Vitamin D and Your Immune System
by Jennifer Bunn, RNIt seems that researchers can’t get enough of vitamin D. There have been many studies in the past few years which have yielded evidence that vitamin D may provide a protective effect against heart disease, multiple sclerosis, premature birth and other conditions.
Now, researchers from Denmark have studied the effects of vitamin D on the immune system and have come to the conclusion that vitamin D plays an important role in marshalling the immune system’s defenses against infectious diseases, such as colds and influenza.
Their research has shown that vitamin D helps to signal “dormant” white blood cells to become active, in order to seek out and destroy invading organisms. White blood cells can be thought of as front-line soldiers in the immune system’s response to bugs. Specifically, vitamin D triggers T-cells, the cells that contain a memory for bugs that the body has been exposed to before. T-cells also target infectious agents that the body has never been exposed to. This research could have implications for the development of new methods to combat old enemies, such as cancer and certain auto-immune diseases.
We get most of our vitamin D from exposure the sun. Our body absorbs ultraviolet rays and converts them into vitamin D. We also obtain vitamin D from foods such as fish, milk, liver, eggs, and foods that have been fortified with vitamin D.
