What if a simple, everyday and inexpensive vitamin supplement could significantly reduce your risk of getting and dying from COVID? Medical journals have recently published a stream of studies showing that healthy vitamin D levels not only reduce our risk for COVID-19 but also help us avoid hospitalization and even death from the illness. Meanwhile, the government and mass media continue to focus on mask-wearing, social distancing and handwashing to avoid COVID-19, even though this simple protective strategy has hardly reached the public radar. Here’s what you need to know.
In this edition of the Bottom Line Advocator Podcast, Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD, joins Bottom Line President Sarah Hiner to discuss the scientific evidence that demonstrates vitamin D’s crucial role in our fight against COVID-19 and the best ways you can achieve healthy levels of this enormously powerful nutrient. A professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University Medical Center, Dr. Holick is author of The Vitamin D Solution: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problems.
Topics covered include…
- Groundbreaking early research on vitamin D (4:23 – 6:19)
- The link between kidney disease and weak bones (6:19 – 6:58)
- Mother Nature’s wisdom around the “sunshine vitamin” (6:58 – 7:43)
- The surprising ways vitamin D keeps us healthy (7:43 – 9:39)
- Vitamin D’s healing effects on psoriasis (9:39 – 10:22)
- The link between vitamin D deficiency and pregnancy complications, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and more (10:22 – 11:25)
- Why vitamin D helps fight COVID-19 and autoimmune disorders (11:25 – 13:24)
- Remarkable research on vitamin D and COVID-19 (13:24 – 15:43)
- Optimal levels of vitamin D (15:43 – 17:51)
- Vitamin D deficiency in hospitalized COVID-19 patients (17:51 – 20:33)
- High-risk groups for COVID-19 are inherently vitamin D–deficient (20:33 – 22:44)
- A free app that helps you track your vitamin D levels (22:44 – 23:44)
- Why vitamin D doesn’t get more respect and its effect on the COVID-19 vaccine (23:44 – 24:41)
- Too much vitamin D can cause harm to these individuals (24:41 – 26:08)
- Can you get too much vitamin D? (26:08 – 28:10)
- The myth about vitamin D-3 versus vitamin D-2 (28:10 – 29:22)
- Vitamin D use in those with kidney disease (29:22 – 29:59)
- How skin pigment affects vitamin D levels (29:59 – 32:06)
- Why there’s no vitamin D in human breast milk (32:06 – 32:51)
- How quickly can I increase my vitamin D levels? (32:51 – 34:47)
- Stress and vitamin D levels (34:47 – 35:27)
- Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency (35:27 – 36:24)
- The “sweet spot” for supplementation and sun exposure (36:24 – 40:22)
- Tanning beds and UV light (40:22 – 43:27)
- Phytoplankton for vitamin D (43:27 – 44:03)
- The right vitamin D supplement for vegans (44:03 – 45:14)
- Why everyone needs a vitamin D supplement (45:14 – 48:47)
Learn more about Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD, and his work at DrHolick.com.
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