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Vitamin D supplements cannot protect against coronavirus: Study

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Mar 10, 2021, 04:50 PM IST
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Vitamin D supplements Photograph:(Reuters)

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In two studies, there is little to no evidence of a direct link between Vitamin D deficiency and coronavirus outcomes

If you have been gulping Vitamin D supplements with the hope to stay protected from the deadly coronavirus, you might want to slow down.

Two recent studies have concluded that the idea that Vitamin D supplements can protect people against COVID-19 may be misplaced.

In two science papers — which are yet to be peer-reviewed — there is little to no evidence of a direct link between Vitamin D deficiency and coronavirus outcomes.

In one of the study, researchers carefully studied hundreds of thousands of participants, who were mostly white. The researchers set out to study if giving Vitamin D decreases the chances of suffering from symptomatic (or severe) COVID-19.

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The researchers also looked at people with certain genetic markers which make them predisposed to Vitamin D deficiencies, which is usually not influenced by external factors such as age. However, they were unable to find any evidence that suggested that these supplements can protect against COVID-19.

Another group of researchers studied a database of mainly 24 European countries to Covid infections, mortality and recovery rat, in connection to Vitamin D deficiency.

"Our analysis concluded that the prevalence of Vit D deficiency among the European population does not constitute a strong risk factor for COVID-19 neither infection, mortality nor recovery rates. However, these findings are not in line with outcomes of similar research works published recently," the paper claimed.