Vitamin D Cuts Flu By Half: Double Blind Randomized Trial

by Heidi Stevenson

19 March 2010

A study has documented a 42 percent reduction of influenza in children taking the sunshine supplement, Vitamin D. Nicknamed because we can synthesize it from sun exposure on our skin, Vitamin D has been anecdotally linked to flu prevention on many occasions. This study provides strong evidence of the validity of the observations.

Performed by Mitsuyoshi Urashima and colleagues from the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo, the study was randomized, double blinded, and placebo-controlled. 430 children aged 6-15 were enrolled and followed between December 2008 and March 2009. Half were given Vitamin D₃ and the other half received a placebo. The dose was 1,200 IUs a day. 334 of the children completed the study.

Nose and throat swabs were used to diagnose influenza Types A and B. 18 of the children taking Vitamin D, and 31 in the placebo group, came down with influenza Type A, indicating a 42% reduction of risk from taking Vitamin D. Type A influenza includes all the serious flu epidemics, including seasonal flus and the swine flu fake pandemic.

Type B influenza was unaffected by Vitamin D. This is not a great concern, as Type B influenzas are generally very mild. Type C influenzas have never been associated with epidemics and are even milder, with only cold-like symptoms.

You may have seen reports claiming that the study shows Vitamin D outperforms flu vaccinations. While it's certainly a far healthier and safer way to avoid influenza, the truth is that the study did not make any comparison with vaccination, so such claims are not accurate.

When one considers the risks inherent in flu vaccines and antiviral drugs, though, the prevention of influenza through Vitamin D's immune system boosting seems far superior.

The attitude of Dr. John Oxford, professor of virology at Queen Mary School of Medicine, London describes the drugs-first approach:

This is a timely study. It will be noticed by scientists. It fits in with the seasonal pattern of flu. There is an increasing background of solid science that makes the vitamin D story credible. But this study needs to be replicated. If it is confirmed we might think of giving vitamin D at the same time as we vaccinate.

He's still thinking of vaccination, with all its dangers, as the primary approach to health. That is a perfect example of how modern medicine is making us sicker. Rather than viewing the natural approach of preventing illness by promoting natural health, he thinks of it as a supplement to drugs and vaccines. As long as studies like this one are treated as merely superfluous, at best an addendum to health, then modern medicine isn't health care. It's sick care.

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