Strengthening your Immunity with the dynamic trio.
I have heard a lot of talk in the past 4 months on how we should protect ourselves to avoid getting the Covid-19 virus. We’ve been told to shelter in place at home, socially distance and wear a mask (even outdoors). But what I don’t see is very many people talking about what is probably the more important issue, strengthening our immune system. A strong immune system is able to combat Covid-19 and other viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites with less affect on the body or risk to life.
From what I am reading in scientific papers, medical doctor blogs and educational videos is that what we really need to be doing is building a strong immune system, not hiding from disease. Research shows that a strong immunity will decrease the severity, if not prevent the virus from ever getting a foothold in your body. We have used food and vitamins for years to help build our immunity every day. You remember the slogans; “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, “Eat Oranges for Vit C”, and more recently, “A can a day” is all Almond farmers ask. These are all ways to naturally build our body’s immune system. So why are we so sick as a nation?
We chose the road less traveled 
Movement away from wholesome foods
It really wasn’t that long ago that we slowly began to move away from wholesome foods like fresh fruits and veggies, grass-fed meats, raw milks and cheeses, and fermented foods. Around the mid 1800’s Quaker Oats began boxing cold cereal of puffed grains stripped of fiber and laden with sugar. TV dinners were right around the corner in the mid 50’s with Swansons processed, bland dinners loaded with empty carbs and lots of salt. Of course, in the 50’s it was all about getting mom out of the kitchen and so the counter top microwave was invented which used radiation to heat up the food and destroy most of the nutrition left in the food. We have continued this path of creating more processed foods, put in boxes, bags and cans so that we could have what I call food-like substances that were easy and fast to prepare. All processed foods have some amount of non-nutritive chemicals for preservatives, large amounts of sugar and salt added to them or you probably would not want to eat it.
Moved from outdoors to indoors
Then came the movement from outdoors to indoors. Out of the sun and elements of the weather, we thought was so bad for us. Remember hearing, “ . . . you go outside without a jacket on and you’ll catch your death of cold”? In 1900 40% of the people living in the USA lived and worked on farms and 60% of Americans lived in rural areas. By 2016 only 1% of the population lived and worked on farms and 20% lived in rural America. What a big change!! As we chose to eat more processed, convenient foods, large farms took over where several little farms once operated. Farmers sought more work indoors in factories and stores. 1940 saw the invention of sunscreen and sunblock to keep the skin safe from developing cancers and other skin issues. The sunscreen also blocked any ability the skin did have for making vitamin D3 which works within our body to build immunity.
Let’s not forget the 1070’s when the computer went from being in a large room to being on your desk. As this wonderful tool has improved over the years it has kept adults and children alike from heading outside. According to the CDC children age 8 to 18 years spend an average of 7hrs/day looking at screens of all kinds. The article from CDC also noted that children spend twice as much time playing indoors now than outdoors. Adults are even worse (depending on their job), spending 11 hrs/day staring at a screen. In fact, EPA data shows that the average American spends 87% of their life INDOORS.
Dramatic increase in chronic disease
Due to this movement from fresh foods to processed and fast foods, from most of us being outdoors during the day and getting a variety of exercise to being indoors confined behind a screen, we have problems. As a nation we have seen a dramatic increase in the numbers of people with chronic diseases. According to the CDC heart disease is still the leading cause of death in America. The number is 1 in 4 deaths is from heart disease. And we all know about this next one. The American Diabetes Association shows that the number of diabetes cases skyrocketed in 2018 where 10.5% of the American population had diabetes. The number of children with diabetes has also increased dramatically in the recent past. In fact, just our ability as a population to fight off infectious diseases has decreased as we have seen during this recent flu season.
The answer is in the dynamic Vitamin D3 Trio
Vitamin D3 has been known for some time to play an important role in our overall health and immune system. It works with our hormones and body systems to keep us healthy. Vitamin D3 optimization is one of the easiest, least expensive, and best strategy you can do to minimize your risk of Covid-19 and build a strong immunity. Dr. Mercola has recently done an extensive study on Vitamin D3 and it’s to partners K2 and Magnesium. Together, this dynamic trio can strengthen your immune system and lower your risk of viral infections.
