Vitamin D levels of East African tribes

From Grassroots Health Nov 2016

Vertical Access N = # of people in each group
Note that pregnant, women, and men are separately shown for some tribes

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See also VitaminDWiki

Africa category listing has 28 items along with related searches

• Traditionally living Africans have 46 ng vitamin D levels – Jan 2012
• Dark-skinned hunter-gatherers may generate 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily - June 2016
• Native women in East Africa have a good level of vitamin D (40 ng) – April 2013 same source as data on this page
• Chart of Vitamin D levels vs race - April 2013 has the following chart

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Grassroots Health Chart was derived from: Vitamin D status indicators in indigenous populations in East Africa

European Journal of Nutrition, April 2013, Volume 52, Issue 3, pp 1115–1125, DOI: 10.1007/s00394-012-0421-6
Martine F. Luxwolda Email author, Remko S. KuipersIdo P. KemaE. van der VeerD. A. Janneke Dijck-BrouwerFrits A. J. Muskiet

Purpose:Sufficient vitamin D status may be defined as the evolutionary established circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] matching our Paleolithic genome.

Methods:We studied serum 25(OH)D [defined as 25(OH)D2 + 25(OH)D3] and its determinants in 5 East African ethnical groups across the life cycle: Maasai (MA) and Hadzabe (HA) with traditional life styles and low fish intakes, and people from Same (SA; intermediate fish), Sengerema (SE; high fish), and Ukerewe (UK; high fish). Samples derived from non-pregnant adults (MA, HA, SE), pregnant women (MA, SA, SE), mother–infant couples at delivery (UK), infants at delivery and their lactating mothers at 3 days (MA, SA, SE), and lactating mothers at 3 months postpartum (SA, SE). Erythrocyte docosahexaenoic acid (RBC-DHA) was determined as a proxy for fish intake.

Results:The mean ± SD 25(OH)D of non-pregnant adults and cord serum were 106.8 ± 28.4 and 79.9 ± 26.4 nmol/L, respectively. Pregnancy, delivery, ethnicity (which we used as a proxy for sunlight exposure), RBC-DHA, and age were the determinants of 25(OH)D. 25(OH)D increased slightly with age. RBC-DHA was positively related to 25(OH)D, notably 25(OH)D2. Pregnant MA (147.7 vs. 118.3) and SE (141.9 vs. 89.0) had higher 25(OH)D than non-pregnant counterparts (MA, SE). Infant 25(OH)D at delivery in Ukerewe was about 65 % of maternal 25(OH)D.

Conclusions:Our ancient 25(OH)D amounted to about 115 nmol/L and sunlight exposure, rather than fish intake, was the principal determinant. The fetoplacental unit was exposed to high 25(OH)D, possibly by maternal vitamin D mobilization from adipose tissue, reduced insulin sensitivity, trapping by vitamin D-binding protein, diminished deactivation, or some combination.

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