Vitamin D and Adolescent Behaviour; Turmeric and Asthma Control in Children
Vitamin D and Adolescent Behaviour
Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with a variety of mental health problems in adulthood, including anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. So it was no surprise when a study (published in the Journal of Nutrition) found vitamin D deficiency during middle childhood was linked to behavioral, and mood, problems in adolescents.
In 2006, University of Michigan researchers recruited 3,202 children (aged 5-12) from different schools in Bogota, Colombia, into a cohort study. The researchers examined the children’s daily habits, maternal education level, weight and height, household food insecurity, and socioeconomic status, as well as taking blood samples.
Six years later, when the children were between 11 and 18 years old, the researchers went back to follow up. They interviewed a random one third of the subjects, and administered questionnaires to the children and their parents, as well as follow up blood testing.
They discovered that the children with vitamin D deficiency were almost twice as likely to display aggressive and rule breaking behaviors, and to demonstrate anxiety or depression, as compared to the children with higher levels of vitamin D.
“Children who have vitamin D deficiency during their elementary school years appear to have higher scores on tests that measure behavior problems when they reach adolescence,” said Eduardo Villamor, professor of epidemiology at the UM School of Public Health and senior author of the study. (Study)
Turmeric and Asthma Control in Children
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial from Brazil, sought to examine if turmeric could help treat asthma in young people.
Children and adolescents with persistent asthma were given powdered turmeric root (30 mg/kg/day), or placebo, for 6 months. (The product they were given was simply 250 mg of powdered turmeric per capsule.)
“Patients receiving C. longa (turmeric) experienced less frequent nighttime awakenings, less frequent use of short-acting β-adrenergic agonists (“puffers”), and better disease control after 3 and 6 months, compared to placebo.” (Study)
The really amazing thing about this study was that they did not use standardized extracts of turmeric, as most studies do. And virtually all products on the market have some specialized approach to producing a highly absorbable, concentrated extract of turmeric. So, the fact that low doses of simple turmeric powder could be that effective, leads one to wonder how effective a stronger concentrated version would be for treating this common ailment.
And, of course, I would suggest that any child (or adult) with asthma, follow my protocol for rebuilding the lining of the lungs (also good for all mucosal lining in the body). I have had clients find that they no longer needed their “puffers” after following this protocol for a month or so.