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Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

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Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#101

Post by [deleted] »

zdragnar wrote: post #68
soperj wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up on the Canadian praries. -10C is basically shorts weather. edit: seriously though, anything warmer than -10C you'll definitely see kids in shorts. I go skiing in shorts every year.

I'm not sure that people downvoting you have been around northerners much. Down here in the upper midwest US, we tend to consider 4 or 5C to be shorts weather in the spring. I've a friend who would wear flip flops / sandals outside down to roughly -10C. Then again, most people aren't getting the equivalent of 15 minutes of index 7 UVB exposure at those temperatures, so it's not quite the same thing, but still.

[deleted]

Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#102

Post by Etheryte »

theshrike79 wrote: post #37
jghn wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue I've found with these discussions is it appears there's mixed evidence on if vitamin D *supplementation* actually has a positive impact, regardless of vitamin D deficiency. In other words, is the deficiency causal or correlative. I have no opinion on the matter, and am inclined to think there is at least some positive benefit. But YMMV

The problem is that vitamin D doesn’t absorb the same way for everyone. If a 100 people take 50IU of Vitamin D, you get 100 different results. Some get enough from minor sun exposure and maybe eating a fish now and then. Others need massive doses to get any results.

50IU is a minuscule dose though, no? If people are recommended to supplement, they generally take a dose in the range of a few thousand.

Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#103

Post by Etheryte »

Liquix wrote: post #97
elil17 wrote: post #83

I personally found that taking vitamin D regularly dramatically reduced how many colds I got (10 in 2024 vs. 1 in 2025). I take 2,000 IU per day, typically without a meal.

> typically without a meal any reason why? it's fat soluble and absorbs much better if taken with a meal.

Unfortunately this is a common error people make, many vitamins and other supplements are absorbed better when taken with food, even if that seems counterintuitive at first.

Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#104

Post by Etheryte »

thrusong wrote: post #4

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba where it is quite cold for a big majority of the year. I have dabbled with supplements because I get a couple of major colds every year. I've heard things like you only need 15 minutes of sunshine per day to get your recommended dose of Vitamin D, but I've also heard it can be quite bad for you if you have too much in your system (and it's hard for your body to flush excess amounts). If t…

You don't need to guess, go to your GP and get yourself tested. It's not expensive, depending on where you're from it might even be free, and usually you get the results back already the next day.

Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#105

Post by Etheryte »

xwowsersx wrote: post #58

Supplementing with vitamin D is honestly one of the easiest things you can do... it's cheap, available everywhere, and makes a real difference. Just make sure you're also taking magnesium citrate (or another good form of magnesium) with it, since your body needs magnesium to properly use vit D

An even better option is to go to your GP and have them run your bloodwork. It's cheap, depending on where you're from it might even be free, and you don't have to guess or randomly pick supplements you read about online. Most people on HN will live to a very high age, there's no reason to take random gambles on what you do to your body.

Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#106

Post by al_borland »

unionjack22 wrote: post #38

Vitamin D, red light therapy, insulin attenuating response of a walk, immunological benefit of allergen exposure, cognitive noise reduction and rest response of walks in forests. Man keeps trying to bring the outdoors inside.

While I’d love to just go for a walk outside, the allergen exposure of the outdoors is too high most of the time. This elements any mental health benefits a walk in a forest might otherwise give.

Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#107

Post by wongarsu »

delecti wrote: post #66
slow_typist wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dogs can synthesise vitamin C…

And humans aren't dogs.

Most definitions of the word vitamin are not specific to humans. Wikipedia talks about "organisms", Britannica about "higher animal life", Webster about "most animals and some plants"

Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#108

Post by yadaeno »

al_borland wrote: post #106
unionjack22 wrote: post #38

Vitamin D, red light therapy, insulin attenuating response of a walk, immunological benefit of allergen exposure, cognitive noise reduction and rest response of walks in forests. Man keeps trying to bring the outdoors inside.

While I’d love to just go for a walk outside, the allergen exposure of the outdoors is too high most of the time. This elements any mental health benefits a walk in a forest might otherwise give.

Allergy shots work very well.

Re: Vitamin D reduces incidence and duration of colds in those with low levels

#109

Post by hinkley »

nickff wrote: post #49
unionjack22 wrote: post #38

Vitamin D, red light therapy, insulin attenuating response of a walk, immunological benefit of allergen exposure, cognitive noise reduction and rest response of walks in forests. Man keeps trying to bring the outdoors inside.

While I find your comment enjoyably pithy, in the case of vitamin D, many humans are currently living at latitudes which they are not suited to (skin being too dark to generate enough vitamin D given the insolation), and eating diets which do not provide them with sufficient amounts of it (the carnivore diets of Inuits and similar groups being a good contrast).

It’s criminal that the US sent Somalian refuges to live in Minnesota. Those are some seriously brown people in the land of no vitamin D. Pretty big population in Seattle as well, which is worse due to cloud cover.
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