How Vitamin D Can Help Prevent Flu:
As reported in our last blog, a recent study reported in the journal Virology shows that vitamin D at 2000 IU per day prevents flu and colds in over 99% of people.
Vitamin D has been called the “natural antibiotic” because it raises a persons’ natural immunity, A particle of virus or bacteria reaches the mucous membrane of the nose or throat. This sets of a body reaction that causes the cells to immediately activate vitamin D. The activated vitamin D, in turn, sets off a whole chain of reactions that defends the body from infection.
People who are older, or who are already ill, or have dark skin have lower vitamin D levels than others. People who are kept indoors, such as in schools with little chance for outdoor recess, or in nursing homes or prisons, are more likely to be deficient in vitamin D. So we see flu happening in these areas, and it gives the impression that it is being spread because of close contact.
Did you think that flu vaccine was going to keep you healthy? Death rates for influenza increased in the 1980s and 1990s, during a time period when there was a dramatic increase in the elderly getting flu vaccine. Hospitalization rates for older Americans significantly increased in this same time period.
Vitamin D regulates over 1,000 genes in the human body. These genes code for thousands of biochemical reactions that keep the body healthy. There is no major or minor body system that is not in some way affected by vitamin D. Just 20 to 30 minutes of skin exposure to mid-day sunshine causes the body to make 20,000 IU of vitamin D. If you cannot get this, as little as a 2000 IU dose per day may be enough to keep you healthy.
References
Aloia JF, Li-Ng M: Epidemic influenza and vitamin D. Epidemiol Infect 2007; 135: 1095–1096.
Cannell JJ, Vieth R, Umhau JC, Holick MF, Grant WB, Madronich S, Garland CF, Giovannucci E: Epidemic influenza and vitamin D. Epidemiol Infect 2006, 134:1129-1140.
Gombart AF, Borregaard N, Koeffler HP: Human Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptide Gene is a Direct Target of the Vitamin D Receptor and is Strongly Upregulated in Myeloid Cells by 1,25 dihydroxy Vitamin D3. FASEB J 2005, 19:1067-1077.
Simonsen L, Reichert TA, Viboud C, Blackwelder WC, Taylor RJ, Miller MA: Impact of influenza vaccination on seasonal mortality in the US elderly population. Arch Intern Med 2005, 165:265-272.
Thompson WW, Shay DK, Weintraub E, Brammer L, Cox N, Anderson LJ, Fukuda K: Mortality associated with influenza and respiratory syncytial virus in the United States. JAMA 2003, 289:179-186.
Thompson WW, Shay DK, Weintraub E, Brammer L, Bridges CB, Cox NJ, Fukuda K: Influenza-associated hospitalizations in the United States. JAMA 2004, 292:1333-1340.
Zasloff M: Fighting Infections with Vitamin D. Nat Med 2006, 12:388-390.
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