Covid and Vitamins

 

Two very recent studies published in JAMA have concluded that high doses of zinc, Vitamin C or Vitamin D failed to help reduce Covid symptoms in patients already having the virus.

In one study, 520 non-hospitalized patients with an active Covid infection were randomly assigned to take either 50mg of zing gluconate per day, 8,000mg of Vitamin C, both or neither for 10 days. After examining the data it was clear that "treatment with high-dose zinc gluconate, ascorbic acid, or a combination of the 2 supplements did not significantly decrease the duration of symptoms compared with standard of care". The study was terminated early because the supplement groups showed no advantage.

The second study followed over 200 hospitalized Covid patients. Those who were treated with a very high dose (200,000IU) of Vitamin D recovered no faster and were no less likely to die or require a ventilator than those given a placebo.

The bottom line: By all means continue any program you are using to support a strong immune system but don't count on zinc or vitamins C or D to fight off Covid.