Vitamin D3 is the Key player
Now is the time to work at getting your D3 numbers into the safety zone. Besides the Covid-19 pandemic we also have a Vitamin D3 deficiency, with more than 1 billion individuals worldwide, across all age groups, deficient in vitamin D3. These people have now been identified as a significant risk for positive Covid-19 status, severe Covid-19 infection, and death thereof. Dr. Mercola has another article “Vitamin D Is Directly Correlated to Covid-19 Outcome” should you want more information. According to the British medical Journal, people with D3 levels less than 30ng/mL are more likely to have complications and die from Covid-19 then people with levels between 60 and 80ng/mL.
D3 cannot do this alone
To optimize the function of D3 immune boosting effects Dr. Mercola strongly recommends taking magnesium and K2 along with your D3 supplement. Without the additional K2 you run the risk of additional arterial calcification because K2 is needed to move the calcium that D3 has brought into the body, into the places where it is needed like, bones and teeth. Vitamin D3 improves magnesium absorption which is good news for your muscle and other body tissue. However, as you take higher doses of vitamin D3 to boost your immune system magnesium in your body is used up because it is required to convert D3 into its active form. If you would like more information about this process you can read the article by Dr. Mercola titled, “Magnesium and K2 Optimize Your Vitamin D Supplementation.
Taking D3 to the next level
So you probably want to know how to get those vitamin D3 numbers into the 60 – 80ng/mL level. It is actually pretty straight forward. Just take it step by step following the guidelines listed below.
1. Measure your Vitamin D3 level – this can be done several different ways; you can ask your doctor to run the 25(OH)D test. One of the easiest and cost-effective is to go online and participate in https://www.grassrootshealth.net/ personalized nutrition project, which includes a vitamin D testing Kit. Again, you are looking for your number to be between 60ng/mL – 80ng/mL to strengthen your immune system to a level where it can be effective against Covid-19. Use the Vitamin D*calculator on the Grassroots website to help calculate how much vitamin D you may be getting from regular sun exposure in addition to your supplemental intake or use the DMinder app. Or if you are working with a doctor, use their recommendation.
2. Increase your intake of nutrient dense foods - These are whole foods including fresh fruits and veggies (eat the colors of the rainbow), grass fed or wild caught meats (especially fish like salmon and trout). Add fermented and probiotic foods like sauerkraut or plain Kefir to your diet. Eliminate or minimize eating processed sugar, and foods that are found in a bag, box or can. Instead, choose fresh versions of food that you make yourself. If you need help with this step you can contact me at healthcoachkellogg@gmail.com and we can hop on the phone for a quick FREE consultation.
3. Increase your skin exposure to the sun without burning – you will want to give your body every opportunity to make it’s own D3 by exposing your skin to the sun. At our latitude here in the USA you may need only 15 – 20 minutes in the sun during the summer, but in winter at our latitudes there is little to no UVB radiation reaching the surface of the earth. So winter may require a longer exposure or better yet, supplementation. The rule is to stay in sun until your skin just turns the lightest shade of pink. NO SUNBURNS and NO SUNSCREEN during this short exposure time.
4. Supplement with the Dynamic Trio – This includes not only D3 but vitamin K2 and magnesium. All three of these need to be in good supply as they work together to strengthen your immune system and body function. Dr. Mercola recommends taking D3 a doses of 1,000IU/day in general and 4,000 IU/day for those who are deficient. Again, if you are on any medications or have other medical concerns you should always check with your doctor first. These supplements can be found on my website at http://livinglifestylechoices.liveeditaurora.com/resources#supplements
5. Retest your D3 levels in three to six months – Finally you should remeasure your vitamin D levels after 3 to 6 months of following the above guidelines. If you have been successful, you should see a significant improvement in your numbers. Remember, that supplementation alone is not the best answer for improving your D3 numbers as your body needs other nutrients provided by healthy whole foods to work with the D3 in strengthening your immune system.
Not an easy answer
Strengthening your immune system is not an easy task. You can’t just pop a magic pill and expect your troubles to go away. Building your immune system to be stronger so that you no longer have to live in fear of getting Covid-19 can be done. If you would like more information about your immune system, I am running a 3-part series on Immunity this summer. Look for the sign-up on the front of the newsletter or on my Facebook page, Living Lifestyle Choices. A strong immune system is possible for anyone it just requires a bit of commitment and perseverance.
You can do this. We can do this. Let’s do it together!