Vitamin D and the Immune System - Article at Brownstone.org

Immunologists and doctors need to know all this, but most are not sufficiently interested in nutrition for vitamin D to be widely understood in their professions

Austin, Texas based Brownstone Institute - a prominent think tank / publishing organization concerned with socio-political issues and especially the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic response - has published an article Simon Goddek www.drgoddek.com and I wrote:

brownstone.org/articles/vitamin-d-everything-you-need-to-know/

Please comment and ask questions in the Comments section below.

There are, of course, many more technical things to know about vitamin D, including concerns about raising 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels to at least 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L, and so perhaps to twice this. Some such concerns, such as increased risk of kidney stones, are well known among medical professionals. In order to understand to what extent these concerns are real, I will need to read a great deal more research.

There would be, no doubt, some ill effects for some people with higher than 50 ng/mL levels, and most people can’t have their level tested to carefully calibrate their vitamin D3 intake to attain a narrow range of levels such as 50 to 70 ng/mL.

25-hydroxyvitamin D levels below 50, for some people, and probably below 40 ng/mL for most or all people, result in weakened innate and adaptive immune responses to cancer cells, bacteria, fungi and viruses, and to greater risk of excessive inflammatory responses. So it makes sense to aim at least 50 ng/mL unless the person is known to have some problem with higher levels.

This article explores why the great majority of doctors and immunologist have little knowledge of, or interest in, the importance of the three vitamin D compounds for the immune system. The article also covers molecular mechanisms and observations and trials which indicate how important vitamin D3 supplementation is to everyone’s health.

There’s an upbeat robotic audio version at the top of the page. This does a remarkably good job, including of uncommon words such as “hydroxyvitamin”, “intracrine” and “paracrine”.

At top, center right, there is a pull-down menu to show the article translated into: German, Danish, Swedish, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, French, Romanian, Hebrew, Japanese, Russian, Armenian, Hindi, Arabic, Swahili and Chinese.

Here are some of the graphics from the article, with links to the research they depict.

Pre-infection 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and association with severity of COVID-19 illness
Amiel A. Dror et al. PLOS ONE 2022-02-03.

with histograms of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels from:

Traditionally living populations in East Africa have a mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration of 115 nmol/L (46 ng/mL)
Martine F Luxwolda et al. British Journal of Nutrition 2012-01-23.
(Maasai and Hadzabe - I calculated an accurate histogram) and from:

The link between vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 in a large population
Ariel Israel et al. Medrxiv preprint 2020-09-07.

Association Between Preoperative 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Level and Hospital-Acquired Infections Following Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery
Sadeq A. Quraishi, MD, MHA; Edward A. Bittner, MD, PhD; Livnat Blum, BA; Mathew M. Hutter, MD, MPH; Carlos A. Camargo Jr, MD, DrPH
JAMA Surg. 2014;149(2):112-118 (Published 2013-11-23.)

A simplified table of vitamin D3 supplemental intakes as ratios of body weight, with higher ratios for those suffering from obesity:

Please see the discussion in the article, and at: vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#sjw-updated-ratios for how these are derived from this article by New Jersey based Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Sunil Wimalawansa:

Rapidly Increasing Serum 25(OH)D Boosts the Immune System, against Infections - Sepsis and COVID-19
Sunil J. Wimalawansa Nutrients 2022-07-21.

I believe that the ratios above are the best answer - for people of all ages and of all body weights and types - to the frequently asked question: How much vitamin D to take?

Please remember that I am an electronic technician and computer programmer. Simon Goddek has a PhD in biotechnology. Our purpose in writing is not to have you think our opinions are a reliable guide to nutrition. We primarily want to encourage people to read the research we cite, for themselves - or to encourage someone they trust who can understand it to read and evaluate it for them, such as a doctor, nurse, immunologist or nutritionist.

Ideally there would be a consensus article from the most experienced vitamin D researchers and clinicians with recommendations such as these, with a full account of the arguments against attaining generally 50 to 80 ng/mL (and occasionally higher) 25-hydroxyvitamin D, with a reliable assessment of to what extent such concerns are real.