With all the talk of a possible 3rd wave about to strike,* it’s interesting to see how much research has been done on this vitamin.
Vitamin D is actually not a vitamin at all. It’s a family of hormone-like substances of which D2 and D3 are important for humans. We can produce it by exposure to sunlight, hence the name “sunshine vitamin”, and we can get it from certain foods (fish, dairy products, mushrooms, brown rice and almonds are all good sources). However, it is widely recognized that vitamin D deficiency is widespread and that we don’t produce nearly enough from exposure to the sun, especially people with darker skins.
Interestingly, using Vitamin D to help with respiratory diseases is not a new idea. As far back as 1930, there was speculation that vitamin D (in cod liver oil) could help reduce absenteeism for people with colds. Since then, there has been a constant interest in Vit D and, just lately, it’s been in the news a lot, mainly due to its immune boosting properties. A search of Pubmed1 for ‘vitamin d covid’ yielded 657 entries – emphasizing the importance of the nutrient. Vitamin D strengthens the immune system and helps slow the multiplication of the virus2, giving our natural defences time to act.
A study done at the AZ Delta hospital in Belgium found that there was a clear link between Vitamin D deficiency and covid3. “Up to 75 percent of COVID-19 patients were vitamin D deficient on admission. That’s a lot,” said Dieter de Smet, director of the AZ Delta laboratory. “We also saw that the more severe the COVID-19 pneumonia was, the more pronounced vitamin D deficiency was.”
Supplementation is an important option to consider. It is part of all the protocols for preventing and treating covid that I’ve seen. So the question is, how much should we be getting on a daily basis to help keep us safe? Well, one thing is for sure, the RDA is hopelessly inadequate! According to the Frontline Coalition doctors in the USA, we need between 1000 – 3000IU per day to protect us from getting covid and 4000IU per day for early treatment4 (along with vitamin C, zinc, other nutrients and Ivermectin). It’s unlikely that we’ll get that from food or the sun, so a good quality, naturally derived supplement seems to be the way to go.
It makes sense to ensure that we get sufficient Vit D daily to protect ourselves and our families. Don’t wait until you’re sick. After all, prevention is better than cure and it’s a whole lot cheaper and more pleasant.
* Is a 3rd wave really coming? Many scientists and doctors believe that it’s not. Traditionally, as winter approaches, we in South Africa are entering the cold and flu season. We also know now that there has been a great deal of incorrect reporting on infection rates over the last year or so. In addition, there is considerable evidence that the CPR testing for covid is widely inaccurate with a high percentage of ‘false positives’ being recorded.5,6,7 So is it possible that many people are actually suffering from colds or flu and not covid? The evidence certainly seem to point that way!
References.
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=vitamin+d+covid
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33232783/
3. https://academic.oup.com/ajcp/article/155/3/381/6000689
6. https://www.medicdebate.org/en/node/2000
7. https://www.who.int/news/item/20-01-2021-who-information-notice-for-ivd-users-2020-05