Have you been taking your immune-boosting vitamins on a daily basis to lower your risk of Covid-19? According to a new study, it may not be very helpful. In light of multiple studies claiming vitamin efficacy against Covid-19, recent research shows that immune-boosting supplements including vitamin C, D, and zinc do not reduce the risk of dying from the virus.
While these supplements have been marketed as a replacement for established vaccines, researchers from The University of Toledo in Ohio, USA, say there is insufficient evidence to support this claim.
“A lot of people have this misconception that if you load up on zinc, vitamin D or C, it can help the clinical outcome of Covid-19,” said Dr Azizullah Beran, an internal medicine resident at the University’s College of Medicine and Life Sciences.
“That hasn’t been shown to be true,” Beran added.
In the study, published in the journal Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, the team reviewed 26 peer-reviewed studies from around the globe that included more than 5,600 hospitalised Covid patients.
The analysis found no reduction in mortality for those being treated with vitamin D, C or zinc compared to patients who did not receive one of these three supplements.
