An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Fighting the Flu with Vitamin D
Your family deserves this powerful, natural protection!
New research shows that vitamin D helps prevent flu.(1) Bureaucracies change slowly, however,
so it will be years before California and federal public health agencies, such as the CDC, alert the
public. You don’t have to wait!
Emory University scientists recently examined D studies and concluded that D not only prevents but
treats flu.(2) The Harvard Heart Letter (November 2009) reports, “Having enough D in circulation
can help the body fight off the flu, tuberculosis, and infections of the upper respiratory tract.”(3)
A newly discovered immune system, different from the immunity we get from vaccines, requires
ample vitamin D to function, according to University of Oregon researchers.(4)
Latinos, African Americans Especially Low in D
Overall, only 3 out of 10 American children have enough vitamin D.(5) Even worse, only 2 of 10
Latino children, and only 1 out of 10 African American children have adequate D-- because melanin
in the skin blocks the ultraviolet B rays which make Vitamin D.(6)
It’s shocking -- in just 10 years, the average blood serum level of D in Americans went from low to
lower, that is, from 30 to 24 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter).(7) For comparison, Kaiser Permanente
aims for blood levels ranging from 40 to 70 ng/mL.(8) Farmers and lifeguards are the gold standard
because they make D from sunlight (meaning they make what they actually need) and typically have
100 ng/mL.
Doctors Advise Supplementation
Dr. John Cannell advises parents to provide children at least 1,000 IU per 25 pounds of body
weight each day (for example, a 75-pound child would need 3000 IU).(9) Dr. C.L. Wagner
recommends 6,4000 IU for nursing mothers in order for enough D to spill over into breast milk.(10)
Dr. Douglass Bibuld at the Community Health Center in Boston prescribes as much as 7000 IU
a day for adults with low blood levels.(11) Experts say the largest safe amount is 10,000 IU a day.(12)
Compare these multi-thousand IU dosages to the miniscule FDA standard of 200 IU a day for both
children and adults! Amazingly, in 1997 the FDA lowered the Daily Recommended Intake (DRI) from
400 to 200, based on a faulty 1984 study which found that 3,800 IU a day(13) produced toxic
symptoms like kidney stones and vomiting -- but the amount given parti-cipants was mistakenly
about 100 times higher, 380,000 IU! This one flawed study still rules, despite dozens of more
recent studies showing the 200 IU DRI is completely inadequate.(14) Think about it, how could
3,800 IU be toxic when a pale person sunbathing for 20 minutes midday in the summer makes
about 20,000 IU of vitamin D? (15)
Food can’t provide enough D. For instance, to get 2000 IU per day from food you would need
6 servings of salmon, or 10 servings of tuna, or 20 glasses of fortified milk every day.(16)
School food only provides 100 to 200 IU a day. Therefore it’s up to parents to insure their
children get enough D. Note that vitamin D3 is more effective than vitamin D2. D3 is made from
fish liver oil, or lanolin (which has no fishy taste; it’s usually a powder inside a capsule so parents
can pull apart the capsule and mix the powder into food).
Keep in mind that D supplementation calls for sufficient dietary calcium and magnesium, which
are easily provided by greens (chard, kale, spinach), nuts, and milk products. Anyone with liver
or kidney disease, or sarcoidosis, needs medical supervision.(17)
Affordable Home Test
If you want to know your, or your child’s, current blood level of D, the 25-OH-D test will tell
you. Doctors are becoming aware of the importance of vitamin D and are willing to order a test,
especially for people over 50. This reliable $65 home ‘blood spot’ D test hurts no more than
pulling a splinter. At GrassrootsHealth.org click on the Order Now button. There is a sample
of the questionnaire at the bottom of the page (everyone who gets their test here is part of a study).
Why Are So Many People Deficient?
Americans eat less fish than ever, we work and play inside more than ever, use sunscreen, weigh
more (excess body fat sequesters D), and no longer take supplements like cod liver oil. Plus, we
cannot make D during the winter because the earth’s tilt means sunlight travels through the
atmosphere at an oblique angle; since it’s a longer path, the ultraviolet-B rays are absorbed by
the atmosphere before reaching us.
