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(Medical-NewsWire.com, October 15, 2014 ) Hollywood, Florida -- Recent studies conducted in Bahrain have shown that vitamin D deficiency in the sun drenched Gulf nation has reached an all-time high. Despite enjoying year round sunshine, researchers have determined that more than 90% of babies born in the country were vitamin D deficient. Additionally, studies have shown that approximately 65% of adults in the country had low levels of vitamin D.
Vitamin D is produced naturally by the body when skin is exposed to direct sunlight, but cultural and religious practices in the Gulf state prevent people from getting adequate exposure. Vitamin D, which is essentially a hormone, is not found in many foods, and even those foods that do contain some vitamin D, only have very small amounts. Many western countries adopted vitamin D fortification programs in the 1920s when researchers discovered that vitamin D deficiency was the leading cause of rickets, a serious childhood bone disease. Understandably, most Middle Eastern countries felt that there was no need for such programs due the amount of sunshine they have all year round. However, the number of children being diagnosed with rickets in the Middle East has prompted leaders to reassess the need for nationwide vitamin D fortification programs.
"We are looking at various prevention strategies at the national level," said Dr. Nadia of Bahrain's' Health Ministry. "For example, we've been in talks with Bahrain Flour Mill Company to discuss the possibility of fortifying all their produce with an adequate amount of vitamin D," he said. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Hollywood based Nutra Mina has also announced plans that focus on delivering vitamin D supplements to consumers in the Middle East as well as Africa. "At present, the vast majority of our customers are located in the United States and in Europe. Now we would like to expand our reach based on the latest vitamin D deficiency statistics," said Mr. Oliver Adams over the phone during a recent interview. "Bahrain may be in a better position than the US in terms of vitamin D deficiency, but when you consider that more than 60% of the population is affected, well, that's a lot of people," he said.
Being a predominantly Muslim country, women are expected to cover themselves whenever they venture outdoors, and although men aren't subject to the same requirements, most still actively avoid sun exposure because of the extreme heat, and also because dark colored skin is considered undesirable. In most western nations, common foods and beverages such as bread; cereals, milk and fruit juices are often fortified with vitamin D, largely because very few foods actually contain their own natural vitamin D. "To get adequate vitamin D from diet alone would require a tremendous amount of effort," said Nutra Mina's spokesman. "Our bodies are designed to produce vitamin D when we spend time in the sun, but very few of us, regardless of where we live, spend sufficient time in the sun. Even if we do, we smother our skin with sunscreen lotion, and that too makes it virtually impossible for our bodies to produce all the vitamin D we so badly need," he said.
Dr. Ghalib of SMC Medical Laboratories in Bahrain is just one of many local healthcare workers that are pushing for a nationwide vitamin D fortification program, but she acknowledges the fact that it could still take a number of years before such a move is implemented. "This is not the sort of thing which happens overnight," she said." It could take years, so in the meantime, my advice would be that people should pay closer attention to the foods they eat, and if they are able to, they should also consider taking a good quality vitamin D3 supplement."
About Nutra Mina
As a company, Nutra Mina Vitamins is dedicated to providing customers with the most health supporting vitamin D supplements as well as the necessary information to help their customers to use their supplements in a responsible manner.
Nutra Mina
Oliver Adams
1-954-889-7566
info@nutramina.com
Source: EmailWire.Com 
Source: EmailWire.com
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