Vitamin D Beats C for Immune Health

[Islander]

July 25, 2010
By Carey Rossi

When you’re basking in the summer sun, preparing for flu season may be the last thing on your mind. But as it turns out, the time you spend soaking up healthy doses of the sunshine vitamin may be doing wonders for your immune system — as well as your tan. According to Japanese researchers, vitamin D (the supplemental kind, in this case) may be the boost your immune system needs to keep the flu bug away.

In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists from Jikei University School of Medicine made a case for testing the effects of vitamin D supplementation on immunity in clinical trials. They report that daily supplementation with vitamin D3 reduces the incidence of seasonal flu (influenza A) by over 40%.
The researchers concluded: “a cause and effect relationship has been established between the dietary intake of vitamin D and contribution to the normal function of the immune system and healthy inflammatory response, and maintenance of normal muscle function.”

How did they come to that conclusion? By studying 334 schoolchildren who took either 1,200 IU of vitamin D3 or a placebo daily for four months. During that time, the incidence of flu was 11% in the vitamin D3 group, compared to 19% in the placebo group, said the researchers. And if the children had low levels of vitamin D to begin with, they experienced more benefit as their flu incidence was reduced by 74%. What’s more: researchers noticed that asthmatic children in the vitamin D group had significantly less attacks.

The Canadian government has taken notice of vitamin D’s potential immune power. Last year, Canada’s Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed they would investigate vitamin D’s role in fighting against the flu. Unfortunately, it will take a few years for the results to surface. Until then, there’s no harm in supplementing your diet with vitamin D.

Source:
Urashima M. et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Published online ahead of print, doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.29094.

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