Vitamin D, flu and the common cold.
Vitamin D is antiviral and antibiotic.
It up regulates production of antimicrobial peptides - the bodies own natural antibiotics.
These are called cathlecedins or defensins.
When a virus or bacteria enters the body, these antimicrobial peptides puncture a hole
in the lipoprotein (the coating) of the virus or bacteria rendering it useless to attack the system.
Generally we all think that colds and flus are more common in the wintertime
because there are more bugs around and that we tend to congregate indoors more.
The fact is that by September and October we are making less and less vitamin D in our skin.
As the sun recedes lower in the sky, the shorter UVB rays cannot penetrate the ozone.
By November and December, the supply of vitamin D is dwindling leaving us more vulnerable
to a myriad of winter bugs. In March and April, unless we have been able to go to a sunny climate,
or have been taking supplements throughout the winter, our vitamin D levels will have dropped to their lowest.
Vitamin D is so multi functional in the body that researchers are finding new links to its
functions all the time. There has not been much interest in furthering or funding research into vitamin D
because it is a natural substance and costs very little to extract and put in a pill.
Pharmaceutical companies have no interest in funding research into something
that they would be unable to patent and profit from.
We are lucky that independent researchers have done the research and we are now seeing the dramatic results.
