Increased intakes of vitamin D may reduce the incidence of seasonal ‘flu, according to results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Japanese researchers report that daily supplements of vitamin D3 reduced the influence of seasonal ‘flu (influenza A) by over 40 per cent. Recently, Danish scientists reported that vitamin D is necessary to trigger T cells – the immune system’s killer cells – into action, and insufficient levels of the vitamin mean the cells remain dormant and inactive (Nature Immunology).
Three hundred and thirty four schoolchildren were recruited to participate in the study, and the children were randomly divided into two groups: One group received daily supplements of vitamin D3 (1200 International Units), while the other group received placebo. The diagnosis of influenza was performed by trained physicians. During the course of four months (December 2008 until March 2009), the incidence of ‘flu was 11 per cent in the vitamin D3 group, compared with 19 per cent in the placebo group, said the researchers. The benefits of vitamin D supplementation were even more noticeable in children who had low levels of vitamin D at the start of the study, with a 74 per cent reduction in the incidence of ‘flu observed. The researchers also noted benefits beyond ‘flu, with asthma attacks significantly reduced in asthmatic children in the vitamin D group, compared with asthmatic children in the placebo group.
Steve - I'll say it again. If this was a patentable prescription drug, governments and media around the world would push it as much as they do the flu vaccine. However, because vitamin D is cheap and unpatentable, we found this study obscurely hidden in Medscape.
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