Colds and flu and the vitamin that everyone must know about

New research suggests that sunshine may be more than just a cold remedy. A new study has found that people with low vitamin D levels had a higher chance of catching colds and flu than those who have a normal amount in their body. The benefits of vitamin D (also known as the “sunshine vitamin”) were most prominent in people who had asthma or other lung diseases, and those who were susceptible to respiratory infections.

According this week’s Archives of Internal Medicine research, people who had the largest deficiency of vitamin D had a 36 percent greater chance of suffering respiratory infections than those who had normal vitamin D levels. Among asthmatics, people with lower vitamin D levels had a 5 times greater chance of getting sick than those with normal levels. The respiratory infection risk was twice as high among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and low vitamin D levels than in lung patients with normal vitamin D levels.

This means that adults, who typically catch two colds or flu per year, could suffer more often if their vitamin D levels are low. For those who suffer from asthma or COPD and catch about four or five colds or flu per year, low vitamin D levels might bring on additional infections, says co-author Adit Gende from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Lab work demonstrated that low vitamin D levels were associated with a low production of an antimicrobial peptide hCAP-18.

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The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.