Please read the following article or Take Action Here!
Last week we highlighted the government’s complete silence about Vitamin D during this flu season, complete silence despite the scientific evidence supporting the use of Vitamin D to prevent or treat flu. Not a word has been said by our health authorities despite projections that there would be hundreds of thousands of seasonal flu-related complications, more than 35,000 related deaths , and an unknown number in addition from the H1N1 flu.
We asked you to take action to tell the responsible government agencies that further silence, even efforts to censor information, about Vitamin D and its role in preventing or treating so many different health conditions including flu is simply unacceptable. Our thanks to those of you who took the time to respond and send a message to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), FDA (Food and Drug Administration), NIH (National Institute of Health), and HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) to let them know that they are failing in their duty to support the health of all citizens.
This week we are again asking those of you who have not yet responded to Take Action by signing our petition to the same agencies. Then ask your friends and family to do the same.
Our goal is to persuade the CDC, FDA, NIH, and HHS to step up to the plate and help educate the public about the critical role Vitamin D plays. In particular, we are asking them to issue statements outlining the immense benefits to be gained from supplementation during the flu season. In addition, HHS should update the government’s web site, www.flu.gov to include well established facts about Vitamin D.
When Vitamin D is lacking, we become a prime target for flu and the H1N1 Swine Flu. By contrast, those with sufficient levels of Vitamin D are able to fight off or throw off these attacking pathogens.
Vitamin D boosts the innate immune response in many ways. It also balances the immune response, preventing inflammation that can lead to flu-related complications such as bacterial pneumonia or lung infection. Inflammation was the leading cause of deaths in the 1918 influenza pandemic.
In anticipation of the government’s programmed response – that even more research needs to be done – we are also asking the CDC, FDA, NIH, and HHS to support and fund additional research on the importance of maintaining adequate levels of Vitamin D, including the link between Vitamin D and flu prevention and treatment.
Please sign our petition to these Agencies now.
Gretchen DuBeau
Executive Director, ANH-USA
Read the more complete discussion of our Vitamin D campaign contained in last week’s newsletter followed by helpful articles from a variety of reliable sources and databases of scientific research on Vitamin D.
24 comments
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I consideer my good health from takig Vitamins I take my D every day it is the best thing there is to fight against a Cold.
Given the multitude of studies that prove the health benefits of vitamin D I am not sure why the government is reluctant to educate the public?
hey kevin it’s b/c big pharma helped put certain politicians in …our elected officials owe them favors. Also big pharma saturates the media with advertising dollars not to advertise to drs but to advertise to the public. Why? So they have leverage with the media outlets who will squelch good news health news about the good effects of vitamins and supplements.
Vitamin D works better than untested vaccines. Vitamin D isn’t toxic at high levels unless you use no common sense. Most people in this country are very deficient in vitamin D.
I have learned alot about the ikmportance of vitamin d to the body. I do not understand how the health benefits of pure, unadulterated food can be ignored.
We need HEALTH CARE NOT DRUGS! No one gets sick because they are missing a DRUG!
VITAMIN D IS GOOD FOR US, BACK OFF!
I am happy to say I did not get any flu like illness over the “flu season”, I did however get plenty of vitamin D through my frequent sun exposure.
Over the past ten years and especially in the last four or five there has been an outpouring of research articles showing that adequate vitamin D levels correlate with a reduction in many types of cancer, a reduction of osteoporosis and a reduction in premature births and also that in the presence of adequate vitamin D people produce huge numbers of antibiotic and antiviral peptides which protect them against infections. It is criminal to ignore all this research while pushing highly questionable vaccines. To the average citizen it is getting to seem that his health is of no consequence, the health of the big pharmas is all that matters.
my husband and i take a lot of supplements, we have hardly had colds or infections in 4 years. These are just many found at walmart…we take D3 5000 mg tablets all year round 2 or 3 daily plus a multi, 1000 mg fish oil and many others for specific problems like inflammation or pain.
Supplement works and so does fresh whole foods. Now if we can just get into regular exercise 🙂
The past 2 years i’ve also started sitting in the sun for 30 minutes daily it was amazing how it lifted my moods.
I truly believe depression is just a lack of sun and the b vitamins.
