Doctors warn that taking high doses of Vitamin D has little or no effect on COVID-19, and they urge against taking more of the supplement than is recommended since it can have adverse health effects.
This update comes in the wake of people pounding down the D vitamin as a prophylactic measure, after learning that many patients with the worst symptoms and outcomes, when diagnosed with COVID-19, have also been vitamin D deficient.
Countries where COVID-19 cases have resulted in the highest death rates, are also those where more of the population has D deficiencies. Researchers have found that the sickest patients often have the lowest levels of vitamin D. These facts have led individuals who are not sick to start taking large doses of vitamin D.
Vitamin D to Treat or Prevent COVID-19? Not true. Here is What Science Tells Us:
Experts say healthy blood levels of vitamin D may give some protection against the worst symptoms if you do contract COVID-19. One possible advantage is that vitamin D can help prevent the body from experiencing the so-called “cytokine storm,” when the body’s own immune system overreacts and attacks its own cells and tissues, much like a histamine response to an allergen. But this turns out not to be the case.
But a new warning by doctors in the UK tells people to not overdose themselves with D to gain any potential benefits or edge against the virus. According to The Independent, hundreds of people in the UK are regularly taking toxic doses of vitamin D in supplements bought online. The pills contain up to 2,250 times the recommended daily dose, and are putting people at risk of heart and kidney problems, according to the NHS lab, which said it sees two to three overdose cases every week.
Scientists from the UK, Europe and the US, including experts from the University of Birmingham, have published a consensus paper warning against taking high doses of vitamin D supplementation.
According to the study, current research shows vitamin D has no benefit in preventing or treating Covid-19. Its authors advise that the population adhere to Public Health England guidance on supplementation.
Following unverified reports that high doses of vitamin D (higher than 4000IU/d) could reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 and be used to successfully treat the virus, the new report published in the journal BMJ, Nutrition, Prevention and Health, investigated the current scientific evidence base on the vitamin and its use in treating infections.
Vitamin D is a hormone produced in the skin during exposure to sunlight, and helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, which are needed to