Vitamin D: A Supplement That Might Save Your Life

As the Delta variant marches relentlessly across America, it's a grim reminder the battle against COVID-19 is far from over. Deaths, cases and hospitalizations are spiking.  It feels like the bad old days of last year. Vaccines are promising, but a few scientists warn the virus may hang around for years.   

In the face of the Delta surge, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advocates the same risk mitigation strategy it prescribed last year: masks, isolation, social distancing.  There are legitimate debates about how well those measures worked during the height of COVID. Certainly, it saved lives.  

Yet an argument could be made the protocols only temporarily "flattened the curve" while the virus persisted. Without vaccines, the COVID scourge would be roaring. Additional ammunition is available, but the CDC is loathe to recommend a common supplement to boost our immune systems.

What's this not-so-secret weapon? Vitamin D, a plausible candidate for countering the immune impairment common with COVID. Vitamin D enhances production of antimicrobial betides by immune cells, reducing damaging cytokines.  Got that?  Here's an explanation from the Cleveland Clinic:

Vitamin D is one of many vitamins our bodies need to stay healthy. Getting enough Vitamin D may also protect people against certain conditions and possibly help treat them.  These conditions include infections and immune system disorders, as well as heart disease and high blood pressure and diabetes. 

As early as November of last year, Scientific Reports published a study that found 32.9% of COVID patients with asymptomatic cases were vitamin D deficient. More compelling, 96.8% of those patients admitted to the ICU unit were vitamin D deficient.  This research is dismissed by the CDC.

Here are a few additional studies cited by the Mayo Clinic on its website:

• One study of 489 people found that those who had a Vitamin D deficiency were more likely to test positive for the virus than people with normal levels of Vitamin D.
• A small randomized study discovered that of 50 people hospitalized with COVID, who were given a high dose of a type of Vitamin D, only one needed treatment in intensive care.
• Vitamin D deficiency is common, particularly among Hispanic and African-Americans.  Both groups have been disproportionately affected by COVID, Mayo points out.   

Like many American medical organizations, Mayo Clinic adds the following caveat: "Further research is needed to determine what role, if any, vitamin D deficiency might play in the prevention of and treatment of COVID-19." Vitamin D hesitancy eclipses vaccine hesitancy in this country.

No credible scientist has ever denied there is a linkage between vitamin D deficiency and COVID infections. But they still demand more research be conducted. However, there are dozens of existing studies; many conducted overseas in England, France, India, Spain, Australia and other countries.

In a six-week study by the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in India, researchers discovered vitamin D deficiency "markedly increases the chance of having severe disease after infection" with COVID.  It concluded  the "intensity of inflammatory responses is also higher" in the deficient group.   

By one count, there have been 87 studies by 784 scientists, according to Dr. Joseph Mercola, an osteopathic physician and award-winning natural health expert.  Most readers likely have never heard about the research because the media, prompted by health officials, scoffs at the studies.

An  analysis published in June in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation reviewed 13 studies involving 2,933 COVID-19 patients. The meta data revealed COVID patients treated with high dosages of vitamin D fared better.  ICU admissions and deaths were reduced, too. 

Public health officials in England and France are convinced of the value of vitamin D in the war against COVID.  The French National Academy of Medicine in May of last year, suggested vitamin D was a "simple and inexpensive" measure to bolster immune systems during the COVID wave.

The academy went a step further, assuring its populace that the French National Health Insurance would reimburse them for vitamin D supplements.  The United Kingdom's National Health Service has offered free vitamin supplements to people at high risk for the virus.

Why the stubbornness in America over vitamin D?  The scientific industry, backed by big pharmaceutical firms, are parochial, preferring home-grown, large scale, expensive studies over smaller ones. Big Pharma's invested in drugs, thus has no interest in promoting less costly supplements.

In their defense, scientists and health officials claim they are against nutritional supplements because they fear incorrect usage and the poor quality of some products. But there has been enough research that mainstream physicians are now recommending safe supplements for many health issues.

The Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicines recommends a minimum of 600 and a maximum of 4,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily for Americans, ranging in age from 9-to-70 years old.  

The good news is vitamin D sources are readily available to everyone. They include:

• Being exposed to the sun about 15-20 minutes three days a week.
• Through foods such as salmon, tuna, orange juice, yogurt, milk, egg yolks and cheese.
• Nutritional supplements, including vitamin D.

To be unequivocally transparent: No study exists confirming vitamin D prevents or cures COVID. Available vaccines are the best defense against the the virus, including the Delta variant.  However, data shows vitamin D deficient-patients fare worst if infected with the virus. That is indisputable.

Why hasn't the CDC recommended Americans boost their intake of vitamin D?  On its website, the CDC contends there isn't enough research. Yet the CDC, according to its director,  recommended masking for vaccinated people, based on one study of 469 cases in a single Massachusetts County.    

Even if the CDC asserts there is lack of evidence for a vitamin D recommendation, that's not the only reason. There is another agenda. The government simply doesn't trust the American public. They fear "dumb" average Joe's will skip the vaccine and rely only on vitamin D for protection. 

That's how the CDC and particularly Dr. Anthony Fauci have treated Americans since the beginning of the pandemic.  Instead of transparency, they parse every pronouncement, change directions with little explanation, confusing the public and sowing the seeds of distrust.

With honest messaging, the CDC should promote a three-pronged message, endorsing vaccines, risk mitigation protocols and the intake of vitamin D.  Ingesting vitamin D in recommended dosages will not harm people.  It may actually help avoid a catastrophic outcome in the event of a virus infection.

While the CDC cloaks itself in science, the government agency is ignoring the data about the connection of vitamin D deficiency and worst case scenarios for virus-infected people. Don't wait on the CDC. Talk to your primary care physician about vitamin D supplements today.