Re: Sunshine May Beat Winter Illnesses

[Guest guest]

I believe it. And I'm still taking 4000 IU per day. But then what's

the difference between " influenza " and colds? There must be

one...because I'm now on winter cold/virus #4 since September 1st and

I'm worn out with it already. I think there must be something else

going on besides " vitamin D3 and immunity. " The exposure to sun

itself? Why oh why can't I stop having colds all the time?

Help...anyone?

in Champaign IL

> SUNSHINE MAY BEAT THE WINTER FLUS

> SEASONAL ILLNESSES COULD BE DOWN TO LACK OF VITAMIN D.

> By Matt Kaplan

> Nature

> November 3, 2006

> _http://www.nature.http://wwhttp://www.nhttp://www.nhttp://_

> (http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061030/full/061030-12.html)

[Guest guest]

Note that the article mentioned COD LIVER OIL. CLO contains vitamin A which

helps the immune system in addition to vitamin D.

I've been tap dancing around a cold -- not the flu -- for a few weeks. I

take 3 to 5 grams of vitamin C every two to three hours plus some l-Lysine. I

do this for about three days and the cold never truly manifests.

I start cod liver oil this week with supplemental vitamin D and will

continue this plus full spectrum phototherapy until mid March.

I also don't eat stuff that draws down my immune system.

Hope this helps

mjh

" The Basil Book "

_http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/_ (http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/)

Posted by: " netsukeme " _kcapel@... _

(mailto:kcapel@...?Subject=

Re:%20Sunshine%20May%20Beat%20Winter%20Illnesses) _netsukeme _

(netsukeme)

Fri Nov 10, 2006 8:02 pm (PST)

I believe it. And I'm still taking 4000 IU per day. But then what's

the difference between " influenza " and colds? There must be

one...because I'm now on winter cold/virus #4 since September 1st and

I'm worn out with it already. I think there must be something else

going on besides " vitamin D3 and immunity. " The exposure to sun

itself? Why oh why can't I stop having colds all the time?

Help...anyone?

in Champaign IL

[Guest guest]

Nil

I would smell and/or taste it. If it smells or tastes rancid, throw it out.

Else, a simple preservative is to add a bit of vitamin E or some rosemary

mjh

" The Basil Book "

_http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/_ (http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/)

Posted by: " yildiz " _yildiz22@... _ (mailto:yildiz22@...?Subject=

Re:%20Sunshine%20May%20Beat%20Winter%20Illnesses) _yildiz2113 _

(yildiz2113)

Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:05 am (PST)

hi Mjh

Would you think cod liver oil which was opened about a year ago but kept in

refrigerator would still be safe to use?

thanks.

Nil

-----

[Guest guest]

The difference is in the origin of the cod that donate their livers. I

still think that plain old fish oil is better for your kitties.

Cod liver oil is a good source of vitamins A and D

fish oil is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA.

mjh

" The Basil Book "

_http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/_ (http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/)

Posted by: " netsukeme " _kcapel@... _

(mailto:kcapel@...?Subject=

Re:%20Sunshine%20May%20Beat%20Winter%20Illnesses) _netsukeme _

(netsukeme)

Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:10 am (PST)

I wonder if there's a difference between " cod liver oil "

and " Norwegian cod liver oil. " I bought some of the latter

yesterday, thinking the kitties would go for it (and I couldn't find

liquid fish oil).

I'll try to goose up my C too. Thanks, mjh.

[Guest guest]

HI .

I have the same problem. I catch any virus I get anywhere near and

repeatedly catching viruses really takes a toll on my health.

Proboost Thymic Protein A seems to help boost my immune system, but I

have found that I pretty much have to avoid contact with other people

during the cold and flu season. I only go out in public if I have to

and don't socialize. It's drastic but I have to do it.

Tom

[Guest guest]

I wonder if there's a difference between " cod liver oil "

and " Norwegian cod liver oil. " I bought some of the latter

yesterday, thinking the kitties would go for it (and I couldn't find

liquid fish oil).

I'll try to goose up my C too. Thanks, mjh.

>

>

>

> Note that the article mentioned COD LIVER OIL. CLO contains

vitamin A which

> helps the immune system in addition to vitamin D.

>

> I've been tap dancing around a cold -- not the flu -- for a few

weeks. I

> take 3 to 5 grams of vitamin C every two to three hours plus some

l-Lysine. I

> do this for about three days and the cold never truly manifests.

>

> I start cod liver oil this week with supplemental vitamin D and

will

> continue this plus full spectrum phototherapy until mid March.

>

> I also don't eat stuff that draws down my immune system.

>

> Hope this helps

>

> mjh

> " The Basil Book "

> _http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/_

(http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/)

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Tom. I don't think that too much socialization is my problem, as

I'm pretty housebound already. I think the viruses just drop out of

the sky and leak in my windows. I'm thinking I must be A deficient

and will work on that, along with the D I'm already getting.

>

> HI .

>

> I have the same problem. I catch any virus I get anywhere near and

> repeatedly catching viruses really takes a toll on my health.

>

> Proboost Thymic Protein A seems to help boost my immune system, but

I

> have found that I pretty much have to avoid contact with other

people

> during the cold and flu season. I only go out in public if I have

to

> and don't socialize. It's drastic but I have to do it.

>

> Tom

>

[Guest guest]

I think that article is all the more reason why everyone here

should if they havent done so already.. have their levels of vitamin

D checked (esp D3).

Im in Australia and do get plenty of sunlight..but with the CFS Im

still deficient in D3 so hence do need to take supplements for that.

Sometimes for ones like us..just having plenty of sunlight isnt

enough.