North of the 34th latitude (Los Angeles, Atlanta), we can’t make D from sunlight from October
to March. By February most people have used up their reserves, which is why “flu season”(18)
happens then. Even in spring, summer and fall, we only produce D when the sun is directly
overhead (between 11 and 1), i.e. when your shadow is shorter than you are.
Not Just for Flu
Vitamin D is needed by every cell in the body and is actually not a vitamin but a hormone.
Here is a list of health problems which research finds related to D deficiency: acne, asthma,
arthritis, cancer, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart disease, high blood pressure, MS, muscle weakness,
obesity, osteoporosis, TB, tooth decay, ADD, autism, depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and
Parkinson’s.(19) The brain uses a lot of vitamin D, so the cheapest way for schools to close the
Achievement Gap is to ensure that students of color get enough D supplements to compensate
for their melanin blocking UVB rays.
Citations
1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-soram-khalsa/vitamin-d-for-swine-flu-p_b_310235.html
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19491064
3. http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/vitamin-d-deficiency-bad-for-the-heart-bones-and-rest-of-the-body
4. http://www.samaylive.com/news/researchers-stress-importance-of-vitamin-d/648384.html
5. http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/15359
6. http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13640740
7. http://www.sciencecodex.com/increasing_number_of_americans_have_insufficient_levels_of_vitamin_d
8. This is Kaiser’s current 25-OH-D standard.
9. http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/deficiency/am-i-vitamin-d-deficient.shtml
10. http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Doctors-advise-more-vitamin-D-for-infants
11. http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=08-P13-00044&segmentID=4
12. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/85/3/649
13. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/11180df8-beaa-11de-b4ab-00144feab49a.html
14. http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/researchRequirements.shtml
15. http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller25.html
16. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-frank-lipman/vitamin-d-what-you-need-t_b_308973.html
17. http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamindmiracle.html
18. http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Nutrition/Vitamins/270820090705_canada_looks_at_vitamin_d_for_swine_flu_protection.html
19. http://alt-health.weebly.com/d.html
Fighting the Flu with Vitamin D
Your family deserves this powerful, natural protection!
New research shows that vitamin D helps prevent flu.(1) Bureaucracies change slowly, however,
so it will be years before California and federal public health agencies, such as the CDC, alert the
public. You don’t have to wait!
Emory University scientists recently examined D studies and concluded that D not only prevents but
treats flu.(2) The Harvard Heart Letter (November 2009) reports, “Having enough D in circulation
can help the body fight off the flu, tuberculosis, and infections of the upper respiratory tract.”(3)
A newly discovered immune system, different from the immunity we get from vaccines, requires
ample vitamin D to function, according to University of Oregon researchers.(4)
Latinos, African Americans Especially Low in D
Overall, only 3 out of 10 American children have enough vitamin D.(5) Even worse, only 2 of 10
Latino children, and only 1 out of 10 African American children have adequate D-- because melanin
in the skin blocks the ultraviolet B rays which make Vitamin D.(6)
It’s shocking -- in just 10 years, the average blood serum level of D in Americans went from low to
lower, that is, from 30 to 24 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter).(7) For comparison, Kaiser Permanente
aims for blood levels ranging from 40 to 70 ng/mL.(8) Farmers and lifeguards are the gold standard
because they make D from sunlight (meaning they make what they actually need) and typically have
100 ng/mL.
