Coughs and sneezes spread diseases but vitamin D might help protect you this winter.
It is well known that vitamin D plays an important role in keeping your bones strong and health but did you know it may also be essential for maintaining your immune system? Scientists have discovered that deficiency is associated with autoimmune diseases and can make you more vulnerable to infections. And research has even shown that the number of cases of influenza rise in the winter when vitamin D levels are at their lowest 1. So, could more vitamin D help prevent a runny nose this season?
Vitamin D has been described as a "prohormone" and is unique as it can be both ingested, from foods such as oily fish and eggs, and synthesised by our body. Our recent blog post (The UK's Vitamin D 'Epidemic') talked about vitamin D2 synthesis when the skin is exposed to sunlight, and the lifestyle changes that have lead to the UK, as a nation, becoming vitamin D deficient. However, as winter closes in - and the warm coats make their annual decent from boxes hidden in attics and appear from the back of wardrobes - the chance to synthesise vitamin D this year, in the UK at least, has passed. Between the months of October and March the sun's rays are too weak at our latitude to allow the skin to produce this vitamin and we must rely on the vitamin D that occurs naturally in foods, that is added to fortified milk, cheese and yoghurt or that comes in the form of supplements to maintain sufficient levels. But how exactly might vitamin D help you fight off those winter sniffles? We investigate why this vitamin is important for our immune system and look at what you can do to help keep your levels up until the sun comes back next year.
The research all suggests that having adequate levels of vitamin D is important to keep you fit and healthy this winter, and whilst using vitamins to fight infection may sound a little "new age" vitamin D has been used to treat infections since before antibiotics were invented - a report from 1849 described the use of cod liver oil, which is a good source of this vitamin, to treat patients with tuberculosis 5. So this winter when you wrap up to protect your self from the cold outside, consider taking vitamin D supplements to help boost your immune system and help it protect you form the inside.
1. Cannell JJ, 2004
2. Aranow C, 2011
3. Chandra G, 2004
4. Adorini L, 2005
5. Williams C, 1849
At StratifiedHealth we want to help you work towards the best health possible, by treating people as individuals and helping them to analyse, understand and manage their health we are working towards a healthier nation. We are busy getting our website up an running were we will be helping you to assess and take control of aspects of your health. If you would like to know more, or be the first to know when the website is live, follow @StratHealth or sign up to our newsletter...
Beckie Port | Tuesday 5 November 2013
It is well known that vitamin D plays an important role in keeping your bones strong and health but did you know it may also be essential for maintaining your immune system? Scientists have discovered that deficiency is associated with autoimmune diseases and can make you more vulnerable to infections. And research has even shown that the number of cases of influenza rise in the winter when vitamin D levels are at their lowest 1. So, could more vitamin D help prevent a runny nose this season?
Vitamin D has been described as a "prohormone" and is unique as it can be both ingested, from foods such as oily fish and eggs, and synthesised by our body. Our recent blog post (The UK's Vitamin D 'Epidemic') talked about vitamin D2 synthesis when the skin is exposed to sunlight, and the lifestyle changes that have lead to the UK, as a nation, becoming vitamin D deficient. However, as winter closes in - and the warm coats make their annual decent from boxes hidden in attics and appear from the back of wardrobes - the chance to synthesise vitamin D this year, in the UK at least, has passed. Between the months of October and March the sun's rays are too weak at our latitude to allow the skin to produce this vitamin and we must rely on the vitamin D that occurs naturally in foods, that is added to fortified milk, cheese and yoghurt or that comes in the form of supplements to maintain sufficient levels. But how exactly might vitamin D help you fight off those winter sniffles? We investigate why this vitamin is important for our immune system and look at what you can do to help keep your levels up until the sun comes back next year.
The research all suggests that having adequate levels of vitamin D is important to keep you fit and healthy this winter, and whilst using vitamins to fight infection may sound a little "new age" vitamin D has been used to treat infections since before antibiotics were invented - a report from 1849 described the use of cod liver oil, which is a good source of this vitamin, to treat patients with tuberculosis 5. So this winter when you wrap up to protect your self from the cold outside, consider taking vitamin D supplements to help boost your immune system and help it protect you form the inside.
1. Cannell JJ, 2004
2. Aranow C, 2011
3. Chandra G, 2004
4. Adorini L, 2005
5. Williams C, 1849
At StratifiedHealth we want to help you work towards the best health possible, by treating people as individuals and helping them to analyse, understand and manage their health we are working towards a healthier nation. We are busy getting our website up an running were we will be helping you to assess and take control of aspects of your health. If you would like to know more, or be the first to know when the website is live, follow @StratHealth or sign up to our newsletter...