" Within a few minutes of summer sunbathing, our bodies make about

20,000

international units [500 micrograms] of vitamin D, " notes

Cannell. " We have

evolved a system that makes lots of the vitamin very quickly. There

is no doubt

in my mind that this happened for a good reason. " Vitamin D is known

to

regulate calcium in the blood and maintain bones, but Cannell thinks

its role

in

immunity is just as important. "

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> SUNSHINE MAY BEAT THE WINTER FLUS

> SEASONAL ILLNESSES COULD BE DOWN TO LACK OF VITAMIN D.

> By Matt Kaplan

> Nature

> November 3, 2006

> _http://www.nature.http://wwhttp://www.nhttp://www.nhttp://_

> (http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061030/full/061030-12.html)

>

>

>

>

> The winter flu season could be the result of our reduced exposure

to

> sunlight, according to a review scheduled to be published in print

in Epidemiology

> and Infection this December.

> The seasonal tide of influenza has baffled epidemiologists for

ages. The flu

> is always at its worst in the months following the winter

solstice, and

> pandemics tend to hit at this time too, but nobody is certain why.

> If that puzzle could be unpicked, the information could be used to

save

> lives; in an average year, about one million people die worldwide

from

> influenza-related illnesses. In a flu pandemic, such as occurred

in 1918, millions of

> people can die.

> In 1981, Edgar Hope-Simpson, a British epidemiologist, suggested

that

> influenza's seasonality might be linked to solar radiation. Very

few

> epidemiologists took the idea seriously. But in the years since,

evidence has continually

> surfaced that vitamin D, created when solar radiation strikes the

skin, plays

> an important role in our immune system.

> Now, 25 years later, a review of the evidence suggests that

> Hope-Simpson'Now, 25 years later, a review of the evidence

suggests that Hope

> Dark days

> " Winter brings a host of confounding factors associated with the

influenza, "

> says Edwin Kilbourne, professor emeritus at New York Medical

College. Low

> relative humidity favours influenza virus aerosols, and indoor

crowding

> facilitates transmission. Autumn brings young children together in

schools, and

> Christmas travel mixes up previously separated populations.

> " But there's more to it then just environmental conditions, " says

Kilbourne.

> " Controlled experiments with my laboratory mice have shown that

even after

> careful control of environmental factors, including crowding and

humidity,

> there remains a seasonal factor that slightly, but significantly,

affects

> transmission of influenza. "

> Cannell of Atascadero State Hospital, California -- lead

author on the

> new review and executive director of the non-profit organization

the Vitamin

> D Council -- thinks vitamin D might be the missing link.

> He points to one study, conducted in St sburg and repeated in

> Krasnodar, Russia, showing that young men inoculated with live

attenuated influenza

> virus were eight times more likely to develop fever and evidence

of an immune

> response just after the winter solstice then they were during the

summer

> months.

> Another showed that children in India with vitamin D levels of

less than 10

> nanograms per millilitre were 11 times more likely to have

respiratory

> infections than those with higher levels of the vitamin.

> And a series of studies from the 1930s showed that cod-liver oil,

which is

> rich in vitamin D, can reduce viral infections by 50% in adults

taking a daily

> dose over 4 months.

> Vitamin boost

> " Within a few minutes of summer sunbathing, our bodies make about

20,000

> international units [500 micrograms] of vitamin D, " notes

Cannell. " We have

> evolved a system that makes lots of the vitamin very quickly.

There is no doubt

> in my mind that this happened for a good reason. " Vitamin D is

known to

> regulate calcium in the blood and maintain bones, but Cannell

thinks its role in

> immunity is just as important.

> Kilbourne isn't convinced. " My mind is open on this, but

persuasive evidence

> has just not been presented, " he says. His seasonally flu-ridden

mice, he

> notes, were in the basement away from any sunlight.

> " The paper raises more questions than it answers, " agrees

Cherry, a

> specialist in paediatric infectious disease at the Geffen

School of

> Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. " However, the

hypothesis should

> be easy to prove or disprove with a controlled blind study, " he

adds.

> Cannell is keen for that study to happen.

> " It is premature for doctors to recommend vitamin D as a treatment

or

> preventative against flu, " Cannell says, but he himself is taking

no chances.

> Cannell takes 125 micrograms of vitamin D a day during winter --

much more than

> the US government's recommended dose. He advises doctors to be on

the lookout

> for vitamin D deficiency and treat it aggressively.

>

> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

>

>

> mjh

> " The Basil Book "

> http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

'Appears my kitties agree with you, Mg Maven. Now I'm faced with

this bottle of stuff, I guess, for me. Pinch my nose and

swallow.... Which will get me the A I need.

>

>

>

> The difference is in the origin of the cod that donate their

livers. I

> still think that plain old fish oil is better for your kitties.

>

> Cod liver oil is a good source of vitamins A and D

> fish oil is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA.

>

> mjh

> " The Basil Book "

> _http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/_

(http://foxhillfarm.us/FireBasil/)

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you for reminding me about this, Adrienne. It was on my list

of " to look for " and I forgot about it entirely. I'm sure it must be

around here somewhere. We have Walgreens plus the other usual

assorted shops and stores. Thanks for the reminder about this.

>

> , one key-for me- is to attend to symptoms immediately I

usually interrupt whatever I am doing and rest more. I use zinc right

away, increase vit c- and my secret weapon is a root that is commonly

used in the s.west. It is called Osha,(Porters's Lovage). It is

clearly a highly potent antiviral. I haven't looked lately but it is

usually available both at Wild OAts or Walgreens. I guess I could help

you, or anyone else get some if necessary.

> Adrienne

>