I have just returned from a fantastic conference by the Institute for Functional Medicine in Atlanta. The conference was on Immunology so apropos for the aggressive cold and flu season we are having this year! I wore a personal air purifier and took extra doses of Vit C and D before the plane ride home!
It got me thinking how the beautiful sunny days in Colorado (like the beautiful ski day in Steamboat with my family!) still do not give us enough Vitamin D. We all should supplement with 3000 IU of vitamin D in the winter months. Remember to take with food! Vitamin D is fat soluble and needs fat to be absorbed into the bloodstream.
Vitamin D is an important player in our immune response. Some hypothesize that the reason for increase in colds and flu in the winter months is the relative lack of Vitamin D and our weakened immune system as a result.
In 2014, Delvin et al summarized the literature about the importance of Vit D and about how deficiency in this vitamin plays in the development of Immune and Autoimmune diseases. Consider getting your 25 hydroxy Vit D level checked. Levels should be between 45 and 60.
Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 2014 Aug;51(4):232-47. doi: 10.3109/10408363.2014.901291. Epub 2014 May 9
I know people who take 10,000 IU of Vitamin D each day. Is this OK? Also, must one take Vitamin D every day to get the wanted effect?
We honestly do not know at this time what is “toxic” in terms of Vitamin D. With the data we have to date, 5000 IU is the max dosage recommended for all comers on a daily basis. That said, if your level is <20, you will need to take higher doses for a few months to raise this number to 40-50 range. Ask your physician to recheck your level. And remember to take Vitamin D with food. It is a fat soluble vitamin and needs fat to be absorbed properly.
And yes, daily dosing is the way to go!
I just finished an article in British Medical Journal 2017 systematic review of 25 randomized controlled trials involving 11,000 people which showed reduced risk of acute respiratory infections in those supplementing with Vitamin D. Those taking it DAILY had the most benefit!