CAT | Benefits
If you’re reading this, I’ve probably given this link to you, as a friend, after talking about the huge importance of getting enough Vitamin D. This is the first of many Vitamin D – related posts.
Natural sunshine is the best way to get optimal Vitamin D.
Vitamin D Deficiency – Don’t get the common cold!
The common cold, perhaps the most complained about “disease” in all of humanity. You can bet that modern day office worker has more colds than a paleolithic outdoors man did. In fact, if you can avoid a Vitamin D deficiency (and most people are deficient), one study shows that you reduce the number of colds you get in a year by 70%. So, if you normally get 10 colds per year, you could possibly only get 3 with proper Vitamin D levels. [1]
My experience in the first year of supplementing with Vitamin D confirmed this statistic for me. I did get 10 colds per year and I hated it (feeling bad, lost productivity, lost fun with the kids, etc). But, a year later I realized that I had had drastically fewer colds that year. And the couple colds that I did get only felt like they lasted a few days rather than a miserable 2-3 weeks. In the years since then, I have continued optimizing my Vitamin D levels and have continued having this drastically lower rate of colds.
Another study shows that the risk of respiratory infections goes up drastically as your levels of Vitamin D go down. At levels below 10ng/ml 24% of subjects reported a recent respiratory infection, whereas only 17% of respondents with levels 30ng/ml reported recent respiratory infections. That is a 41% increase in risk of respiratory infection if you are low on Vitamin D [2].
Vitamin D Deficiencies Suspected Causing Respiratory Infections in Children
Children benefit from proper Vitamin D levels too. An Indian study shows that children under the age of 5 are more than 3x as likely to get a respiratory infection when their Vitamin D levels are lower than 22.5 nmol/l versus above the same level [3].
I agree with Dr. Mercola (his newsletter) that good amounts of Vitamin D across the population are more powerful and more safe in fighting the flu than the flu shots are.
Are you Vitamin D Deficient?
Ok, so how many people are vitamin d deficient and how do I know if I am? 42% of adolescents according to one study [4], and many more depending on who you ask and at what level is considered “deficient.” This study considered anyone with levels below 20ng/ml to be Vitamin D deficient. Many others would suggest that you need 50ng/ml for optimal health and reducing colds. This post (blog post not released yet) shows who is deficient and by how much, but for now, go get your Vitamin D levels tested by your physician.
Sources of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is best obtained from natural sunlight. How much sunlight is enough is debatable and will be handled in another post. 
A caveman would be out in the sun every day looking for food doing his hunting and gathering. Where do you spend most of your time? In a cubicle/office? Indoors at home? You are likely Vitamin D deficient.
Supplementation, may be next best thing to natural sunlight. Read (blog post not released yet) for more sources of Vitamin D.
Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency could dramatically increase the number of colds your family gets this season.
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Sunrise image above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/ / CC BY 2.0
Sunbathing image above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathan_hamner/ / CC BY 2.0
[1] http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-sunshine-superstar-study-reveals-vitamin-d-as-wonder-vitamin-444599.html
[2] Association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and upper respiratory tract infection in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Aug 10;169(15):1443.
[3] Wayse V, Yousafzai A, Mogale K, Filteau S. Association of subclinical vitamin D deficiency with severe acute lower respiratory infection in Indian children under 5 y. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2004 Apr;58(4):563-7.
[4] Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency Among Healthy Adolescents. Catherine M. Gordon, MD, MSc; Kerrin C. DePeter, BA; Henry A. Feldman, PhD; Estherann Grace, MD; S. Jean Emans, MD. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158:531-537.
Need another reason love the Paleolithic Diet? How about reducing the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other auto-immune diseases? I ran across the following videos on YouTube and found them fascinating. There has long been associations of certain foods with higher risk of MS, but this guy is actually doing the research and and tying the pieces together.
On October 3 2007 , Direct-MS (http://www.direct-ms.org ) sponsored a public presentation by Dr. Loren Cordain of Colorado State University on the topic of “The Paleo Diet and Multiple Sclerosis”. See below for the video and the YouTube playlist.
What you’ll get from this video (notes I took just now)
Genetics and Environment/Food both are linked with developing Multiple Sclerosis.
Dietary changes suggested for autoimmune benefit from the Paleolithic Diet:
- AVOID cereal grains (wheat, corn, etc), dairy (milk, cheese, pizza, etc), high-saturated fat meats (hot dogs, sausage, bacon, steak, etc), most vegetable oils, tomatoes (surprising, even to the presenter), salt, refined sugars, legumes (beans, peas, etc), peanuts.
- INCREASE Omega-3 fatty acids relative to Omega-6 fatty acids
- Eat fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and nuts
Theory on Multiple Sclerosis development:
- Bacterial infection occurs or we introduce Lectins into our diet
Various lectins found in wheat, peanuts, legumes (beans), soybeans, and tomatoes get across the gut barrier and into circulation via EGF-R (epidermal growth factor). Lectins or bacteria in circulation causes an immune response and activate T-Cells. - Immune Response T-Cells Activate (in circulation, but not in the CNS)
T-Cells must be activated by an “adjuvant” in order to develop immunity. Lectins like WGA (Wheat Germ Agglutinin) act as that adjuvant. - Activated T-Cells sneak across the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) to get into the CNS
Lectins are thought to cause breakdowns in the BBB to allow more T-Cells into the CNS to attack myelin.
- Activated T-Cells attack myelin
Lectins that have crossed the BBB have been shown to stimulate inflammatory cytokines which cause inflammation which damages myelin. Since these T-Cells have been “programmed” to attack proteins similar to myelin (Lectins), they attack proteins in good myelin.
Dairy products are associated with MS. He shows that dairy products have been repeatedly associated epidemiologically with developing diseases like Multiple Sclerosis.
Lastly, he presents anecdotal evidence of 4 MS patients who have improved in symptoms after strictly going on the Paleolithic Diet.
If I were to win the lottery, I’d love to help this guy with his research.
Amazingly, the Paleolithic Diet is not only an awesome way to get in great shape, but it’s also a way to optimize metabolism and optimize your immune system. You automatically avoid many common allergens and reduce inflammation.
Done correctly, you can avoid a host of health problems and get tons of energy in the process.
