One of the most effective ways to reverse asthma, which afflicts an estimated 20 million adults and 9 million children in the U.S., does not involve the use of asthma medications like short-acting beta agonists, inhaled corticosteroids, leukotriene modifiers, or combination inhalers containing corticosteroids and long-acting beta agonists. The answer may just be found in the great outdoors.
What most people don’t know is that severe asthma attacks are clos
ely linked to insufficient levels of Vitamin D in the body. A study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology confirms that insufficient vitamin D is linked to a 50% increase in the risk of severe asthma attacks.
When you supply the body with adequate levels of Vitamin D, asthma attacks could be significantly reduced, or even completely vanish. And everyone knows that the best source of Vitamin D is sunlight. Therefore, the solution to asthma may be as easy as getting adequate amounts of sunshine—and best of all, sunlight is drug-free, costs nothing, and comes with no side effects (except in cases of excessive sun exposure).
Getting sufficient amounts of Vitamin D may be a challenge for those who live in regions that don’t get a lot of sunshine, or those who don’t have time to receive the sun exposure necessary to soak up sufficient levels of Vitamin D. In these types of cases, taking a high-quality Vitamin D supplement may be the next best thing.
Many U.S. health agencies consider 200 to 600 IUs of Vitamin D per day to be a dosage that delivers therapeutic effects when it comes to treating asthma. However, the “healthy” vitamin D range recommended by these agencies are based on outdated guidelines, and are considered by most informed health practitioners to be inadequate to product desired results.
Health practitioners believe that the average person needs about 35 IUs of vitamin D per pound of body weight per day. That means an individual weighing 150 pounds would need 5,250 IUs, and a child weighing 60 pounds would need 2,100 IUs. This might seem like an excessive amount of vitamin D until you consider that 1,000 IUs is equivalent to only 25 micrograms or 0.025 milligrams. In cases where severe vitamin D deficiency exists, oftentimes the dosage recommendations are significantly higher!
There are two forms of vitamin D, namely: vitamin D2 and vitamin D3.
- Vitamin D2 (also known as ergocalciferol), is produced by some plant life in response to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Some foods are fortified with vitamin D2, and this is an inexpensive way to boost the nutrient profile of food. Dairy-free milk (soy, almond, coconut, etc.), for instance, will sometimes contain vitamin D2.
- Vitamin D3 (also known as cholecalciferol) comes from eggs, organ meats, animal fat, cod liver oil, and fish. Natural vitamin D3 is equivalent to the vitamin D3 produced on your skin from UV-B rays of the sun. It is believed by some to be the most biologically active form of vitamin D found in humans and animals because it is involved in a multitude of biological processes in the body, and also helps promote calcium absorption in the bones. It is also the type most often recommended for therapeutic reasons because unlike synthetic vitamin D2, it is has not been shown to be toxic at higher doses.
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