There has never been a better time to proactively explore the vast array of powerful therapeutics that can support our bodies natural immune response.

A number of treatments worldwide are safe, easily accessible, cost effective and hold the power to save many thousands of lives, particularly for vulnerable groups who are often marginalised from accessible treatment therapies.

This week’s AGENT spotlight is on Vitamin D - a vitamin that has the power  to drastically alter the experience that you or your loved ones may have if you come into contact with COVID-19.

Understanding the importance of Vitamin D for a healthy body

Vitamin D is a critical vitamin required for the functioning of the human body and it plays an important role in the body’s defence against viral and bacterial infections. For those that live in sunnier climates, you may think that you are getting enough of your Vitamin D intake from the sun naturally but this isn’t always the case. Often, we can be deficient in Vitamin D without even knowing it and most of the global population would benefit from a vitamin D3 supplement.

Early in the pandemic, it was suspected that optimising vitamin D levels among the general population would significantly lower the rates of COVID-19 incidence and death [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33525447/] and since then, mounting evidence and scientific studies and reports have confirmed that this is correct.

In addition to reducing incidences, hospitalisations and deaths, Vitamin D levels have been repeatedly demonstrated to reduce the rate of positive tests, the likelihood of a symptomatic experience, the severity of symptoms and increase the speed of recovery.

And the research?

Putting numbers against this evidence help us to understand the proven power that Vitamin D holds in the battle against COVID-19. 

A Spanish Study in the The Lancet (Jan 2021) found that supplemental Vitamin D3 reduced ICU admissions by a huge 82% and hospitalisation by 64% and that individuals with higher vitamin D levels pre-COVID 19 were 60% less likely to die.

For those who have a symptomatic experience, The Postgraduate Medical Journal (Nov 2020) have proved that oral vitamin D supplementation helps to speed up the viral clearance of SARS-CoV-1. What this means in practice is a shorter and less severe experience with the virus.

This amazing data has been further confirmed by a research study where 50 hospitalised patients were treated with high dose vitamin D on admission and only 1 patient, out of the 50, needed to be admitted to the ICU thereafter.

The power of Vitamin D is becoming increasingly clear and low levels of Vitamin D are now being understood as a contributing factor to infection severity, hospital admissions and increased likelihood of mortality.

Equally, higher levels of Vitamin D have now been connected to a higher likelihood of experiencing COVID-19 asymptomatically, rather than with symptoms that may hospitalise, or even kill you. 

The science behind Vitamin D

Vitamin D drives a T cell response in the body, which is part of the body’s natural immune response but if Vitamin D signalling is impaired, this process will suffer and the body will suffer from a more severe viral and bacterial infections. 

You might have heard of the Cytokine Storm in relation to COVID-10. If your body has an infection, it will release cytokines - a type of protein that are released to modulate, control and combat inflammation in the body. These cytokines are created to help us move through the infection so we can return to good health.

Whilst this Cytokine Storm is the body trying to help us, sometimes, however, the body may release too many cytokines, and the storm can become dangerous for the body because it can shift into a big immune reaction known as an ‘uncontrolled immune response’. 

This Cytokine Storm is now well understood to be an important contributor to the death and severity of suffering of COVID-19 patients. 

Supporting your wider immune response

Vitamin D holds many other benefits that will help the body in it’s fight against the virus - not just by reducing the inflammatory response and Cytokine storm.

Dr Mercola is heavily supportive of this point - stating that Vitamin D is also an important component of a wider immune response because it boosts the overall function of the immune system; improves overall lung function, reduces respiratory distress, reduces vascular inflammation and blood clotting; and also lowers the risk of co-morbidities associated with a poor COVID-19 prognosis (think obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, etc)

OK - it’s powerful. I’m interested, so what next?

Understanding supplementing and dose is a good first step, particularly because it’s important not to start self-supplementing your own Vitamin D.

This is because each body is bio-individual and you must dose based on your current baseline blood level rather than blanket dosing or guess work. It is a really good idea to get your personal vitamin D level tested before starting your Vitamin D dosing and when you do, it’s good to understand that the optimal level of Vitamin D advised for health and disease prevention is between 60 ng/mL and 80 ng/mL. 

What dose should I be supplementing with? 

As a preventative measure, standard dosing of Vitamin D is advised at around 1,000 - 5,000 IUD per day but get your blood work done and then check with your doctor with the dose that you intend to take.

And if you’re hospitalised with COVID? Ask for Vitamin D - and even more of it. 

Researchers have been investigating the effects of Pulse D therapy for those with admitted to hospital with COVID-19 and a Vitamin D deficiency. Pulse D therapy is daily high-dose supplementation (60,000 IUs) of vitamin D — for eight to 10 days - and is leading to significantly better outcomes for people hospitalized with the virus. 

Introducing the Vitamin D, Magnesium & K2 combo - the triple threat

At Agent, we love the triple threat of Vitamin D, Magnesium & K2 and this is because it is strongly recommended to take your vitamin D supplement alongside a Magnesium and K2 supplement. 

Without a side-supplement of magnesium and vitamin K2 - you will need 244% more vitamin D than you otherwise may without taking these additional supplements.  

You should combine these three supplements together, to make it easier for your body to achieve a healthy vitamin D level.

Key takeaways 

Vitamin D is a superstar therapy in the fight against COVID-19. 

It is an easily accessible, cost effective and safe supplement that is arguably one of the most simple, straightforward and overlooked steps that a health-conscious consumer can take to improve health, modulate an inflammation response, and reduce the likelihood of avoiding, managing, or effectively recovering from COVID-19. 

If you want to incorporate Vitamin D into your daily diet, get your blood tested before you start so you can optimise your own personal levels to ensure it works best for you and your body.  

In a world full of supplements, if you’re confused on where to source high quality Vitamin D, I wholeheartedly suggest you head to https://wholescripts.com/register - where my good friend, Dr Will Cole, has an amazing Vitamin D. 

As a friend of Agent Nateur, you can use referral Code: drwillcole and practitioners Last Name: Cole to take the next step in your Vitamin D health journey. 

By Louise Rumball

***THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR REGULATED BY THE FDA.  WE ARE NOT DOCTORS, THEREFORE ALWAYS CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST.