Theory as to why Canada First Nations Heavily Impacted by Flu

Vitamin D has a profound effect on the human immune system. Vitamin D deficiency is now being linked to many autoimmune diseases. This includes the cytokine storm of influenza.

People with dark skin pigment living in northern latitudes (US Blacks) are known to have higher rates of autoimmune disease and this would be due to their skin being designed to live in regions with much higher daily UV exposure (equator).

However, I believe (my personal opinion) that the First Nations people living in high northern latitudes have a very special issue going on with vitamin D. Let me explain…

What happened to naked apes living on the equator who received maximum UV rays on their skin daily? There were gene polymorphisms in skin melanin cells producing more skin pigment that blocked sun exposure to UV rays to vitamin D producing cells below them in the epidermis. This then regulated vitamin D toxicity issues.

High arctic people received their vitamin D almost entirely from their ancient traditional diet. A which was diet very rich in vitamin D. If vitamin D absorption through the diet was too high what would the gene polymorphism be in the gut to limit vitamin D toxicity? They would absorb less vitamin D in the gut.

This is a simple gene adaption no different than people living at the equator being black to limit vitamin D production.

This theory explains this;

Canadian Aboriginal Women Have a Higher Prevalence of Vitamin D
Deficiency than Non-Aboriginal Women Despite Similar Dietary Vitamin D Intakes

Hope A. Weiler3,*, William D. Leslie4, John Krahn4, Pauline Wood Steiman6 and Colleen J. Metge5 3 Human Nutritional Sciences, 4 Faculty of Medicine, and 5 Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2 MB, Canada and 6 Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Winnipeg, R3C 0M6 MB, Canada * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hope.weiler@mcgill.ca .

CanadianAboriginal women have high rates of bone fractures, which is possibly due to low dietary intake of minerals or vitamin D. This study was undertaken to estimate dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D by designing a culturally appropriate dietary survey instrument and to determine whether disparities exist between Aboriginal and white women. After validation of a FFQ, 183 urban-dwelling and 26 rural-dwelling Aboriginal women and 146 urban white women completed the validated FFQ and had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] measured. Urban Aboriginal women had lower (P = 0.0004) intakes of total dietary calcium than urban white women; there was no difference in rural Aboriginal women. Only aminority of all women met the adequate intake (AI) for calcium intake. Ethnicity did not affect total vitamin D intake; however, rural Aboriginal women consumed all of their dietary vitamin D from food sources, which was more

It is all metabolic gene polymorphisms adapting to regional environments and diet.

At the equator where vitamin D is produced via sun exposure skin pigment darkens. At high latitudes where the sun is rarely strong enough to produce vitamin D in the skin it is absorbed in the gut, and limited in the gut by changes in genes.

The First Nations of Canada now have a gene polymorphism gut vitamin D limiter in conflict with the new diet introduced by the European colonizers.So can you see why even if a First Nations person supplemented exactly the same with vitamin D as a white person it may not get to the serum as effectively?

This explains the very high rates of autoimmune disease in First Nations peoples.

I suggest to find a fast benchmark vitamin D daily number for First Nations peoples, they need to calculate the vitamin D daily, dietary intake found in the ancient arctic diet (think seal/walrus/whale blubber, fish, fish oils, egg yolks, fish eggs and related [very rich sources of vitamin D]). This will allow a quick answer for the current influenza situation.