Things You'll Need:
- vitamin D supplements
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Step 1
Calculate your vitamin D needs. Current recommended daily allowances are much lower than recent research indicates they should be. For every pound of body weight you should aim on getting 35 IU of vitamin D. Thus, a person weighing 150 pounds needs over 5,000 IU of vitamin D to gain the immune boosting benefits and prevent illness (current RDAs are approximately 200 IU).
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Step 2
Get in the sun. Sunlight changes compounds in your body to vitamin D. But you must also balance your sun exposure with the risks it imposes (e.g., cancer).
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Step 3
Take supplements. There are very few natural dietary sources of vitamin D (examples are fatty fish and egg yolks), and no source that provides enough to boost your immune system to a level protective of cold and flu viruses.
There are two types of vitamin D supplements available. Cholecalciferol (D3) is the compound your body naturally makes when exposed to the sunlight. This is the best form, as it is converted to a usable form most quickly. The other type of vitamin D supplement is ergocalciferol (D2) and is not as effective as D3, so may not be as protective against illness.
