Vaccine or no vaccine, COVID-19 remains a threat.
However, one strategy that is looking more and more effective in fighting the virus and its effects on the body is getting enough vitamin D, either through diet or supplementation. In a study published a few months ago in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Spanish researchers showed that 82% of patients treated for COVID-19 had deficient vitamin D levels in their blood. That’s a significant percentage of those treated. While the Spanish research didn’t look at how vitamin D levels relate to the severity of the disease, other studies have suggested a link – the lower the vitamin D levels, the more at risk you are for battling a severe case of COVID-19.
You may ask why vitamin D is so vital? Vitamin D is an absolute powerhouse that has specific efficacy with COVID-19. First off, vitamin D is an immunity booster, helping you fight off illness should you encounter the virus. It does this by reducing the virus’s ability to survive and replicate itself in the body. But vitamin D also takes action to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 when an infection occurs. It moderates the inflammatory response, which is sometimes so strong that it causes damaging effects on the body. By helping to produce surfactants that clear the lungs of fluid, vitamin D also reduces respiratory distress and improves overall lung function. Adequate vitamin D levels also maintain healthy cell membranes, preventing or reducing two factors in severe COVID-19: vascular inflammation and blood clots.
The lower the vitamin D levels, the more at risk you are for battling a severe case of COVID-19.
Summing up: just like wearing a mask, washing our hands, and maintaining social distance, a growing body of evidence shows that vitamin D can keep us healthy.