You were elected to serve our best interests and optimal health in the most natural way possible is in our best interest. It is barbaric to even have to ask you this. It is time we all evolved and not regress because of greed and desire for power. Nobody wins. Nobody!
the government and every credible agency should fund and show the benefits of natural, inexpensive alternatives such as Vitamin D therapy which benefit our health, not just those products that lead to insane profits for the pharmaceudicals and other companies. All of the research should be made public for the benefit of the public.
Further silence, even efforts to censor information, about Vitamin D and its role in preventing or treating so many different health conditions including flu is simply unacceptable! Vitamin D for flu prevention and treatment, please!!!
Further silence, even efforts to censor information, about Vitamin D and its role in preventing or treating so many different health conditions including flu is simply unacceptable! Vitamin D for flu prevention and treatment, please!!!
The FDA really needs to be overhauled and their ties to drug companies
really needs to be just oversight with no objections to other forms of
health enhancements.
I did not receive either the seasonal flu shot or the H1N1 shot. I also did not contract any flu this flu season. Oh yeah, I take high levels of oral vitamin D and know what my blood level of vitamin D is.
If you government types ever want to give everyone in the United States health insurance, you will have to control health costs. Think of the cost savings and added productivity I have contributed to society. I have not missed a day of work and have not spread any flu virus.
Think of the savings we would have if everybody did what I did.
Joseph Gustafson
I not only support the benefits of Vitamin D I also increased the daily dose I take since the start of the flu season. I’m appalled that none of the warnings ever support this supplement. They only say “sneeze in your sleeve” when around others, get a flu shot and if you work and believe you have the disease stay home. Big Phama yields a big stick and I’m disgusted that government agencies support their poisonous drugs. Their drugs will never solve our healthcare crisis. As a matter of fact their drugs will even make it worse. The only solution to the world’s healthcare crisis is health education program. However I don’t think a government educational program will ever happen because Big Phama is in bed with them. If people knew how to be healthier Big Pharma’s profits would diminish. That’s my goal to make it happen with my website and article submissions.
If your mission is to keep the public informed and healthy, then your agency’s mission has failed misearably. Since you are aware of Vitamin D’s ability to fight disease and maintain health and know that a majority of US citizens are Vitamin D deficient, it’s nothing less than criminal to keep the public ignorant about the efficacy of this supplement. Do the job you were established to do and help educate the public.
I’m disappointed that once again your organization is promoting Vitamin D as the answer to the Flu epidemics that we are encountering. Where is the evidence that vitamin D helps the “innate immune” system?. Vitamin D can be immuno-suppressive, and contrary to what you have said here does not support the innate immune system. The wide scale frenzy over Vitamin D is not warranted or backed up by scientific studies and I believe in the next 10 years the frenzy over vitamin D will be seen for what it is, poorly interpreted medical information. In people with chronic illness Vitamin D can suppress the immune system and prevent the body from recognizing infections that are responsible for chronic illness. In healthy people vitamin D might be warranted, but certainly not in large amounts. The metabolism of Vitamin D in the body is very complex and one of vitamin D metabolites 1,25 D, is actually a cytokine. Interpreting data on Vitamin D studies requires a skillfull scientiific mind that is willing to interpet the data for what it is without previously formulated ideas or theories. Please be careful what you promote, you appear to look like just another organization that is not backing up it’s activism with real scientific data or support. The government is not trying to scam us on this one. The NIH is well aware of the dangers of promoting large amounts of Vitamin D. On another note, Bill Faloon, who is Co-founder of the Life Extension is in the business of selling supplements, should you be relying on his interpretation of the scientific data regarding vitamin D? This clearly appears to be a conflict of interest. For your organization to look legitimate you need to have reliable sources of scientific information so that you do not promote public misinformation. Catherine Parr
Catherine, why don’t you go to PubMed.org and personally interpret all of the Vitamin D research? Doing so will settle the so-called “issues” for you. If you’re not an authority on Vitamin D — and your naive and overreaching proclaimations suggests such a fact — why should anyone even listen to you in the first place? What’s YOUR conflict of interest? There is no nirvana where it doesn’t exist.
Why is there a government Recommended Daily Allowance/Intake of vitamins and minerals? Not that it is even close to what is actually needed by the human body . . . It is laughable that government agencies warn against “overdosing” on vitamins, yet just slap a Black Box warning on drugs that kill people–and keep the drug on the market.