Vitamin D Status and Food Security in North-East Asia

東北亞的維生素D狀況與糧食安全

Mark L Wahlqvist

《Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition》 22卷1期 (2013/03) Pp. 1-5

https://doi.org/10.6133/apjcn.2013.22.1.21

摘要

維生素D的功能是透過某些途徑多效地影響全身器官及系統。足量的維生素D主要靠陽光中的紫外線刺激皮膚合成及含有維生素D的食物，如來自動物或菇菌類中所含的維生素D-3與D-2，分別由去氫膽固醇與麥角固醇合成。因此，體內維生素D的狀況易受到環境影響。隨著生態系統的衰落，不管是大氣污染或是因為養殖漁業、菇類加工使這些食物無法保有經由紫外線輻射而產生的維生素D，此營養素進入人體的機會可能隨之減少。目前東北亞維生素D缺乏的情形和他處一樣常見且普遍。在20世紀初，維生素D被發現與孩童佝僂症和成人的軟骨症有關，當時那一輩的孩童藉由給與魚肝油（通常是鱈魚）來防止骨疾病。然而現在，鱈魚及許多可食的魚類數量均銳減，過度暴露於陽光下則會增加皮膚癌的風險。為了解決此問題，也許應以維生素D補充劑來取代魚肝。但是人口增加及老化（此時皮膚對紫外線的反應降低）的壓力使得臨床及公共衛生上的決策變得不可或缺。維生素D狀況已成為糧食安全的代言，其常用指標為食物多樣性；此多樣性或許使得以較少的濃度就能在器官和系統功能更有效率，但目前支持的證據尚不足。

關鍵字

維生素D ； 氣候變遷 ； 健康 ； 多效作用

並列摘要

The functions of vitamin D are pleiotropic affecting all body organs and systems in some way. Its adequacy depends principally on sunshine for UV light to stimulate its synthesis in skin and on foods which contain it, either animal-derived or obtained from fungi or mushrooms, with the UV-responsive substrates dehydrocholesterol for vitamin D-3 or ergosterol for vitamin D-2, respectively. Thus, vitamin D health is very environmentally dependent. With ecosytem degradation, whether by atmospheric pollution or food systems which do not derive UV irradiation, as with fish farming or mushroom processing, then this nutrient input into human biology may falter. Vitamin D deficiency is now common and widespread in North-East Asia as elsewhere. When discovered early in the 20th century it was linked to rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults and, for a generation or so, children were given fish, usually cod, liver oil to prevent bone disease. Now cod as a species and many edible fish are threatened. Over-exposure to sun-light increases the risk of skin cancer. We may tackle this problem by vitamin D supplementation with an alternative to fish liver. But the demographic pressures of population size and ageing (when the skin is less UV responsive) make the clinical and public health decisions and strategies demanding. Vitamin D health has become indicative of food security whose usual indicator is food diversity; such diversity may allow lesser concentrations to be more effective in organ and system function, but we have little evidence to support this at present.

並列關鍵字

vitamin D ； climate change ； health ； pleiotropic functions

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