There is no question that vitamin D is essential for optimal immune function, but that doesn’t mean it will give you superpowers against COVID, and it is possible to get too much of a good thing. In this video, Dr Susan Oliver and Julie the dog go back to the science and look at the evidence for vitamin D and COVID. They find that contrary to the claims being made by some, there isn’t a lot of definitive evidence on vitamin D and COVID, and some studies make false claims. But it’s quite likely that being vitamin-D deficient will have an adverse effect if you become infected. Furthermore, taking between 400 and 1000 IU units of vitamin D can help prevent respiratory infections in general, but higher doses won’t.
Buy me a coffee (or Julie a treat) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SusanAndJulie
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Vitamin D conversions
1:25 Forms of vitamin D
3:08 Vitamin D levels advised
4:45 Vitamin D and immune system
6:25 Vitamin D deficiency and COVID
8:34 Reverse causality
9:51 Vitamin D for hospitalised patients?
11:03 Vitamin D and respiratory infections
13:32 Unreliable vitamin D research
18:03 Summary
Links to sources:
@ProfGregTuckerKellogg on spotting scientific misinformation
Optimal vitamin D levels
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-0-387-77574-6_5
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/96/1/53/2833225
https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Report_VitD.pdf
Association of Vitamin D Status with SARS-CoV-2 Infection or COVID-19 Severity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/12/5/1636/6159489
Letter to the Editor: Vitamin D deficiency in COVID-19: Mixing up cause and consequence
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154434
Effect of a Single High Dose of Vitamin D3 on Hospital Length of Stay in Patients With Moderate to Severe COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial
https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.26848
Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis of aggregate data from randomised controlled trials
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(21)00051-6/fulltext
Vitamin D and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): rapid evidence review
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40520-021-01894-z
https://www.science.org/content/article/open-access-editors-resign-after-alleged-pressure-publish-mediocre-papers
