COVID-19 which emerged from Wuhan city of China last year has now spread to almost all parts of the world and infected more than 63.47 million people. It has killed at least 1.47 million and has been declared as one of the worst pandemics in medical history. Ever since the pandemic has begun, health experts are focusing on improving diet to combat the virus. While most people can manage to change their diet and switching to healthier options, many of them find it hard to get all the nutrients from the diet alone and rely on supplements. The new study has shed light on certain dietary supplements that can prevent COVID-19 in nutritionally deficient people.
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The positive cases of COVID-19 are increasing exponentially every day. The first wave of COVID-19 is over but this second wave is turning out to be more unpredictable than the first one. The only good thing about the second wave of coronavirus is that the health systems are ready to manage patients this time. Also, there have been a number of studies on understanding the virus and disease progression which has helped to formulate a prevention strategy.
While health departments focus on standard precautions more for example hand hygiene, social distancing, facemasks, etc, they also emphasize improving immunity through diet and exercise. The recent evidence confirms that a healthy diet can lower the risk of coronavirus but switching to a healthy diet is not an easy thing for many people especially when there is a food shortage, no time for meal planning/cooking, or limited resources. Alternately, they can try dietary supplements that are equally helpful to prevent COVID-19, according to this new study published in server medRxiv.
Also read- Doctors Share a New Sign of COVID-19 that Shows up Early- Nose Irritation
Many health experts are talking about Vitamin C, zinc, and Vitamin D supplements for COVID-19 prevention lately. All of them have an immunity-boosting power which may be helpful to combat all respiratory infections including coronavirus. Even some of the doctors have recommended it to their COVID-19 patients along with other treatment medicines for a faster recovery.
This new study explains the sources to obtain vitamin D, vitamin C, and zinc from food, and if not food, they can be obtained through a multivitamin/dietary supplement.
Not just these dietary supplements but others such as fish oil supplements (omega-3 fatty acid), prebiotics as well as plant-based supplements (garlic) are also helpful to prevent COVID-19. They can also be used by COVID-19 patients along with other medicines recommended by their doctor for a faster recovery.
The supply and demand for dietary supplements have increased drastically ever since this pandemic began. During the lockdown period, the sales of dietary supplements rose up to 110% in different parts of the world. The zinc supplements broke all records by crossing the sales in the United States with a 415% increase within one week of 2nd to 8th March, this year. A similar increase has been reported for vitamin D supplements, probiotics, and multivitamin supplements.
The research team urges for more randomized trials to check the efficiency of these dietary supplements for a protective role against COVID-19, individually or as a combination.
