VITAMIN D and Zinc and how it can help you fight viruses.

Many of us don’t know that Vitamin D is also a vital part of our immune defence system and most of us in the UK are pretty low on it, particularly at this time of year (December) when we need it most for our immune system and just how much it can help with upper respiratory tract infections like coughs and colds.

I know from all the work I’ve done in the past few years in relation to Osteoporosis that the health recommendation is that we should all be taking 400 IU or 10 mcg of Vitamin D via supplements from October to March..but do you? And is that enough? From what I have been reading the past week or so, it appears not nearly enough. The recommended doseage is really just to stop you getting rickets! It does not take into account the huge boost we can give our immune system, consequently I have been upping my dosage quite a bit..why?? Read on, then make your own decision - check, check and check again before you decide what is best for you.

The Daily Telegraph ran a piece that suggested that the use of Vitamin D reduced the number of patients needing admission to intensive care units (ICU) for Covid-19 considerably back in early 2020.

A small study in Spain backed this up, they gave a group of patients a fast acting form of Vitamin D and only 2% of the group required ICU admittance compared to 50% admissions from the control group. This was all in the early days of this pandemic.

B Cells and T Cells

We have an amazing immune system to help us deal with nasty bugs and part of it are B cells and T cells. I would guess that most of us know this. B cells produce antibodies to fight off infection, they are antibody factories. So, a vaccine is taking advantage of that system, introduces the virus so we then produce the antibodies ready for the real thing should we catch it.
T cells have 3 functions, 1, help the B cells, 2 kill off viruses and 3 – Memory T cells, these recognise past infections and are on the case the minute it rears its ugly head, recognises it from before and zaps it PDQ.

But from all my swotting up on this, it is their ability to kill off viruses that really made me think about my own Vit. D levels and do something about them. You could argue that T cells are actually more important than B cells in the fight against Covid-19 as they do such a good job at killing viruses.

Where does Vitamin D fit in with this?

– because if you are low in Vitamin D, you are hampering the ability of the T cells to do their amazing job of killing viruses.

Vitamin D is essential to the production of T cells… T cells do nothing unless activated by Vitamin D.

T cells are like raw army recruits, they are just basic cells, when they are exposed to a foreign pathogen (anything that could cause disease) it sends out a vitamin D receptor that searches for vitamin D – if it doesn’t find it, it can’t do anything, so low Vitamin D levels means they cannot mobilise and do their job..you’ve just lost the battle and maybe the war! These play a vital part particularly in protecting us from winter cold and flu viruses and never more so than right now. For those of you who are of Black or Asian ethnicity, you are already at risk as you do not absorb Vitamin D as well due to your skin colour. Men also produce less T cells than women and older men less than younger men.

Vitamin K2

So what dosage should be taken?

Clearly, I couldn’t possibly tell you what to take here, I have absolutely no qualifications to do so.

I do think that the recommended dose is too low for me personally,

I want to do all I can to boost my immune system and give myself a fighting chance if I get any nasty bugs heading my way, particularly having had a horrid bout of flu back in January 2020.

When I first wrote this blog early last year as we struggled in the first lockdown I decided to take a higher does for a month to give my Vitamin D levels a boost, reduce it slightly for the rest of winter, and having read through so much on this I am not going to stop Vitamin D even in the summer months. To my mind it’s a simple and cheap way of keeping myself protected from the usual cold and flu viruses. Now I am taking 6,000 IU of Vit D along with Vit K in a spray (here is a link) or just Vitamin D3 (another link!) and so far I've not succumbed to any coughs or colds and I am hoping that should I be unlucky enough to be caught by Covid my immune system will cope with it. Who knows! **

The case for Zinc

It seems that Zinc deficiency is well known in the chronically ill and elderly, (the same could be said for Vitamin D) it also has proven direct antiviral actions against some viruses. It can also act inside cells stopping a virus replicating, a huge plus for anyone catching any kind of virus but particularly Covid-19. Zinc is needed for the T cells, now I know how important they are in the fight against viruses, I am looking at my zinc intake with my diet and ensuring that I have enough. Zinc is often added to cold and flu remedies too, so clearly its helpful to our immune system.

Obviously this is not the answer to Covid-19 BUT it just seems a no brainer, as they say, that we already have a cheap way of boosting our immune system and helping us fight back if we are infected. It can only be part of the many things we can do to help us all stay safe and healthy at any time not just in this present pandemic. I do not understand why it’s not more widely promoted. Because it is cheap and drug companies cannot make any money from it? Or am I just being cynical here?! Why isn't someone shouting this from the rooftops daily?

Please don’t take this as what you should be doing, Decide for yourself if this makes sense to you and do what you feel is right for your health and wellbeing, go to the links below and read up, go looking for more inforamtion.

Have a listen to the brilliant Dr. John Campbell. He has done a few videos on this now. There is a link below. I’ve been following him since early this year, (thank you Simon!) and if you want more information, I would strongly recommend his videos on all things Covid related. He's a retired senior lecturer in nursing studies at University of Cumbria.

Consuming 1,000 IU (25 mcg) daily would help 50% of people reach a vitamin D blood level of 33 ng/ml (82.4 nmol/l) Consuming 2,000 IU (50 mcg) daily would help nearly everyone reach a blood level of 33 ng/ml (82.4 nmol/l) Taking 1,000 IU (25 mcg) of vitamin D daily reduced heart disease risk by 10% Consuming 1,000–4,000 IU (25–100 mcg) of vitamin D daily should be ideal for most people to reach healthy vitamin D blood levels.

Vitamin D - how much to take - Dr. John Campbell

Vitamin D – Dr. John Campbell

Zinc and Covid - Dr. John Campbell

The Lancet - Vitamin-D and COVID-19 : do deficient risk a poorer outcome?

Daily Telegraph article - The direct quote states that there is a chemical that – • Is known to be safe • Known to be needed by many people anyway • Known to have a clinically proven track record of helping people fight off respiratory diseases • So cheap no big pharmaceutical company is bothering to push it, it’s cheap to produce and no patent on it.

Vitamin D Levels Appear to Play a Role in COVID-19 Mortality Rates Click here 1 Click here 2

Covid-19..do many people have pre-existing immunity? Sept 2020 British Medical Journal

Vitamin D controls T cell antigen receptor signalling and activation of human T cells (university of Copenhagen) Click here

The Role of Vitamin D deficiency in COVID-19 related deaths in BAME, Obese and other High risk Categories Click here

COVID-19: Scientists raise the vitamin D alarm 02-Oct-2020 By Nikki Hancocks

A group of researchers and doctors have formed an international alliance aiming to encourage governments to increase recommendations for vitamin D intake to 4,000 IU daily as they believe this would reduce COVID-19 hospitalisations.

Click here for the related article by Nikki Hancocks

Here is the webinar that was done by four of the doctors and scientists involved in the above alliance.

Zinc for the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and other acute viral respiratory infections: a rapid review Click here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7395818/

Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 with high dose oral zinc salts: A report on four patients - Click here

Here is a link to another research paper suggesting that higher levels of Vitamin D in blood could protect against severe illness and death. Click here.