Vitamin D could very well be one of the most important nutrients for your immune system.

Now that we are heading into cold and flu season (and a possible second wave of the pandemic) Vitamin D should be on everyone's radar for supplementation.

But how do you know how much to take?

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. This means you can store it up in your body. So the possibility of reaching a toxic level if you take too much is more likely than with a water soluble vitamin (like Vitamin C).

You also want to make sure that you are not Vitamin D deficient. If are deficient, or even suboptimal, you are putting yourself at risk for heart disease and poor immune function. Both of which are risk factors for poor outcomes with COVID-19.

Here are a couple studies that support this:

• decreasing your chance of developing heart disease, according to 2008 findings published in Circulation
• helping to reduce your likelihood of developing the flu, according to 2010 research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

So back to the question, how do you know how much to take?

To optimize your dose you need to have a blood test.

This test is often not recommended by family physicians because OHIP does not pay for it.

I disagree with the common recommendation to just take the standard recommended dose. This is not personalized medicine.

8 out 10 patients that we test at our clinic come back either deficient or suboptimal. And this includes people who are already taking vitamin D and/or spend a lot of "time in the sun".

If you are interested in having your blood tested and you are already a patient at the clinic feel free to give us a call.

Need more info?

I have included an excellent video from Med Cram on the importance of vitamin D and the coronavirus.

Now I would love to hear from you! Do you know your vitamin D level? Why or why not? Leave a comment below and I'll be back next week with another edition of Doctor At Teacher Tuesday!