Feb
27
Vitamin D and the Common Cold
Filed Under free stop smoking help, stop smoking information | Leave a Comment
I just came across more evidence on the importance of vitamin D to our health.
On his web site, one of my favorite health writers (J F McCaffrey MD), reported on a study in a major medical journal that confirmed that vitamin D is associated with lower risks of colds and other respiratory infections.
The study Dr. McCaffrey reports on looked at information researchers collected during a national health survey of nearly 20,000 participants. Blood samples were taken during the study so the researches were able to measure the vitamin D levels. They then compared that information with which people experienced respiratory infections (predominately colds) during the study period.
The researchers found that people with inadequate levels of vitamin D were at much greater risk of respiratory infections. The risk was greatest in those who had chronic problems such as asthma.
The authors of the study are quick to point out that this report doesn’t test whether or not taking vitamin D cuts your chance of getting a respiratory infection. That’s true, it doesn’t. Two things happening one after the other doesn’t prove the first caused the second. It could be that healthy people are outside more and therefore have higher vitamin D levels than sickly people who are in bed more.
It could be, but it’s also true that no such explanation was identified when they reviewed the surveys. It’s also a fact that a lot of other studies show the importance of vitamin D in many different aspects of health. Decreased levels of vitamin D are associated with increased risks of a wide range of health problems, including cancer and heart disease.
So while I agree with the authors that “further study is needed” to show for sure that takingvitamin D protects you from respiratory infections, I’m not waiting. It will be a long time, maybe decades before such trials are done, if anyone ever does them at all (there’s not much money in selling vitamin D). 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. Taking a supplement is a good idea. 2000 units a day is reasonable.
Vitamin D has a lot of benefits besides 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:
Be sure to get the free report on the Surprising Power of the Heart while you’re there. It has some pretty amazing information in it you can use right now.
