In an internet news letter that I get regularly, I read about an article by John J. Cannell, MD. Dr. Cannell is a psychiatrist at Atascadero State Hospital in California. In 2005, an influenza ‘A’ epidemic broke out in the hospital and one by one, each ward became infected. Patients came down with chills, fever, cough, and severe body aches.
Only one ward remained free of infection: Dr. Cannell’s.
Why? His patients intermingled with patients from other wards. And they were not noticeably different in terms of age, health, or medical treatment.
The only difference? Dr. Cannell’s patients had been receiving a daily dose of 2,000 IU of vitamin D for several months. That’s it. All his patients took vitamin D. And not one caught the flu!
Dr. Cannell’s research then led him to some remarkable discoveries… including one about the effectiveness of vitamin D as a potent antibiotic and antiviral. Vitamin D boosts the body’s production of antimicrobial peptides. This class of proteins quickly destroys the cell walls of bacteria, viruses (including influenza), and fungi. They also keep the lungs free from infection.
But that’s not all. While vitamin D destroys flu-causing viruses, it simultaneously performs another life-saving function. It prevents the immune system from producing a dangerous amount of inflammatory chemicals (cytokines) that attack sensitive respiratory membranes. Cytokines are an important part of your immune system. But in severe cases of the flu, their production spirals out of control, causing high fever and extreme fatigue. In fact, in most cases, this “cytokine storm” is the actual cause of death .
Vitamin D can be taken as a supplement. But the best source of vitamin D is moderate and consistent sun exposure.
According to Dr. Al Sears, Chairman of the Board of A dvisors for Total Health Breakthroughs, sun exposure :
• Increases the number of disease-fighting white blood cells in the body.
• Increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. This helps fight cancer and stimulate immunity.
• Moderates and down-regulates your immune response. (It is the over-activity of the immune system that is responsible for autoimmune diseases.)
It is an established fact that most of us are deficient in vitamin D. Says Dr. Sears, “Vitamin D deficiency is truly reaching a crisis. One recent study suggests that more than 1 billion people worldwide are deficient in this vital nutrient.”
There is absolutely no doubt that sunlight is the best source of vitamin D. But most people cannot get enough from sun exposure alone. Our lifestyle and work schedule does not allow us to spend enough time in the sun.
This means most people should be supplementing with vitamin D.
If you do you will be one step ahead of the ‘Flu’.