Posted on 02/05/2022 7:36:01 PM PST by Enlightened1
Israel scientists say they have gathered the most convincing evidence to date that increased vitamin D levels can help COVID-19 patients reduce the risk of serious illness or death.
Researchers from Bar Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Center say that the vitamin has such a strong impact on disease severity that they can predict how people would fare if infected based on nothing more than their ages and vitamin D levels.
Lacking vitamin D significantly increases danger levels, they concluded in newly peer-reviewed research published Thursday in the journal PLOS One.
The study is based on research conducted during Israel’s first two waves of the virus, before vaccines were widely available, and doctors emphasized that vitamin supplements were not a substitute for vaccines, but rather a way to keep immunity levels from falling.
Vitamin D deficiency is endemic across the Middle East, including in Israel, where nearly four in five people are low on the vitamin, according to one study from 2011. By taking supplements before infection, though, the researchers in the new Israeli study found that patients could avoid the worst effects of the disease.
“We found it remarkable, and striking, to see the difference in the chances of becoming a severe patient when you are lacking in vitamin D compared to when you’re not,” said Dr. Amiel Dror, a Galilee Medical Center physician and Bar Ilan researcher who was part of the team behind the study.
He noted that his study was conducted pre-Omicron, but said that the coronavirus doesn’t change fundamentally enough between variants to negate vitamin D effectiveness.
“What we’re seeing when vitamin D helps people with COVID infections is a result of its effectiveness in bolstering the immune systems to deal with viral pathogens that attack the respiratory system,”
Exactly. The older you get, the more important to get your D3 levels checked and to take some D3 supplements. Minimum 5000 units daily in my book. Older people are fools to just rely on sunlight for their D3. As you say, they become less able to “convert” sunlight to D3 on the skin.
Obese people should be taking massive D3 supplementation due to the fat soluble D3 vitamin getting stored /locked up in their blubber. Meaning their D3 cannot be mobilized and sent where it is needed. Such as warding off a freakin virus!
Same here. Along with Quercitin.
When are they going to come out with D-4? How are we going to play 4D chess with just D-3?
Good stuff
Yeah! And that 10000 iu D3 is only $12 at Amazonk, Walmart etc.
That is because there is a huge difference between getting D from sunlight as opposed to supplements. One cannot OD from sun exposure, which I chalk up to God’s incredible design. However, it is possible (although one would have to take a lot) to get too much vitamin D from supplements.
It was not an assumption on my part, idiotic or otherwise.
“When are they going to come out with D-4? How are we going to play 4D chess with just D-3?”
Why don’t catfish have kittens?
(not original.. borrowed it from a 3 Stooges short)
Boo yah!
That’s a good question, but it depends on the person. People who have been found to have extremely low levels of D have to take massive doses to get to the normal range. Dark skinned people absorb less D from the sun than others, ditto for obese people. We don’t get as much in the winter, especially in the northern regions. Dermatologists have been nagging us for years to stay out of the sun, and that matters.
This article is helpful:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-vitamin-d-to-take#How-much-vitamin-D-should-you-take?
“The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends an average daily intake of 400–800 IU, or 10–20 micrograms (22Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source).
However, some studies find that the daily intake needs to be higher if you aren’t being exposed to the sun or have darker skin tones.
Depending on who you ask, blood levels above 20 ng/ml or 30 ng/ml are considered as “sufficient.”
One study involving healthy adults showed that a daily intake of 1,120–1,680 IU was needed to maintain sufficient blood levels (23Trusted Source, 24Trusted Source).
In the same study, individuals who were vitamin D deficient needed 5,000 IU to reach blood levels above 30 ng/ml.
Studies in postmenopausal women with vitamin D levels below 20 ng/ml found that ingesting 800–2,000 IU raised blood levels above 20 ng/ml. However, higher doses were needed to reach 30 ng/ml (25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source).
People who are overweight or have obesity may also need higher amounts of vitamin D (27Trusted Source, 28Trusted Source).
All things considered, a daily vitamin D intake of 1,000–4,000 IU, or 25–100 micrograms, should be enough to ensure optimal blood levels in most people.”
As an aside, my dad was a veterinarian and would sometimes see puppies who suffered the effects of lack of vitamin D because the owners mistakenly thought they should be kept inside. Puppies need sunlight, too.
One cannot OD from sun exposure
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In Israel, people measured kidney stones among lifeguards. They produced vitamin d through sun exposure. The higher the vitamin d a person had, the more kidney stones.
Just got my bloodwork results 51%, but I do take D2 as a supplement.
it is possible (although one would have to take a lot) to get too much vitamin D from supplements.
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Excess vitamind d reduces gamma tocopherol.
People with a low level of gamma tocopherol are more likely to have heart and prostate problems.
There are no long term studies about how much vitamin d one can take without creating a deficiency of gamma tocopherol.
Its completely idiotic. And you know it. The stats kept on people having problems from vitamins is near zero, every year. More people have issues with doctor prescribed meds harming them, even with being taken as directed. As well as taking otc meds like aspirin or tylenol or advil.
Health problems from overtaking vitamins in comparison are essentially non existent, year after year.
Really? That is interesting. It’s always difficult, though, to separate any confounders in something like this. People are not lab rats in controlled conditions, so what else might have affected their propensity to develop kidney stones?
Thanks again. I did not know about that, either.
I agree that meds, prescribed and OTC, cause many more problems than vitamins and supplements, but the problem does exist. Some people taking massive doses of certain B vitamins, for example, can develop nerve and muscular pain among other things.
Another example:
https://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20170822/do-common-vitamins-raise-lung-cancer-risk
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