by Dr. Joseph Mercola, public domain
(Feb. 19, 2022) — 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
“This was a question that my colleagues and I set out to answer in the Autoimmune Disease Prevention ancillary study in the VITAL trial.
Now, when my patients, colleagues, or friends ask me, I can point to our research findings, which suggest that for women age 55 years and older, and men 50 years and older, marine omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 1000 mg a day, and vitamin D 2000 IU a day — the doses used in VITAL — lead to a 22% reduction in all autoimmune diseases with vitamin D, and a 15% reduction in the same with fish oil supplementation over 5.3 years of randomized follow-up.
In the trial, these supplements were prescription grade and underwent rigorous quality testing. They were safe and well tolerated and no increase in adverse events was found.”
Low Omega-3 and Vitamin D Worsen COVID Outcomes
Ensuring you have optimal levels of omega-3 and vitamin D is a smart health move that will lower your risk of numerous diseases — not only autoimmune disorders. COVID-19 is among them. A study published in January 2021 evaluated 100 individuals’ omega-3 index and compared that against their COVID-19 outcomes.12
The omega-3 Index is a measure of the amount of EPA and DHA in the membranes of your red blood cells (RBCs). Your index is expressed as a percent of your total RBC fatty acids. The omega-3 index has been validated as a stable, long-term marker of your omega-3 status, and it reflects your tissue levels of EPA and DHA.
Read the rest here for a limited time or download the article:
See Dr. Mercola’s “Censored Library” here (subscription required).