DK Absolute / vitamin d 5000 iu

• Provides clinically useful doses of vitamin D3 and vitamin K.
• It contains higher therapeutic doses for situations where more aggressive repletion is required.
• Promotes optimal bone and arterial health for maintaining the immune system.

Recommended Use: Take 2,000-5,000 IU daily. 

Patient Education

A special thanks to the Vitamin D Council website for their information.

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for good health and may help manage and prevent a variety of conditions, particularly viral respiratory infections.

Respiratory infections reside in the throat, sinuses, airways, or lungs, and include influenza, the common cold, sinus infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, and tuberculosis.

Studies have shown a link between vitamin D levels and the risk of getting a respiratory infection. People who have low vitamin D levels tend to have a higher chance of developing a respiratory infection, and more people get respiratory infections in the winter when vitamin D levels are known to be lower. Some research has also demonstrated that people with high levels of vitamin D who get respiratory infections have a shorter illness duration or less severe symptoms.

An experiment done in Sweden in 2012 looked at adults who had a history of getting multiple respiratory infections each year. The researchers gave participants either 4000 IU of vitamin D or a dummy pill daily for one year. They found that people receiving vitamin D had fewer respiratory and sinus symptoms and were on fewer antibiotics throughout the year, in addition to having fewer viruses and bacteria present in their respiratory tracts and noses. The researchers concluded that supplementing with 4000 IU of vitamin D per day may help to prevent respiratory tract infections in adults.

How does vitamin D potentially do this? There are vitamin D receptors found on cells in the immune system and the respiratory tract, and vitamin D can bind to these receptors. Vitamin D works in the immune system by reducing levels of inflammatory proteins called cytokines, as well as increasing amounts of antimicrobial proteins, which destroy invading germs and viruses.

This combination of lowering inflammation and increasing antimicrobial defenses can help your immune system fight infections better.

Having enough vitamin D increases the number of proteins that destroy invading respiratory viruses along with other viruses like the rhinovirus.

Vitamin K enhances the effect of vitamin D, as it helps unlock the cells to allow vitamin D to enter. In addition, vitamin K aids the formation of strong bones, bone mineralization, and cardiovascular health. Vitamin D+K includes both of these important vitamins.

While Vitamin D is a beneficial nutrient, please note that if you have a respiratory infection, you shouldn’t take vitamin D in place of any treatment medications. Talk to your physician for more advice about taking supplements.