Studies have shown that deficiencies in Vitamin D have a direct effect on the immune system. Your body’s vitamin D levels are at their lowest levels during winter time and the end result is a lowered immune system and increase in colds and flu.
If you can imagine that your body is a plant. A plant needs sunlight to create the photosynthesis process to thrive. Without the sunlight, the plant withers and dies. Our bodies are much the same. They need certain things to thrive, and Vitamin D is one of them. Dr. John Cannell MD, states that our Vitamin D levels are 1/3 of what they are in the summertime.
“All of epidemiology will be changed by this… The effect vitamin D has in preventing influenza and the common cold should not be over estimated. Especially with pandemic influenza.”
According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, to get more Vitamin D in our diets, the U.S. government created a fortification program to provide more sources of Vitamin D. Foods such as milk, orange juice and breakfast cereals were among those fortified, but it still is not enough for the human body to use to combat immune attackers.
Selected Food Sources of Vitamin D
| Food | IUs per serving* | Percent DV** |
|---|---|---|
| Cod liver oil, 1 tablespoon | 1,360 | 340 |
| Mushrooms, enriched with vitamin D, 3 ounces | 400 | 100 |
| Salmon, cooked, 3.5 ounces | 360 | 90 |
| Mackerel, cooked, 3.5 ounces | 345 | 86 |
| Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 1.75 ounces | 250 | 63 |
| Tuna fish, canned in oil, 3 ounces | 200 | 50 |
| Orange juice fortified with vitamin D, 1 cup (check product labels, as amount of added vitamin D varies) | 142 | 36 |
| Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D-fortified, 1 cup | 98 | 25 |
| Yogurt, fortified with 20% of the DV for vitamin D, 6 ounces (more heavily fortified yogurts provide more of the DV) | 80 | 20 |
| Margarine, fortified, 1 tablespoon | 60 | 15 |
| Ready-to-eat cereal, fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, 0.75-1 cup (more heavily fortified cereals might provide more of the DV) | 40 | 10 |
| Egg, 1 whole (vitamin D is found in yolk) | 20 | 5 |
| Liver, beef, cooked, 3.5 ounces | 15 | 4 |
| 12 | 3 |
They also go on to mention that if you take Vitamin D at high amounts for a longer period of time, “toxicity can occur and cause symptoms such as: nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness and weight loss. More seriously, it can also raise blood levels of calcium, causing mental status changes such as confusion and heart rhythm abnormalities.”
However, studies were shown stating that “excessive sun exposure does not result in vitamin D toxicity because the sustained heat on the skin is thought to photodegrade previtamin D3 and vitamin D3 as it is formed. High intakes of dietary vitamin D are very unlikely to result in toxicity unless large amounts of cod liver oil are consumed; toxicity is more likely to occur from high intakes of supplements.”
This article was originally published at Ready Nutrition™ on September 17th, 2009
Vitamin D very important, however this article is rather lacking in many respects.
First, cod liver oil contains about a 1/3 of the Vitamin D you claim it does. Carlson’s, which I take, only has 400 IU.
Second, the body will make 10,000 IU in 30-60 minutes of sun exposure. This is apparently the amount the body desires. Getting this amount from food is about impossible. Worries of overdose are highly exaggerated and would require 10-100 times what the body makes every day for months on end to cause toxicity. Deficiency treatments have been given in the 1,000,000 range (in one shot) and no symptoms of toxicity were observed.
Something else that must be mentioned is the balancing relationship between Vit D and Vit A. Increasing D alone can lead to an A deficiency. The body also requires adequate magnesium to make use of vit d.