Vitamin D is a breath of fresh air for asthma sufferers

For years I’ve been singing the praises of vitamin D. And it’s earned a permanent spot on my “Desert Island” supplement list. With good reason. The research just keeps backing up its health benefits. So much so, even mainstream medicine finally admits this nutrient is essential to maintaining good health.

It’s just that powerful. Over the years I’ve explained how it curbs age-related mental decline, wards off heart disease, improves pregnancy outcomes, and more.

But one of the themes I keep coming back to is its impressive effects on respiratory health. Even back when I was writing my book The Allergy and Asthma Cure, it was clear to me that vitamin D could make a huge difference for asthma sufferers. Not only does it have an anti-inflammatory effect on the lungs, but it also fires up the body’s antimicrobial functions. And that’s why I made it a cornerstone of the plan that has helped countless people overcome their asthma.

Now another vitamin D study just came out — and once again, it offers a breath of fresh air to asthma sufferers.

The study reviewed the results of nine double-blind, placebo-controlled trials that involved a total of 435 children and 658 adults with mild to moderate asthma. Participants were given oral vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) for anywhere from four to 12 months, at a variety of doses. All of which were paltry if you ask me, but that’s just how modern medicine is. They’re so afraid of supplements that they use miniscule doses and then wonder why the outcomes weren’t better.

But even with those meager doses, vitamin D led to a significant decrease in the number of asthma attacks participants suffered. There was a 37 percent drop in the number of attacks requiring systemic corticosteroids. Even more impressive: Vitamin D reduced the number of hospitalizations and ER visits by 61 percent.

Of course, even with these results (which speak for themselves), the authors — who were from the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research at Queen Mary University of London — made it a point to warn against actually putting the findings into practice. “Caution is warranted in applying this evidence to clinical practice,” they wrote.

Really? Why? Vitamin D is absolutely safe. And it has been proven effective for myriad other conditions. So what is the excessive caution all about?

The only one that faces any hazards from increased vitamin D intake is Big Pharma.

The real risk is in under-prescribing vitamin D, not over-prescribing it. According to the review, about 1 billion people around the world have vitamin D levels below 30 ng/ml. That’s generally considered insufficient — and in my opinion it’s malpractice to allow patients to have such low levels. But that doesn’t mean it’s not rampant. In fact, I almost never see a patient who doesn’t need additional vitamin D.

No surprise, then, that a large number of the asthma sufferers in these studies had vitamin D levels in the 20 to 35 ng/ml range. In a small minority of participants, levels were below 10. Which, sadly, isn’t all that uncommon.

In an abundance of caution, the authors recommend 500 to 1,000 IU per day of D3. I say that’s way too low. But it makes sense, since mainstream medicine considers serum levels over 30 ng/ml to be sufficient. Sufficient? Maybe. But that’s a far cry from being optimal.

In my view, optimal levels of vitamin D — not only for respiratory health, but for all those other health considerations I mentioned earlier — are way higher than what mainstream medicine would have you believe. In my practice, I aim for vitamin D between 80 and 100 ng/ml. If you haven’t had your levels measured lately, ask your doctor to check them today. (You can also order your own vitamin D testing kit through a company called Direct Labs. Just visit their website at www.DirectLabs.com/OVH1. Or call 800-908-0000 and reference account code: R-OVH.)

To get there, you’ll likely need a substantial therapeutic dosage. I typically recommend between 5,000 and 10,000 IU per day. And remember to always take vitamin D3 — other forms just aren’t as effective. (And keep tabs on your levels by having them tested regularly.)

Of course, you can get even better results if you use the whole cure I outline in The Allergy and Asthma Cure. The foundation of the plan is vitamin D3, vitamin A, and Dr. Ohhira’s probiotics, as well as a yeast-free diet.

Ten Americans die from asthma each day, and thousands more are hospitalized because of it. It’s a serious disease, and it needs to be taken seriously. Luckily, this is one condition (of many) where a safe, natural approach can have a measurable impact.

Source:

Wiley. (2016, September 6). High quality evidence suggests Vitamin D can reduce asthma attacks. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 7, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160906085652.htm


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