Published on April 1, 2020
Today’s post will summarize how you can help improve immune health for yourself and those around you, by taking the following actions NOW:
1. Get your vitamin D levels up to at least 40 ng/ml – do this for you, your family, your friends
- There is a wide range of responses to vitamin D intake; here are some reasons why testing is important
- Test to be sure you know that your vitamin D dose is working for you – Calculate how much additional vitamin D may be necessary to achieve the target level you desire using our Vitamin D Calculator
- Vitamin D is essential to healthy immune function – read more
- Each test kit at GrassrootsHealth includes the vitamin D test, or choose the Vitamin D and Mg PLUS Elements test kit – measure your vitamin D along with other minerals important for your immune health! (See below for more information)
2. Support your immune system with other essential nutrients and lifestyle habits
Vitamin C is also extremely important to immune function. For more information on how much to take and when, check out The Effectiveness of Vitamin C in Preventing and Relieving the Symptoms of Virus-Induced Respiratory Infections- Be sure your diet also includes other essential nutrients, such as zinc, selenium, and magnesium – your status of these nutrients can also be measured through GrassrootsHealth with the Vitamin D PLUS Elements Panel test kit
- Read more for an overview of how several of these nutrients work together to support immune system function and on what lifestyle factors may also contribute to immune health
Vitamin C is also extremely important to immune function. For more information on how much to take and when, check out 3. Share this important information with your friends, co-workers, health care providers
- Our paper Evidence That Vitamin D Supplementation Could Reduce Risk of Influenza and COVID-19 Infections and Deaths is available to read and download here.
- Our blog has many easy-to-read, science-based articles on vitamin D and other nutrients and their role in immune health. Start by reading the Immune Health blogs here.
- Share our new banner ads (below) on your website, in social media, or in emails to your friends. Any purchase of 2 vitamin D test kits will receive 50% off the second kit. And, share the knowledge of why testing is so important by linking to our Vitamin D and Incidence of Flu – Information You Should Know blog.
Our paper 4. Donate to GrassrootsHealth
As part of our continued efforts to help with the situation, we’re seeking donations to help make vitamin D tests available for free or a reduced cost for those who cannot otherwise afford one. Your continued support also helps us in reaching others through our research, education, data analysis, and publications.
How Can You Use this Information for YOUR Health?
Having and maintaining healthy vitamin D and other nutrient levels can help improve your health now and for your future. Measuring is the only way to make sure you are getting enough!
STEP 1 Order your at-home blood spot test kit to measure vitamin D and other nutrients of concern to you, such as omega-3s, magnesium, essential and toxic elements (zinc, copper, selenium, lead, cadmium, mercury); include hsCRP as a marker of inflammation or HbA1c for blood sugar health
STEP 2 Answer the online questionnaire as part of the GrassrootsHealth study
STEP 3 Using our educational materials and tools (such as our dose calculators), assess your results to determine if you are in your desired target range or if actions should be taken to get there
STEP 4 After 3-6 months of implementing your changes, re-test to see if you have achieved your target level(s)
