It’s important to remember that severe respiratory tract infections and the flu aren’t to be taken lightly. In my book, you can learn how a renowned Portuguese professor, Dr. Manuel Pinto Coelho, recommends increasing the dose of vitamin D to 2,000 IU per kilogram (2,000 IU per 2.20 pounds) for 3 days at summer’s end to avoid the winter flu. Will the crony medical establishment listen? Study Shows Vitamin D May Help Prevent Respiratory Tract Infections. When your body is invaded by a virus or a bacterium, your white soldiers work hard at producing substances specially designed to destroy those invaders. Compared to those with vitamin D levels less than 20 ng/ml, 43% fewer of those with levels at or above 60 ng/ml experienced flu-like illnesses. This is true even if you are a healthy person. You can take several grams every hour (use the liposomal form so you don’t get loose stools), till you are better. Read Paper, Correspondence Vitamin D levels tend to be lower in winter. I have a question about taking another vitamin with high doses of D3, which I’m currently taking (75,000 IU since July 2019). In the context of vitamin D supplementation, 10,000 IU isn’t even considered a dangerous dose as it’s the same amount of vitamin D that your skin would produce after a few minutes under the midday Sun. twice the risk of getting the H1N1 “swine flu”, Epidemic Influenza and Vitamin D by JJ Cannell, September 15, 2006, Epidemiology and Infection 2006 Dec;134(6):1129-40, Archives of Internal Medicine 2009;169(4):384-390, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition May 2010; 91(5): 1255-1260, Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews 2010 Jul 7;(7):CD001269, Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews 2006 Jan 25;(1):CD004879, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012; Issue 8, Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews 2010 Feb 17;(2):CD004876, Clinical Infectious Diseases 2014; 59 (10): 1375-1385, Journal of Infectious Disease October 28, 2015, FDA. The login page will open in a new tab. Since then, a number of studies have come to similar conclusions. Legal notice: The Author specifically invokes the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and of the press without prejudice. However, based on the health status of a particular child and their vitamin D blood levels, a Doctor may recommend an higher or lower dosage. Sabetta says the findings suggest that supplementing vitamin D to achieve a blood level of 38 nanograms per milliliter or higher could result in a significant health benefit by reducing odds of contracting viral infections of the respiratory tract. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. And that’s my secret weapon, in addition to vitamin D. ​However, you should exercise caution when adding vitamin C to high-doses of vitamin D. Once again, please refer to the accompanying box for more information on why this ​would be the case. Vitamin D … The video above (ER: see here) discusses research [33] showing vitamin D extends lifespan in nematode worms by 30 percent and helps slow or even reverse accumulation of beta amyloid protein, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, autoimmune disease and many other chronic diseases. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition To reduce the risk of infection, it is recommended that people at risk of influenza and/or COVID-19 consider taking 10,000 IU/d of vitamin D 3 for a few weeks to rapidly raise 25(OH)D concentrations, followed by 5000 IU/d. JAMA Research demonstrates preterm births steadily decrease as vitamin D levels increase among pregnant women. In the paper, “On the epidemiology of influenza,” authors suggest that vitamin D reduces the risk of influenza infection likely through induction of another molecule, cathelicidin, which activates genes involved in immune defense. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. You can use this calculator to help you determine the approximate amount of EXTRA supplementation required to get to your desired level. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines …”. How can we improve on Dr. Schwalfenberg protocol? We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. We asked experts what the best vitamins to take during flu season actually are, because there's a lot of vitamin info out there. But he says more studies are needed to determine the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in the prevention of infections, including influenza. In my view, optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the absolute best flu-prevention and optimal health strategies available. Urashima M. et al. Vitamin D is so great for your health; the government began fortifying milk with it in 1932 (vitamin D2). Grant, Edward Giovannucci There is a six-fold variability in how different people respond to a particular supplement level. While the flu vaccine can give you an edge, and in some years, it is highly effective, there might be something else you can do protect you and your family. They didn't know that vitamin D was being measured, and even investigators didn't know until the end of the study. Another study [11] published that same year concluded that infection-fighting T-cells need help from vitamin D in order to activate. If you are known to be at risk for kidney stones, skip the vitamin C entirely. It’s also important to point out that, contrary to what’s reported by most mainstream media, including NPR report above, most people cannot optimize their vitamin D levels by getting the recommended 600 IUs of vitamin D from fortified foods. February 2017 With this goal in mind, it seems that the idea behind the divided doses is that they’ll ​stimulate your immune system several times throughout the day. The VDR gene then starts producing a protein that binds vitamin D in the T cell. An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Low Vitamin D Levels Associated with Colds and Flu A new study has found that vitamin D may play a role in helping the immune system ward off respiratory diseases like the common cold. His hypothesis [1] was initially published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection in 2006. This analysis confirms what other studies have found: that the impacts of vitamin D are widespread. For magnesium and vitamin B2 please check these two excerpts from my book: Magnesium A large-scale, systematic review [14] of 51 studies, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in 2006, found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo in children under two. That being said, the many common risk factors for low vitamin D levels have to do with ability or likelihood to absorb sunlight. The nightly news is filled with stories of hospitals being overwhelmed by patients due to this year’s nasty flu virus, and other respiratory infections that are also a major cause in the uptick in doctors visits. Who’s Behind It? June 16, 2010 -- Vitamin D may reduce the incidence and severity of influenza and other infections of the upper respiratory tract, new research indicates. The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! A study involving children 3 months – 5 years old living in Guatemala found that those children with vitamin D levels less than 20 ng/ml were 2.4 times more likely to be hospitalized with pneumonia. It’s important to work on the body as a whole. Copyright © Integrative Medicine Concepts. Early studies of vitamin D and mice came to different conclusions, with one group reporting a link and the other no link between deficiency and infection. May 2010 Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. So, let me ask you, the next time you beg​in feeling aches and chills, would you like to try this approach? Calculate your estimated EPA+DHA (Fish Oil) intake to reach your target Omega-3 Index. Most recently, a scientific review [5,6] of 25 randomized controlled trials confirmed that vitamin D supplementation boosts immunity and cuts rates of cold and flu. After you receive your results you can determine how to best proceed, with sun or supplements, to raise your current vitamin D level above 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L). For people with the most significant vitamin D deficiencies (blood levels below 10 [ng/mL]), taking a supplement cut their risk of respiratory infection in half. A trial in Japan involving 167 school children aged 6-15 years taking 1200 IU/day or a placebo found those children taking vitamin D had a significant 40% reduced risk of influenza A infection (no effect was found for influenza B). Overall, children in the treatment group were 42 percent less likely to come down with the flu. Vitamin D Works Better Than Flu Vaccine If Your Levels Are Low. This is explained in the section – Vitamin D, innate immunity, and influenza. 94th Meeting of Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Transcript. It actually behaves more like a hormone than a vitamin, and it plays a powerful role in the health of our immune system.