Asthmatic children with low blood vitamin D levels may have a greater risk of suffering severe asthma attacks.
A study followed more than 1,000 children with asthma for four years, and found those with vitamin-D insufficiency at the outset were more likely to have an asthma attack that required a trip to the hospital.
Vitamin D never ceases to amaze, and research into its impact on non-bone related diseases continues to yield positive results.
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health conditions, from depression to autoimmune disorders, to colds and flu, to cancer, and now asthma, and even cognitive function.
This is good news.
Asthma has increased by more than 300 percent over the last two decades and if vitamin D is even partially responsible for this meteoric rise in prevalence, then the answer is literally right outside your door.
Millions of people are needlessly exposing themselves to the dangers inherent with the standard drug treatments for asthma. Advair, for example, contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, which can actually increase the severity of an asthma attack.
This is why it’s so important to start focusing our attention on simple, effective, and infinitely safer methods, such as increasing vitamin D levels, to combat the underlying cause of this growing health problem.
Beware: Conventional Vitamin D Recommendations are Still Too Low Based on the latest research, many experts now agree you need about 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight. This recommendation also includes children, the elderly and pregnant women.
This is a far cry from the 200-600 IU’s currently recommended by our health agencies.
Remember, however, that vitamin D requirements are highly individual.
Your vitamin D status is dependent on several factors, such as the color of your skin, your location, and how much sunshine you’re exposed to on a regular basis. So, although these recommendations may put you closer to the level of what most people likely need, it is virtually impossible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone.
The only accurate way to determine your optimal dose is to get your blood tested. Ideally, you’ll want to maintain a vitamin D level of at least 50ng/ml and perhaps as high as 80-90 ng/ml year-round.
Although asthma is a serious disease, safely treating your asthma is not complicated.
Optimizing your vitamin D levels is the first step, but there are other simple strategies that can help treat the root of the problem as well.
In my experience, the following strategies are highly effective when treating asthma:
- Increase your intake of animal-based omega 3 fats and reduce your intake of processed omega 6 fats
- Consider the hygiene hypothesis – There’s a tendency in our modern culture to be obsessive about cleanliness, but this may not be as healthy as initially thought. It appears that being exposed to common bacterial and viral infections as a child can be instrumental in providing the stimulus to your immune system to prevent asthma naturally.
- Get regular exercise – Exercise (especially out in fresh air if you’re an asthmatic) is actually crucial, as it helps to moderate insulin levels. It increases your insulin receptor sensitivity, and as a result your body produces less insulin, which tends to optimize it.
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- Eat foods rich in vitamin E. Much like vitamin D, higher vitamin E intake has also been associated with lower serum IgE concentrations and a lower frequency of allergen sensitization.
- Hydrate well. You will want to make sure you drink enough clean pure water to turn your urine a light color of yellow, as dehydration will clearly worsen asthma.
