Vitamin D and Omega-3 Prevent Autoimmune Disease

[Elderberry]

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola 2/19/2022

Story at-a-glance

•   A study published in BMJ found that supplementing with vitamin D and omega-3 fats could significantly lower your risk of developing an autoimmune disease, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, thyroid diseases and more, as you get older

•   Participants took vitamin D3 (2,000 IU), omega-3 fats (1,000 milligrams) or a placebo daily and were followed for more than five years

•   Vitamin D supplementation for five years, with or without omega-3 fats, reduced autoimmune disease by 22%

•   Omega-3 fat supplementation with or without vitamin D reduced the autoimmune disease rate by 15%

•   For those taking both vitamin D and omega-3 fats, the risk of autoimmune disease decreased by about 30%, and when participants took vitamin D for at least two years, their risk of autoimmune disease decreased even more — by 39%

•   For optimal health, it’s not enough to only increase omega-3s — you also need to cut down on omega-6s, particularly linoleic acid from “vegetable,” or seed, oils

Autoimmune diseases, in which your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells, have been on the rise for about four decades and are now increasing at a rate of between 3% and 9% a year, globally.1 As a leading cause of death among women, and the third leading cause of morbidity in industrialized countries,2 researchers have speculated that environmental and dietary factors may be to blame.

“Human genetics hasn’t altered over the past few decades,” James Lee, a scientist with London’s Francis Crick Institute, told The Guardian. “So something must be changing in the outside world in a way that is increasing our predisposition to autoimmune disease.”3

Changes in levels of vitamin D and omega-3 could be among them, and a study published in The BMJ suggests that supplementing with these compounds could significantly lower your risk of developing an autoimmune disease, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, thyroid diseases and more, as you get older.4

Vitamin D and Omega-3 Lower Autoimmune Disease Risk

Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, used data from the vitamin D and omega-3 trial (VITAL), which involved 25,871 participants aged 50 (men) or 55 (women) and older, to investigate whether vitamin D and omega-3 fats from marine sources reduce the risk of autoimmune disease.

Participants took vitamin D3 (2,000 IU), omega-3 fats (1,000 milligrams) or a placebo daily and were followed for more than five years. They self-reported all autoimmune diseases that were diagnosed during the study period, and those taking vitamin D and/or omega-3s had a lower risk.

“Vitamin D supplementation for five years, with or without omega-3 fatty acids, reduced autoimmune disease by 22%, while omega-3 fatty acid supplementation with or without vitamin D reduced the autoimmune disease rate by 15% (not statistically significant),” the researchers wrote.5

For those taking both vitamin D and omega-3 fats, the risk of autoimmune disease decreased by about 30%.6 Further, when participants took vitamin D for at least two years, their risk of autoimmune disease decreased even more — by 39%.7

Vitamin D’s involvement in inflammation and both acquired and innate immune responses may explain why it appears to beneficial for preventing autoimmune diseases.8 Vitamin D receptors are present in nearly all cells of the human immune system, including monocytes/macrophages, T cells, B cells, natural killer cells and dendritic cells.

Vitamin D has multiple actions on the immune system, including enhancing the production of antimicrobial peptides by immune cells, reducing damaging proinflammatory cytokines and promoting the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines.9 Likewise, the omega-3 fats eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) inhibit the production of C-reactive protein and inflammatory cytokines, and are known to help resolve inflammation.10

Study author Dr. Karen Costenbader, lupus program director at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, explained that the findings are so powerful, she can now answer one of her patients’ most common questions — “Which vitamins or supplements do you recommend?” She said:11

More: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/02/19/vitamin-d-and-omega-3-prevent-autoimmune-disease.aspx

[DB]

A lot of people are seriously deficient in vitamin D. I was for most of my life.

The whole Covid pandemic likely would have had a much better outcome if people had been told to simply take this two years ago. But government and big pharma would have none of it..

Thousands died for a profit.