05 March 2021
Peer Reviewed
Editorial
People may not get any protective benefit against Covid-19 from taking Vitamin D, a group of scientists say.
In an editorial in the , scientists have reviewed academic materials exploring whether Vitamin D supplements reduce the likelihood and impact of getting Covid-19.
The team, from the 色狗导航, University of Cambridge and University of Leicester looked at the UK Government鈥檚 rapid guidelines about supplementation of Vitamin D. They also reviewed other research that was not considered as part of the guidelines produced by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, Public Health England and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.
They concluded that there was no good evidence that Vitamin D provided any specific protection beyond the broader benefit to health, but that Vitamin D deficiency particularly in some ethnic groups and in certain settings such as in hospitals was a matter of potential concern.
Lead author of the editorial is Professor Vimal Karani, Professor in Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics at the 色狗导航鈥檚 Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition.
Professor Karani said:
鈥淲e are concerned that some may see Vitamin D as some sort of silver bullet to improve immunity, particularly in the face of having to wait to be vaccinated. The editorial looked at the UK Government鈥檚 guidance on the matter and found that there were other papers published about the link between Covid and Vitamin D with conflicting but unreliable results.
鈥淎ll of the data suggests that there is no good evidence for using Vitamin D to protect against Covid-19. However, there are some broader points that the limited evidence set brings up that need further investigation.
鈥淔irst, one study from India showed some positive effect of Vitamin D for mild and asymptomatic patients. Although there were confounding factors, the findings should lead us to look further at whether Vitamin D may have a particular role in the immune response to Covid.
鈥淪econd, it highlights that Vitamin D deficiency is a significant issue among some ethnic groups, and further studies are needed to consider whether it may have a detrimental impact in the fight against Covid-19.鈥�
Full citation:
K. S. Vimaleswaran, N. G. Forouhi, K. Khunti; 2021 Vitamin D and covid-19, BMJ 2021; 372 doi:
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