Vitamin D, Building Your Immune System with the Right Tools

What tools do you have in your toolkit to fight off colds, flu and infections? Is it working? Or are you still fighting cold after cold? Are you wasting money on vitamins and “immune boosting” products? Chances are if you’ve been sick this year, you may not be supplying your immune system with the right tools.

Over the last 5 year, no other nutrient or drug has gained more scientific credibility than vitamin D. Insufficient vitamin D is linked to virtually every age-related disorder including cancer, vascular disease, autoimmune diseases, depression, chronic fatigue and chronic pain/inflammation. Adults (and children) with higher vitamin D levels contract substantially fewer cold, flu, and other viral infections.

Studies show 50-85% of the general population is currently Vitamin D deficient. In fact, a startling 36% of the general population has vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL which may represent the world’s leading cause of unnecessary disease and death.

How do I know if I’m Vitamin D deficient?

See your doctor for a simple blood test to check your vitamin D levels. Based on recent and conclusive published studies, the new minimum target level for optimal disease prevention is over 50 ng/mL of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D.

How much Vitamin D?

If you are severely deficient, your doctor may prescribe a 7,000-10,000 IU vitamin D³ daily for 3 months (Or weekly doses of 50,000-60,000 IU). Currently the daily recommended amount is only 400 IU. There is some debate over how much vitamin D³ we should be taking. Some doctors are pushing to change the daily recommendation to 1,000-2,000 IU per day.

Dr. John Cannell, the president of The Vitamin D Council, a non-profit group that advocates higher vitamin D intake. According to Dr. Cannell, adults need to take 5,000 IU a day of vitamin D³ to put the vast majority of them (97.5%) above the 50 ng/mL level. Dr. Cannell says that optimal doses for adults are between 4,600 and 10,000 IU, with persuasive evidence that 10,000 IU a day of supplemental vitamin D³ is not toxic. To answer the question as to exactly how much vitamin D³ an individual needs requires a blood test.

Most commercial multi-vitamins only have 400 IU of vitamin D. Some of the better vitamin companies have increased the dosage to 2,000 IU. In another surprising revelation, scientists have discovered that high-dose vitamin A antagonizes the beneficial action of vitamin D³ in the body. This finding might explain why certain studies of people using commercial multivitamins (that contain too much vitamin A and woefully inadequate vitamin D) have failed to yield expected health benefits. Life Extension foundation and the Vitamin D Council recommend taking vitamin D³ separate from a multi-vitamin.

Human toxicity may occur after chronic daily consumption of approximately 40,000 IU/day of D³. Vitamin D hypersensitivity syndromes are often mistaken for vitamin D toxicity. Those with a rare disorder called sarcoidosis, severe renal impairment, primary hyperparathyroidism, or any condition resulting in an elevated calcium level in the blood should consult with their physician before taking vitamin D supplements.

My Personal Vitamin D Experience

2 1/2 years ago after reading some of the vitamin D reports, I decided to add vitamin D³ to my vitamin regimen. My 2-A-Day multi vitamin had 2,000 IU. I then added a 1,000 IU vitamin D³ (I may have forgotten to take it a couple of days a week).  After 6 months I caught 4 colds and the flu. I decided to see my doctor; I was tired of catching every cold that walked past me and my energy was zapped. She ran several tests, everything was OK – except my vitamin D levels were low - around 40. She suggested taking 5,000 IU in addition to my multi-vitamin.  It can take 3 months or more to bring your Vitamin D levels up to a healthy level.  Taking large doses upon the onset of a cold may not help to kick the illness. But it may help if you've been inconsistant with taking your vitamins. It seems when I'm taking my D daily, I feel great. If I start slacking and only taking them once or twice per week, I'm putting myself at risk for possibly getting sick. If I start to feel a cold coming on, I immediatly take 10,000 IU of vitamin D. Then I take 4,000 MG of Buffered Vitamin C, 4 times per day with food until i feel normal again. Over the last 2 years, I've felt about 4 colds coming on. My asthma usually acts up and I might feel tired. I have not felt congested, had cough or any other cold symptom.

