Question: How does vitamin D help with a cold? P.S> I like complex answers.

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  1. Hmmm…I’m wondering if you’re thinking of vitamin C? That’s usually what people take for a cold. However, you’re right that vitamin D is critical for immune defence. If vitamin D is lacking in the blood, the killer T cells don’t activate to fight off intruders.

    So since you like complex answers, here’s the real answer: when a T cell is exposed to a foreign pathogen, it extends a signaling device or ‘antenna’ known as a vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D. This means that the T cell must have vitamin D or activation of the cell will cease. If the T cells cannot find enough vitamin D in the blood, they won’t even begin to mobilize. If you want more information, here’s the journal reference for the original research : https://www.nature.com/ni/journal/v11/n4/full/ni.1851.html

    Be careful though…you can overdose on vitamin D in supplements. Just go outside and play in the sun regularly, and you’ll have all the vitamin D that your body needs!

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