Boost Immunity Naturally with Vitamin D

One of the most important supplements we can take to help prevent seasonal flu and colds is Vitamin D.   Vitamin D has a remarkable role to play in your health, influencing nearly 3,000 of your 25,000 genes, and playing a critical role in your immune response -- a role far superior to the synthetic (and often harmful) immune responses that vaccines elicit. Vitamin D could rightly be described as a “miracle nutrient” for your immune system, as it enables your body to produce well over 200 antimicrobial peptides, which are indispensable in fighting off a wide range of infections.

Dr. Joe Prendergast, M.D., is one of a growing number of experts who are recognizing the phenomenal health importance Vitamin D.  In the above video, Dr. Pendergast explains that in many ways, Vitamin D is more powerful than any vaccine you could take.

Dr. Pendergast cites a study by German researchers, who have found that Vitamin D increases your immune function by a factor of 3 to 5, while dramatically stimulating the production of potent anti-microbial peptides. 

In addition, ultraviolet radiation exposure from the sun, which stimulates the production of Vitamin D (the sunshine vitamin) in your skin, has been shown to reduce the incidence of viral respiratory infections, along with a wide range other health conditions.

You may find it surprising that Vitamin D is so important for your health, especially if you’re still under the impression that it’s mostly a nutrient for your bones. Most people also think that Vitamin D is really a vitamin, but in reality, the active form of Vitamin D is one of the most potent hormones in your body, and regulates more genes and bodily functions than any other hormone yet discovered. Vitamin D is produced as a pro-hormone in your skin after sunlight exposure, and is then converted to the potent hormone form.  A serious cost-benefit analysis of the vaccine-based model of so-called “disease prevention” must take into account that our body's immune system is already hard-wired to fight off infectious organisms naturally, assuming an adequate supply of vitamin D, and other key nutrients, is available. Instead of viewing our bodies as essentially helpless without the synthetic immunity provided by vaccines, we must acknowledge that for countless eons our ancestors did quite well with good nutrition, sunlight and fresh air as the sole means of supporting immunity.

From a recent Oregon State University press release:

A new study has concluded that one key part of the immune system, the ability of Vitamin D to regulate anti-bactericidal proteins, is so important that it has been conserved through almost 60 million years of evolution and is shared only by primates, including humans – but no other known animal species.The fact that this Vitamin-D mediated immune response has been retained through millions of years of evolutionary selection, and is still found in species ranging from squirrel monkeys to baboons and humans, suggests that it must be critical to their survival, researchers say.  Even though the "cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide" has several different biological activities in addition to killing pathogens, it's not clear which one, or combination of them, makes vitamin D so essential to its regulation.The research also provides further evidence of the biological importance of adequate levels of Vitamin D in humans and other primates, even as some studies and experts suggest that more than 50 percent of the children and adults in the U.S. are deficient in "the sunshine vitamin."

"The existence and importance of this part of our immune response makes it clear that humans and other primates need to maintain sufficient levels of vitamin D," said Adrian Gombart, an associate professor of biochemistry and a principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

Research published by Grassroots Health from the D*Action study shows the average adult needs to take 8,000 IU's of vitamin D per day in order to elevate their levels above 40 ng/ml, which they believe is the absolute minimum for disease prevention.  

In 2010,  a Japanese study showed that school children taking vitamin D3 supplements were 58 percent less likely to catch influenza A. That's a higher effectiveness than any flu vaccine can claim, and doesn't come with a barrage of potentially devastating side effects.

Overall, your best defense against any disease is a robust immune system, which vaccines can compromise. So supporting your immune system should always be at the top of your list, and vitamin D is one crucial component of this.