Humble vitamin DEFENDS against autoimmune attack
If there’s one thing that completely BAFFLES mainstream medicine…
It’s autoimmune disease.
I’m talking about…
- rheumatoid arthritis
- inflammatory bowel disease
- thyroid issues
- psoriasis
- fibromyalgia
- lupus
- MS
- and more.
It’s a complete MYSTERY why someone’s immune system might TURN AGAINST them… and ATTACK otherwise healthy tissue.
But the more researchers look into it… the more it seems like some of the toughest conditions out there may arise from this short-circuiting of immune function.
Too often, all a conventional doc can do is try to treat the symptoms… and make the patient more comfortable…
But that WON’T stop the progression of the disease… OR save lives from being lost.
In integrative medicine, the focus is on addressing hidden culprits – which, in the case of autoimmune conditions, means immunity gone haywire.
And that could offer hope in STOPPING autoimmune disease IN ITS TRACKS.
In a new study out of Harvard University published earlier this year, researchers looked for a way to IMPROVE older folks’ odds when it comes to autoimmune disease…
And actually help them DODGE a diagnosis of one of these conditions.
Over 25,000 Americans over the age of 50 were enrolled as study participants… and their health was tracked over the course of more than 5 years.
Turns out, a simple… easy… and cheap intervention reduced the risk of autoimmune disease by 22%.
It was vitamin D!
A significantly fewer number of study subjects who supplemented with 2000 IU daily were diagnosed with autoimmune disease during the study duration, compared to placebo.
And those results were even MORE pronounced after the first 2 years of the study – which tells me that vitamin D needs a little time to accumulate in the system and get to work.
Now, the researchers don’t know EXACTLY how vitamin D worked… but the theory is that it’s some combination of its anti-inflammatory effects and its influence on both immune function and gene regulation.
They tried combining vitamin D with 1000 mg daily of omega-3 fatty acids, which are known for their ability to also BANISH inflammation and ENHANCE immunity…
But the results weren’t significantly better.
However, that doesn’t mean that you SHOULDN’T combine your D supplements with fish oil (making sure it contains plenty of both EPA and DHA).
Those omega-3s carry their own immune benefits… especially when it comes to fighting off infection.
And if you DO have an autoimmune disease, you’ll want to make sure that your immune response isn’t DISTRACTED… and can actually help DEFEND you.
