Vitamin D Protective Against Acute Respiratory Infections

Vitamin D Protective Against Acute Respiratory Infections.

A recent study again confirms that vitamin D supplementation can help protect against acute respiratory infections.

Since Vitamin D is used in many processes in our bodies, including in the immune system, AND that many people are deficient or low in Vitamin D then it really makes sense to give this some real consideration.

It should be noted that although this large met-study review showed benefit of Vitamin D supplementation in people with respiratory infections, it doesn’t look specifically at the coronavirus / covid19.

This looked at taking oral Vitamin D supplementation. It should be noted that you can also produce Vitamin D by getting outside in the sun with exposed skin.

You can also get Vitamin D in foods.

Here are some high Vitamin D foods:

• Salmon, particularly wild caught salmon.
• Other higher fat fish, often cold water fish. Mackerel, sardines, herring, and others are good sources.
• Cod liver oil (a supplement or if you’re brave enough cod livers 😉 ).
• Egg yolks and mushrooms both have some (sounds like a great beginning to an omelet!).
• Many highly processed junk foods and dairy add Vitamin D to their processed foods. These are not as good as getting out in the sun, eating natural foods that already have Vitamin D, and supplementing if necessary.

Vitamin D Supplementation and Respiratory Infections Study

The large study was a meta-analysis of 25 different randomized controlled trials of more than 11,000 people which was published online in The British Medical Journal.

“Most people understand that vitamin D is critical for bone and muscle health. Our analysis has also found that Vitamin D helps the body fight acute respiratory infection, which is responsible for millions of deaths globally each year.” said Carlos Camargo Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, the study’s senior author.

Several other observational studies have associated low vitamin D levels with greater susceptibility to acute respiratory infections.

The investigators found that daily or weekly supplementation had the greatest benefit for individuals with the most significant vitamin D deficiency (blood levels below 10 mg/dl) cutting their risk of respiratory infection in half and that all participants experienced some beneficial effects from regular vitamin D supplementation.

“Acute respiratory infections are responsible for millions of emergency department visits in the United States. These results could have a major impact on our health system.” said Dr. Camargo.

Vitamin D and Respiratory Infections Study Conclusions:

• Vitamin D supplementation was safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection overall.
• Patients who were very vitamin D deficient and those not receiving bolus doses (large doses) experienced the most benefit.

Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data BMJ 2017; 356 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i6583 (Published 15 February 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;356:i6583

https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583