Can taking dietary vitamins and supplements help treat symptoms of COVID-19? This video discusses a report that evaluates the current evidence for the use of vitamins and supplements for the treatment of COVID-19 and whether common over the counter vitamins and supplements can help to reduce the severity and/or symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection.
In the six weeks before April 5th, 2020, the first wave of the pandemic in the US, sales of dietary supplements increased 44%. That’s $435 million relative to the same period. The previous year in March of 2020 alone, almost 120 million units of vitamins and supplements were sold.
Many of us increased our intake of vitamins and supplements when COVID-19 started, and there was the argument “why are officials not discussing this more? Why are we not being told to take certain vitamins, take certain supplements and get out and get some exercise and maybe some sunshine to help increase our vitamin D levels?”
And all of this certainly has its place. However, as pharmacists, we really need to see the evidence for indicating a certain vitamin or supplement before we can recommend it. So this is a report that is looking at the evidence to date of different vitamins and supplements studied throughout the pandemic for the treatment of COVID-19 infection. Please note that this report focuses on treatment of active COVID-19 infection and does NOT address prophylaxis or prevention of infection through the use of vitamins and/or supplements.
The report, entitled “Dietary supplements and OTC products use during COVID-19” was recently published in Pharmacy Today. Some of the text from this report that I’m sharing with you is actually direct copy from the report and so I must give them credit for this.
This video is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a replacement for seeking care from a healthcare professional, making any changes to your medications or supplements can have adverse outcomes, many medications and supplements can interact with each other and cause undesirable outcomes, so please do not make any changes to your medications or supplements without consulting with your healthcare provider
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References:
Use of dietary supplements and OTC products in the era of COVID-19: https://www.pharmacytoday.org/article/S1042-0991(22)00287-0/fulltext
Vitamin D: How much is too much of a good thing? https://ucalgary.ca/news/vitamin-d-how-much-too-much-good-thing
The vitamin D dilemma: How much should we be taking?: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/the-vitamin-d-dilemma-how-much-should-we-be-taking/article23672033/
00:00 How can Vitamins and Supplements reduce severity of COVID-19 symptoms
03:07 How vitamins are classified according to solubility
03:56 Vitamin C and Evidence for COVID-19 Treatment
06:44 Vitamin C Interactions with Medications
07:12 Zinc as a supplement for COVID-19
08:54 Vitamin D as a supplement for COVID-19
10:13 Recommended daily intake of Vitamin D
10:32 High Doses of Vitamin D
11:00 Omega-3 Fatty Acids as a supplement for COVID-19
12:17 Melatonin as a supplement for COVID-19
13:46 Echinacea, Probiotics, and Querecetin for COVID-19
14:21 Deep Breathing for Mental Health
#COVID19 #VITAMINS #SUPPLEMENTS #COVID19TREATMENT
