Gut Health, Autoimmune Disease, & The Sunshine Vitamin 🌞 (Vitamin D)

In medical school I was shocked to see a map of the world showing the prevalence of autoimmune diseases. America, Canada, Europe, Australia and other industrialized nations where health care is the best in the world had the highest levels of autoimmune disease. Poor countries in Africa, South America and Asia had the lowest levels. How could that be? Did some one make a mistake? Unfortunately, no. 

What would cause such a stark division of autoimmune disease? What are we doing wrong in industrialized countries? Well, there are several things we are doing wrong. To name a few: pesticides and herbicides in our food supply, chemicals to preserve our food and give it the most appetizing texture, highly processed foods with poor nutrient content, increased use of sugar and artificial sweeteners--just to name a few. How do these foods harm us and create autoimmune disease?

The most common way this happens is by damaging the lining of our intestines. This lining is only 1 cell thick and is sealed tightly with pores that allow nutrients inside. 70% of our immune cells are found in the intestines and stand guard at the portal of entry into our body. When we eat the Standard American Diet (SAD) the lining of our intestines is damaged and our immune system sees a wide variety of molecules that it has never seen before. This puts the immune system on high alert and it starts to recognize similar molecules in different parts of our bodies as foreign invaders. Perhaps it saw a foreign molecule that looks like a molecule on your nerves, your joints, or your liver so it attacks them. This hyperactive immune system reaction causes persistent inflammation and ongoing damage to certain body parts leading to autoimmune disease. So, how can we calm down this inflammation?

Just like there are many problems causing autoimmune disease there are many answers. One of the most important answers is Vitamin D!

Our intestines have several ways of protecting themselves including a lining of mucus, molecules that act like rivets to keep the intestinal lining tightly sealed, stem cells, antimicrobials, and a vast array of microbes.

The mucus lining is a home for friendly bacteria and is a barrier for toxic molecules. The mucus is produced by special cells in your intestines called goblet cells. Vitamin D stimulates goblet cells to produce more protective, intestinal mucus.

Your intestinal lining is under attack all the time and can suffer heavy damage from what we eat. The ensuing holes in the intestinal lining need to be quickly repaired. Vitamin D is necessary for your body to produce more “rivets” to once again tightly seal the intestinal lining. Sometimes intestinal cells themselves are damaged beyond repair and need to be replaced. Stem cells are found scattered in strategic positions in the intestinal wall. When cells need to be replaced stem cells multiply and replace the damaged cells. Vitamin D is essential for stem cell survival and reproduction.

We have trillions of microbes (bacteria, virus, protozoa, etc) in our bodies. This is actually more than all of the cells in our entire body. The vast majority of these microbes are good and even essential for our health. They are constantly fighting to maintain their territory amongst the jungle of microbes. When the microbes are in a healthy balance, we are healthy. The food we give them when we eat determines the winners. These microbes are like little factories. They take food in and then produce beneficial substances. For example the majority of serotonin is produced by your intestinal microbes. If our diet favors an unhealthy balance, then harmful microbes damage our intestinal lining. Vitamin D actually causes our intestinal cells to secrete antibiotics that favor a healthy balance of microbes. Interestingly some microbes actually secrete a substance that makes our intestinal cells more sensitive to Vitamin D. That way Vitamin D can have a more powerful effect and promote the survival of these microbes.

Lastly, Vitamin D directly affects immune cells in our intestines. As I mentioned earlier, our immune cells can overreact when they see foreign particles. They can turn a local problem at the border into a body-wide crisis if not kept in check. Vitamin D calms down this body wide crisis and keeps the local border agents in control thus avoiding body wide inflammation.

Vitamin D is a crucial player in maintaining the health of our intestines and immune system, and unfortunately, it is one of the most common vitamin deficiencies in the world. Lack of sunlight, darker skin, obesity, older age, malnutrition (SAD diet) can all lead to vitamin D deficiency. Endocrinologist recommend taking up to 5,000IU of Vitamin D daily. Some experts advocate taking doses as high as 10,000IU daily. One research article showed no harmful effects from taking 40,000 IU of Vitamin D daily. There has only been 1 reported incidence of Vitamin D overdose in many decades.

If you want to protect and heal your gut lining and begin to calm down your overactive immune system, click the link below to purchase our vitamin D supplement D-Immune Vitality Max and begin reaping the benefits of natural, medical grade, organic Vitamin D. Take control of the battle for your gut lining and your immune system right now!