The Vitamin You Must Have To Avoid a Cold (And It’s Not Vitamin C)
I just found more evidence on the importance of vitamin D in supporting our immune systems.
On his web site, one of my favorite health writers (J F McCaffrey MD), reported on a study in The Archives of Internal Medicine that confirmed that vitamin D is associated with lower risks of colds and other respiratory infections.
The study in the journal looked at data researchers collected as part of a national health survey of nearly 20,000 participants. Blood samples were taken as part of the survey so the researches were able to measure the vitamin D levels. They then compared that information with which people experienced respiratory infections and cold and flu symptoms over the course of the survey.
The researchers found that someone with inadequate levels of vitamin D were much more likely to develop respiratory infections. The likelihood was even higher in those who had chronic problems such as asthma.
The authors of the study are quick to say that their report doesn’t test whether or not taking vitamin D cuts your chance of coming down with a cold. That’s true, it doesn’t. Two things happening one after the other doesn’t prove the first caused the second. In this case maybe the people who don’t get colds are already healthy so they’re outside more and therefore have higher vitamin D levels than sickly people who are in bed more.
That may be true, but they didn’t identify any such differences in the survey. And it’s true that more and more reports show the importance of vitamin D and its affect on immune function. Low levels of vitamin D are noted in people with higher rates of several different cancers as well as heart disease.
So while strictly speaking it’s true that “controlled trials are warranted” to show for sure that supplementing withvitamin D prevents respiratory infections, I’m not waiting. It will be a long time, maybe decades before such trials are completed, if they ever get done. Even high doses of vitamin D are safe and everyone should make sure they’re getting adequate amounts.
The easiest (and most pleasant) way of doing that is getting a healthy amount of sun exposure. However that’s not practical for everyone, especially for those living in the north. Which is why many experts recommend taking about 2,000 units of vitamin D a day.
Vitamin D has a lot of benefits aside from strengthening your immune system. Find out about Vitamin D and Heart Attacks at that link.
And again, for information on all aspects of vital living, I highly recommend checking out:
You can request a great free report while you’re there on the Surprising Power of the Heart while you’re there. It has some pretty amazing information in it you can use right now.
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Tags: common cold, how to prevent a cold, vitamin D, vitamin D and the common cold
