During our 4 months of home quarantine during the Movement Control Order, I changed my morning workout time from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. everyday.  The morning sun made me drench in sweat after each 1-hour run and the endorphins I got from the mid morning run gave me a high. I also realized that my immune system got stronger after weeks of soaking up the mid morning sun. Never mind the bronze tan that I got on my face and limbs; I was happier and felt stronger.

Did you know that the sun is your best source of Vitamin D?  It’s also known as the Sunshine Vitamin. When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it makes vitamin D from cholesterol. The sun’s ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, providing the energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur.

A recent study by a global team of researchers has found that Vitamin D supplements, already widely prescribed for a variety of ailments, are effective in preventing respiratory diseases. And since the sun is our best source of Vitamin D, you don’t even need to buy supplements to get your dose of Vitamin D.  However, if you stay in countries that do not have sunlight throughout the year, Vitamin D supplements is a good option.

Most people know that Vitamin D is critical for bone and muscle health. An analysis by the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts found that Vitamin D helps the body fight acute respiratory infection, which is responsible for millions of deaths globally each year.

In another study led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), it was found that Vitamin D supplements protect against acute respiratory infections including colds and flu.  The study provides the most robust evidence yet that vitamin D has benefits beyond bone and muscle health, and could have major implications for public health policy, including the fortification of foods with vitamin D to tackle high levels of deficiency in the UK.

There are Vitamin D receptors and activating enzymes on the surfaces of all White Blood Cells. The role that vitamin D plays in keeping the immune system healthy is very complex because the immune system has to be perfectly balanced. If there is too much stimulation, autoimmune diseases can set in. If there is not enough immune system activity, frequent infections can occur.

In 2017, a large analyses of prospective clinical trials showed that taking Vitamin D reduces the odds of developing a respiratory infection by approximately 42% in people with low baseline levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D; below 25 ng/mL.

The analysis suggests that taking Vitamin D daily or weekly was more effective than larger doses taken in single or monthly boluses. The most common daily dose used was vitamin D3 300-4,000 IU.

According to the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, sufficient Vitamin D is found  to lower the risk of cancer.  The evidence suggests that efforts to improve vitamin D status, for example by vitamin D supplementation, could reduce cancer incidence and mortality at low cost, with few or no adverse effects.

How Much Vitamin D Do You Need?

While the U.S. National Academy of Medicine considers 600–800 IU of daily vitamin D to be sufficient for the majority of the population, the U.S. Endocrine Society recommends 1,500–2,000 IU per day.  The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is currently set at 600-800 IU of vitamin D for adults, based on the U.S. National Academy of Medicine’s recommendations

Here’s how much vitamin D you need every day, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Age 1-70: 600 IU
Age 71 and older: 800 IU

Foods that provide vitamin D include:
Fatty fish, like tuna, mackerel, and salmon.
Foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals.
Beef liver.
Cheese.
Egg yolks.