Resources:

www.lef.org

www.vitamindcouncil.org

The Fork In The Road

Our country is seeing dramatic increases in obesity and chronic illness.  In fact, upwards of 50% of Americans have at least one chronic disease. We are facing record obesity rates in both adults and children. 68% of adults are overweight or obese 25% of children.  YIKES!

Just 7 years ago I had a mile long list of health problems. I couldn’t sleep, I had major digestive issues, I didn’t have any energy, my waist line was increasing, my back hurt and I caught every cold that walked past me. Almost every cold I caught turned into bronchitis and required antibiotics.

According to my doctor, other than my asthma, there was nothing wrong with me. I saw a few specialist and they performed expensive tests. Not one of them addressed my diet or nutrition. All of them were very willing to write me a “band aid” prescription that calms the symptoms of the problems I was having, instead of helping me get to the bottom of what was actually causing the problems. I decided prescription drugs were not the route I wanted to take.

I started seeing a Chiropractor for my back problems and he suggested cutting dairy and wheat out of my diet, plus taking special vitamins and supplements. I thought he was crazy, I had been eating wheat and dairy my whole life without any problems and I had good vitamins. All of those years growing up I was taught you need 6-11 servings of breads, cereals, pastas and eat low fat. That’s exactly what I did. So why is my health failing me in my twenties? I didn’t know that my diet was slowly killing me.

The Chiropractor explained to me that the vitamins and foods I was eating were not working for my body anymore. Most of the vitamins out on the market aren’t tested for absorbency and I wasn’t absorbing the vitamins I was taking. He suggested 5 different bottles of vitamins and supplements. He told me my liver was stressed and I needed to take this particular supplement each day at the cost of $30 per month – or I could save money and eat a couple slices of beets each day. I hated beets. But the price tag for these 5 bottles was well over $125…ouch. Since he offered to save me money by offering a food alternative, I agreed to buy beets, save $30 off the $125 total of the remaining vitamins. I went home with my 4 bottles of vitamins and wondered if I’d been duped by a quack doctor. I bought a fresh beet, washed it, sliced it and gagged. The smell made me ill – I couldn’t eat it. I tossed it in the trash and spent $30 per month for 6 months on his pills. Some of my symptoms went away but I was still experiencing a lot of problems. I didn’t eliminate dairy and wheat or eat more veggies like he suggested.

After a year, I started researching health and nutrition. I read a lot of stuff about diet, detoxing, gluten and dairy. I found a book called The Detox Box by Dr. Mark Hyman. I followed his detox and it changed my life. It was a very comprehensive diet/detox that involved several vitamins, supplements and a specific diet. This was quite different than the suspect Hollywood fads such as the “Master Cleanse”, instead of depriving your body of crucial vitamins and nutrients it allowed you to fortify yourself with them. I completed the detox in 7 days and felt awesome. This prompted me to buy his other books and I followed his programs for 4 months.  After 4 months 95% of my symptoms went away, I dropped weight and I even learned to like beets and other foods I didn’t dare touch before. Plus I learned how to prepare and cook healthy foods - bonus!

A few years later, I slipped back into old habits due to my budget and stressful job at the time. Eating healthy is more expensive. After 1 ½ years of eating poorly, my weight ballooned and most of my symptoms returned. I realized I needed to spend money on my food now, or I’ll be spending more money later in medical bills.

I came to a fork in the road of life with my health. One road is flat and easy but it led to a dark forest. The other road is uphill, downhill, it had twists and turns – it’s definitely more difficult, but it’s the scenic route.

We all have a choice; we can take the easy road - cheap easy foods, unnecessary prescription medications and poor health. Or we can choose the road that requires strength, endurance and healthy choices. We can choose to pay more money for healthy foods now or more money in medical bills later.

We are all faced with forks in the road of life. Some people can skate through life on the flat road and not run into any major problems. Some people think they can take the easy road but later they find their choices have caused permanent damage. Others are more sensitive and need to address their health and nutrition their entire life.  Are you on the right road?