Doctors Advise Supplementation
Dr. John Cannell advises parents to provide children at least 1,000 IU per 25 pounds of body
weight each day (for example, a 75-pound child would need 3000 IU).(9) Dr. C.L. Wagner
recommends 6,4000 IU for nursing mothers in order for enough D to spill over into breast milk.(10)
Dr. Douglass Bibuld at the Community Health Center in Boston prescribes as much as 7000 IU
a day for adults with low blood levels.(11) Experts say the largest safe amount is 10,000 IU a day.(12)
Compare these multi-thousand IU dosages to the miniscule FDA standard of 200 IU a day for both
children and adults! Amazingly, in 1997 the FDA lowered the Daily Recommended Intake (DRI) from
400 to 200, based on a faulty 1984 study which found that 3,800 IU a day(13) produced toxic
symptoms like kidney stones and vomiting -- but the amount given parti-cipants was mistakenly
about 100 times higher, 380,000 IU! This one flawed study still rules, despite dozens of more
recent studies showing the 200 IU DRI is completely inadequate.(14) Think about it, how could
3,800 IU be toxic when a pale person sunbathing for 20 minutes midday in the summer makes
about 20,000 IU of vitamin D? (15)
Food can’t provide enough D. For instance, to get 2000 IU per day from food you would need
6 servings of salmon, or 10 servings of tuna, or 20 glasses of fortified milk every day.(16)
School food only provides 100 to 200 IU a day. Therefore it’s up to parents to insure their
children get enough D. Note that vitamin D3 is more effective than vitamin D2. D3 is made from
fish liver oil, or lanolin (which has no fishy taste; it’s usually a powder inside a capsule so parents
can pull apart the capsule and mix the powder into food).
Keep in mind that D supplementation calls for sufficient dietary calcium and magnesium, which
are easily provided by greens (chard, kale, spinach), nuts, and milk products. Anyone with liver
or kidney disease, or sarcoidosis, needs medical supervision.(17)
Affordable Home Test
If you want to know your, or your child’s, current blood level of D, the 25-OH-D test will tell
you. Doctors are becoming aware of the importance of vitamin D and are willing to order a test,
especially for people over 50. This reliable $65 home ‘blood spot’ D test hurts no more than
pulling a splinter. At GrassrootsHealth.org click on the Order Now button. There is a sample
of the questionnaire at the bottom of the page (everyone who gets their test here is part of a study).
Why Are So Many People Deficient?
Americans eat less fish than ever, we work and play inside more than ever, use sunscreen, weigh
more (excess body fat sequesters D), and no longer take supplements like cod liver oil. Plus, we
cannot make D during the winter because the earth’s tilt means sunlight travels through the
atmosphere at an oblique angle; since it’s a longer path, the ultraviolet-B rays are absorbed by
the atmosphere before reaching us.
North of the 34th latitude (Los Angeles, Atlanta), we can’t make D from sunlight from October
to March. By February most people have used up their reserves, which is why “flu season”(18)
happens then. Even in spring, summer and fall, we only produce D when the sun is directly
overhead (between 11 and 1), i.e. when your shadow is shorter than you are.
Not Just for Flu
Vitamin D is needed by every cell in the body and is actually not a vitamin but a hormone.
Here is a list of health problems which research finds related to D deficiency: acne, asthma,
arthritis, cancer, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart disease, high blood pressure, MS, muscle weakness,
obesity, osteoporosis, TB, tooth decay, ADD, autism, depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and
Parkinson’s.(19) The brain uses a lot of vitamin D, so the cheapest way for schools to close the
Achievement Gap is to ensure that students of color get enough D supplements to compensate
for their melanin blocking UVB rays.
Citations
1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-soram-khalsa/vitamin-d-for-swine-flu-p_b_310235.html
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19491064
3. http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/vitamin-d-deficiency-bad-for-the-heart-bones-and-rest-of-the-body
4. http://www.samaylive.com/news/researchers-stress-importance-of-vitamin-d/648384.html
5. http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/15359
6. http://www.contracostatimes.com/nation-world/ci_13640740
7. http://www.sciencecodex.com/increasing_number_of_americans_have_insufficient_levels_of_vitamin_d
8. This is Kaiser’s current 25-OH-D standard.
9. http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/deficiency/am-i-vitamin-d-deficient.shtml
10. http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Doctors-advise-more-vitamin-D-for-infants
11. http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=08-P13-00044&segmentID=4
12. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/85/3/649
13. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/11180df8-beaa-11de-b4ab-00144feab49a.html
14. http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/researchRequirements.shtml
15. http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller25.html
16. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-frank-lipman/vitamin-d-what-you-need-t_b_308973.html
17. http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamindmiracle.html
18. http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Nutrition/Vitamins/270820090705_canada_looks_at_vitamin_d_for_swine_flu_protection.html
19. http://alt-health.weebly.com/d.html