, categorized into 4 groups:

• patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes,
• patients with CVD but no diabetes,
• patients with diabetes but no CVD,
• healthy subjects.

Data on medical history, lifestyle, and diet were obtained by interviews and questionnaires. Blood samples were collected for measurement of serum or plasma total cobalamin, holotranscobalamin (holoTC), methylmalonic acid (MMA), and total homocysteine (tHcy) and hemetologic indexes.

1. Methylmalonic acid, total homocysteine, total cobalamin, and holotranscobalamin did not differ significantly among the 4 groups.
2. Total cobalamin showed a strong inverse correlation with total homocysteine (r = −0.59) and methylmalonic acid (r = −0.54). 
3. 47% of the subjects had cobalamin deficiency (total cobalamin <150 pmol/L),
4. 73% had low holotranscobalamin (<35 pmol/L),
5. 77% had hyperhomocysteinemia (total homocysteine >15 μmol/L),
6. 73% had elevated serum methylmalonic acid (>0.26 μmol/L).

These indicators of impaired cobalamin status were observed in both vegetarians and nonvegetarians.

Dietary vitamin B12 intake was inadequate in 43% in an extremely impoverished indigenous population of Panamanian children aged 12 to 60 months.

These children were poorer, had less frequent diarrhea, and obtained a higher percentage of their energy from carbohydrate than children with adequate intake. Energy intake positively predicted dietary vitamin B12 intake. In contrast, serum vitamin B12 concentrations were normal in all but 3% of the children. Serum vitamin B12 was positively associated with weekly servings of fruit, corn-based food, and name (a traditional starchy food), but not with animal-source foods. Finally, serum vitamin B12 was not associated with Ascaris intensity but was lowered with increasing frequency of diarrhea.

Although inadequate dietary intake of vitamin B12 was common, most serum values were normal. Nevertheless, diarrheal disease emerged as a negative predictor of serum vitamin B12 concentration.

Serum vitamin B12, serum folate and red blood cell folate levels were examined among 36 strict vegans of 5-35 years' duration.

Vitamin B12 levels among the vegans were generally lower than in a control population. Most of the vegans had vitamin B12 values less than 200 pg/ml. 

None of the vegans had any hematologic evidence of vitamin B12 deficiency, however four of them had neurologic complaints. Long-standing vegans should be monitored for vitamin B12 levels.

Red blood cell folate levels were normal but serum folate levels among the vegans were higher than among the controls. 

Vitamin B-12 status did not change significantly after treatment in the placebo group with daily supplementation with high doses of oral vitamin B-12 alone or in combination with folic acid.

Oral vitamin B-12 supplementation corrected mild vitamin B-12 deficiency.

Vitamin B-12 + folic acid supplementation increased red blood cell folate concentrations and decreased total homocysteine concentrations by 36%.

Improvement in memory function was greater in the placebo group than in the group who received vitamin B-12 alone. Neither supplementation with vitamin B-12 alone nor that in combination with folic acid was accompanied by any improvement in other cognitive domains.

Having established the association of vitamin B12 insufficiency with neurodegenerative disease, the challenge is to discern the direction, if any, of causation.

Most neurological impairments present a slow, progressive course (Josephs et al., 2009) and vitamin B12 levels may take a number of years to deplete (Herbert, 1988). Studies investigating causation would need to continue over an extended period of time.

Low serum vitamin B12 levels may play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease; however, it is equally plausible that neurological impairment may lead to poor nutrition and hence to inadequate dietary intake. Also, any association may simply be coincident or the factors predisposing patients for neurodegenerative disease may simply also expose the patient to a higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency, for example, poor nutrition. Further intervention studies in large samples followed over an extended period of time are required. This will allow for further investigation of the role, if any, of vitamin B12 in the onset or progression of neurodegenerative disease, as well as the latent period of effect of vitamin B12 insufficiency before cognitive deficits are evident.

Humans share ~ 24% of genes with grapes, ~ 85% - with cows.

All animals, plants, and fungi share an ancestor that lived about 1.6 billion years ago. Every lineage that descended from that progenitor retains parts of its original genome, embodying one of evolution’s key principles: If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. 

Walnuts, pecans, and even peanuts - eat them at least sometimes to reduce your risk of getting cancer. 

1 Walnut has the antioxidant equivalent to vitamin C in 4 oranges. Watch the video by physician Dr. Michael Greger, M.D.

Deaths from non-communicable diseases rose by ~ 8 million between 1990 and 2010 - every three deaths worldwide.

8 million people died from cancer in 2010, 38% more than two decades ago.

Ischaemic heart disease and stroke collectively killed ~13 million people in 2010 - one in four deaths worldwide, compared with one in five in 1990.

1.3 Million deaths were due to diabetes, twice as many as in 1990.