Vitamin D Protects Against Colds & Flu

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Vitamin D Protects Against Colds & Flu

It has long been observed that incidence of colds and influenza rises

in the fall and winter months and wanes in the spring and summer.

This is the opposite of serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which

increase in the summer and decrease dramatically as the amount of

daylight diminishes.

Research has shown adequate blood levels of vitamin D stimulate the

genetic expression of antimicrobial peptides in human monocytes.

These peptides demonstrate a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity

against viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Vitamin D also has other immune-

modulating and anti-inflammatory activity.

An article published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection

reports on a three-year study of 208 African-American postmenopausal

women (who are at great risk of vitamin D deficiency) who were

supplemented with vitamin D or placebo.

For the first two years the active group received 800 IU daily, which

was increased to 2,000 IU daily in the last year of the study.

In the three years of the study 34 patients reported cold and flu

symptoms, eight in the supplemented group and 26 in the placebo group

(p<0.002).

This showed that participants who got a placebo had a 300-percent

greater risk of having a cold or flu, and that vitamin D

supplementation provided a highly significant protective effect.

Aloia JF. Epidemic influenza and vitamin D. Epidemiol Infect

2007;135:1095-1096

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Alana