Tag Archives: vitamin d

Treating a cold

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I hate going to the doctor, particularly for an illness like a cold that normally falls short of needing prescription medication. One thing I do on my own is to take some vitamin D3 when I first feel cold symptoms coming on. It’s a powerful immune system booster, even better than vit C. You can take up to 50,000 IU per day for a few days, or, better yet, get out in the sun, provided it’s not winter or overcast.

Another important thing to do is to stay hydrated. With a runny nose and coughing up lots of phlegm, it’s easy to get dehydrated. Water will help keep the mucus thin, which in turn helps prevent stagnation and infection.

For a sore throat, I’ve also found zinc lozenges to be effective about half the time.

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Health-related risk management

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As with all health and diet issues, when assessing risk and determining trade-offs, it’s best to look at the whole picture, rather than just one narrow piece.  For example, consider the risk of contaminated raw milk.  In the event that something bad happens, the resulting conditions should be quickly diagnosable and readily curable with antibiotics.  However, the same is not true for the more serious conditions that raw milk may help you avoid, such as heart disease or immune system dysfunction.

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Seasonality of Influenza

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On the subject of the seasonality of influenza, here’s an interesting chart that shows the seasonality of Vit D levels and the correlation with the flu season.  The chart is from the following article:

http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/44680902.html

Note, however, that the 30 ng/mL that it calls “optimal” is now considered much too low (Dr Joe Prendergast recommends a target range of 100 to 200 ng/mL).

Vitamin D and the flu

Getting enough Vitamin D

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Dr John Cannell at the Vitamin D Council did a thorough review of the literature and found that 10,000 IU of Vit D3 is safe for long-term supplementation.  The skin can make that much Vit D after a relatively short exposure to the sun (well before it turns pink). In some parts of the world (such as the UK), local atmospheric conditions absorb significant amounts of UV light, so even being outside in the sun isn’t a guarantee of having enough Vit D.

It’s not uncommon these days for people to need one to three months of 50,000 IU/day to get their levels corrected.  Always take Vit D3, not D2, and take it in the morning.  Bio-Tech is a good brand; they are a high-quality manufacturer.  I’ve used them for years, and have followed-up with lab tests to verify levels, with excellent results.

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