Posted on November 19th, 2008 by Craig Maltby, Editor
Vitamin D and immune health
More D. More D. That’s the mantra these days in the health world as more research is strongly suggesting 
that we’re not getting enough vitamin D.
A while back I attended a nutrition science conference in Virginia where a leading vitamin D researcher from Boston University presented the case that adults need much more than the RDA intake of 400 IUs of D each day. They need more like 1500 to 2000 a day, he said.
He talked about seeing 60 cases of rickets each year among Boston area kids coming into the BU medical center. Rickets in this day and age is like the mumps coming back. It shouldn’t be happening.
Research is showing that Vit. D plays a positive role in immune system function as well, as documented by researchers at the University of Iowa.
As stated in a report summary, “Vitamin D not only increases proteins involved in bacterial killing but also can dampen inflammation. Controlling inflammation through vitamin D is good because too much inflammation can cause problems such as sepsis and seems to contribute to autoimmune disease.”
Getting out into the sunlight for 20 minutes a day could go a long way in producing more vitamin D in the body. But many folks these days spend prime sun hours — between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the spring summer and fall – indoors. Bloggers, Facebookers and computer gamers are the worst offenders, I’m sure. A bad diet also doesn’t help.
So get outside and eat right.
