Taking Vitamin D protects against COVID-19? New research and new facts

The assumption that people who take vitamin D are less susceptible to COVID-19 has been around since the start of the pandemic. But was it justified? British scientists have just completed a series of studies on this topic. The result is unequivocal.

1. British from Queen Mary University in London checked how taking vitamin D influences susceptibility to coronavirus infection
2. While the results of the study were not surprising, the experiment raised doubts as to whether the available methodology could help answer the question of whether vitamin D deficiency actually increases the risk of developing COVID-19.
3. The researchers noted that one of the often overlooked answers to the question about the relationship of vitamin D to the coronavirus is that vitamin D is produced primarily by exposure to sunlight. People who are less active in the fresh air are more likely to suffer from its deficiency. The same is true of COVID-19, which often attacks less active people with a bad lifestyle
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Author: Birgit Herden / The World

Vit. Deficiency D increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection?

Vitamin D is widely believed to prevent many diseases, but this has never been scientifically proven. The same applies to the claim that taking vitamin D supplements may protect against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, but in this case the link, although not direct, does exist. On the one hand, vitamin D metabolites play an important role in the immune system. The other – Observational studies have shown that people with low blood levels of vitamin D are more susceptible to infection with the coronavirus.

Is it a vitamin D deficiency, then, that would explain why coronavirus infections progress so differently from person to person? And can COVID-19 be avoided by taking vitamin D regularly? This issue was investigated by a team at Queen Mary University in London.

In December 2020, scientists led by Adrian Martineau recruited 6. 200 people, divided into three groups. The participants were randomized, which means that they were characterized by similar age, gender, previous diseases, weight, ethnicity and lifestyle. Vitamin D concentration was tested in two groups. If the laboratory test showed that it was below a certain level, the participants (in the first group) were instructed to take a relatively low daily dose of 800 IU of vitamin D. The second group took a much higher dose – 3200 IU per day. The third group was the control group.

1. See also: Vitamin D – health benefits, sources, supplementation

The experiment began at a time when the British population was still unvaccinated and the second wave of coronavirus was just sweeping the country. In June 2020, researchers re-measured the participants’ vitamin D levels and looked at who had contracted COVID-19 or another respiratory infection in the last six months.

The rest of the text below the video.

«Serious publication with reliable statistics»

It turned out that taking vitamin D had no effect on infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus or other respiratory diseases. This was true for both participants taking the vitamin at a low dose and those taking the higher dose. There were fewer infections in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant.

“This is a powerful answer to a question that has been asked many times during the pandemic,” commented Australian epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz in Medium.

The study results were published as a preprint only, so they have not yet been peer reviewed by experts. However, German nutritionist Martin Smollich from the Institute of Nutrition Medicine at Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital in Lübeck believes that “this result must be taken seriously”. «It is a serious publication with reliable statistics».

1. Also check: Vitamin D – how to supplement it?

The scientist is not surprised by the result. Associative studies would create the impression that vitamin D may protect against infections caused by the coronavirus. “However, a causal relationship could already have been ruled out in Mendel’s earlier analyzes,” he said.

The biggest problem with purely observational studies is that a causal relationship cannot be proved from the fact that people with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to develop infections. Vitamin D is only partially ingested with food and is largely produced by the skin when exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency is therefore more likely in inactive people and can therefore lead to a deterioration of health.

Guilty genes?

However, there is also a genetic factor behind low vitamin D levels in the body. Certain genetic changes mean that some people are able to synthesize or absorb a vitamin slightly better than others. This fact is taken into account by Mendel’s analysis. Scientists used genetic data and checked whether people with an unfavorable vitamin D constellation were more likely to suffer from COVID-19.

Such an analysis was published last year in “PLOS One”. An international research group assessed the data of over 440. people. Application? “We found no evidence that vitamin D protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection or the severe course of COVID-19,” the researchers conclude. “It was actually proof”, comments Martin Smollich.

1. Read also: Vitamin D Deficiency Increases COVID-19 Risk? A disturbing study

The last step in research on the relationship of vitamin D with the coronavirus was an experiment involving its specific supplementation, which the British have just checked. However, this study is not perfect. It only provides information on how often participants contracted COVID-19 or other respiratory infections, but says nothing about whether the course of the infection was milder with vitamin D supplementation. “Mendel’s analyzes have already ruled that out,” says Smollich.

Another weakness was the fact that the respondents took vitamin D when its concentration in the blood was less than 75 nmol / L, which was more than 88 percent. participants. However, almost 15 percent. blood test showed severe vitamin D deficiency (less than 25 nmol / l). The study could not provide any information as to whether such people would benefit from supplementation and fall ill less frequently; too few people in the subgroup became ill within six months to provide a statistically significant result.

“In my opinion, people with a pronounced vitamin D deficiency definitely benefit from vitamin D supplementation – but only these people” – says Smollich, referring, inter alia, to to work in which patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease took preparations with vitamin D for a year (the work was published in «Thorax» in 2018).

In people who initially had values ​​below 25 nmol / l, the supplementation had a positive effect on the course of the disease. However, vitamin D did not benefit patients with higher blood cell counts. “A common misconception is that vitamin D is a health-enhancing blanket,” says Smollich. “On the other hand, a defect that is noticed should definitely be repaired”.

Who should take vitamin D?

From 2012 r. German Nutrition Society (DGE), in agreement with the US Institute of Medicine, recommends aiming for a blood vitamin D concentration of at least 50 nmol / l, which corresponds to a concentration of 20 ng / ml (this unit is sometimes used as an alternative).

According to a study by the Robert Koch Institute in 2016, around half of the German population is below this value in the winter months. Therefore, a blood test is recommended to determine the level of vitamin D in the blood. If we don’t know our value, but still want to take vitamin D, we shouldn’t take too much of it. DGE recommends a daily intake of 800 IU. The European Food Authority has defined 4000 IU as an upper limit which is not toxicologically harmful.

1. Vitamin D – what is the risk of its deficiency? [WE EXPLAIN]

In light of the research results, however, we should not expect vitamin D to protect us from COVID-19. Of the many purported benefits of vitamin D supplementation, one is documented: older people who take vitamin D regularly are less likely to suffer falls and fractures. So for seniors who don’t spend too much time in the sun, vitamin D can actually save a life.

We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we devote it to the problems of the perineum – a part of the body just like any other. And although it concerns all of us, it is still a taboo subject that we are often ashamed to talk about. What do hormonal changes and natural births change? How not to harm the pelvic floor muscles and how to care for them? How do we talk about perineal problems with our daughters? About this and many other aspects of the problem in a new episode of the podcast.

You may be interested in:

1. We don’t have to wear masks anymore. According to doctors, this is a mistake
2. Coronavirus is rampant in China. In Shanghai, parents fear separation from their children
3. “I’ve been suffering from COVID debts for two years now.” More and more people are struggling with this disease