For this study, researchers wanted to dig into how vitamin D3 levels impact the inflammatory response in the body, and how that response translated to allergies and asthma.

To do so, they looked at both children and adults, had them increase their vitamin D intake, and then assessed the participant’s cellular inflammatory response, as well as any subsequent symptoms.

Sure enough, when participants increased their vitamin D levels, they experienced fewer symptoms and less severe asthma overall. Further, the study authors note, certain cells showed that higher vitamin D levels translated to more blimp-1 (a protein that helps promote a healthy immune response from T helper cells).

And of course, for the sake of quality research, one of the study’s co-authors replicated the study in mice and saw similar results. In fact, mice with increased vitamin D levels even showed fewer allergy-inducing antibodies that can exacerbate hay fever and eczema.

As the study authors write in their research, their results indicate that “vitamin D3 shifts proinflammatory immune responses to anti-inflammatory immune responses.”