New Study Finds That Vitamin D Deficiency Increases Your Risk For Covid-19!

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit early this year, we have been caught off-guard, leading to many misconceptions, assumptions, and confusion about what to do, how to protect ourselves, and what works and what won’t against the coronavirus. Thankfully, throughout the months, as we continue to battle the virus, new studies, information, and research have come out to help us make wiser and more informed decisions about our lifestyle.

Early on, Vitamin D and Vitamin C have been greatly linked to protecting ourselves from Covid-19, but only as an extension of their immunity-boosting effects. Now, a new study by researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine found a substantial link between Vitamin D and Covid-19.

Vitamin D against Covid-19

The research was published on September 3 at the JAMA Network and analyzed the link of Vitamin D deficiency with Covid-19. According to David Meltzer, Chief of Hospital Medicine at UChicago Medicine and lead author of the study, they found that patients who had Vitamin D deficiency were almost twice as likely to test positive for Covid-19 compared to those who had sufficient Vitamin D levels.

“Vitamin D is important to the function of the immune system and vitamin D supplements have previously been shown to lower the risk of viral respiratory tract infections,” says David, which in one part inspired them to conduct the study.

The study was able to examine 489 patients at UChicago Medicine, whose Vitamin D levels were measured one year before they were tested for Covid-19. According to their study, deficiency was characterized as having less than 20 nanograms of Vitamin D per milliliter of blood.

According to the researchers, this study shows scientific evidence of the benefits of Vitamin D supplementation to protect against Covid-19. They also highlighted that Vitamin D is cheap and safe enough to take, so more experimental studies should be taken to really determine whether Vitamin D can help curb the spread of the disease.

The “Sunshine Vitamin”

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that’s important in regulating the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, needed to keep our bones, teeth, and muscles healthy. It also helps with cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function, and reducing inflammation.

Good sources of Vitamin D are oily fish like salmon and mackerel, red meat, egg yolks, Vitamin D supplements, and the sun.

Vitamin D deficiency is not only linked to higher risk for Covid-19. More prominently, it may cause bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by osteomalacia in adults.

Meeting your Vitamin D requirements, however, shouldn’t be too hard. Did you know that most of us meet our daily Vitamin D needs through exposure to sunlight? But because we’re advised to stay at home to prevent the spread of Covid-19, our Vitamin D levels may be at risk. This is why according to the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS): “Consider taking 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day to keep your bones and muscles healthy.”

Where to get Vitamin D Supplements

Just to be sure, you may opt to take the NHS’ advice and Vitamin D to your daily fuel. Here are some trustworthy places where you can order Vitamin D supplements online.

Natrol Vitamin D3 Fast Dissolve

For a pure Vitamin D supplement, check out Natrol Vitamin D that come in bottles of 60 and 90 tablets. Each tablet contains 125mcg of Vitamin D3. This particular tablet comes in strawberry flavor, so it can be taken anywhere even without water. It’s perfect for those who find it hard to swallow tablets and capsules.

Healthy Options

Healthy Options also has their homegrown supplement brand, which may be cheaper than other brands that they carry. This particular mix has calcium for your bones and teeth, and Vitamin D3 that meets the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) as an essential nutrient.

Nature's Bounty D3

Nature’s Bounty has been a trusted supplement brand for more than 50 years now, and all of their products are laboratory-tested and non-GMO. The Nature’s Bounty D3 comes in rapid release softgels, which contain 125mcg of Vitamin D3.

Caltrate Plus

Caltrate Plus is a popular brand that mixes bone-loving nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, zinc, copper, manganese, and magnesium in each tablet.

Watsons

For a generic option, Watsons also has a dietary supplement that comes with calcium citrate, vitamin D, zinc, copper, manganese, and magnesium per tablet.

GNC Vitamin D-3 Soft Chews – Chocolate

How about taking your Vitamin D through these delicious treats? The GNC Vitamin D3 soft chews in chocolate flavor are recommended as an after-meal dessert, and contain 1000 IU Vitamin D. The recommended range of Vitamin D intake is 400-1000 IU per day so you may not need to eat a soft chew everyday.

GNC Kids DHA Gummies

For your kids, they will love these chewable gummies that don’t just come with Vitamin D, but are also packed with other nutrients like Omega 3 EPA & ALA, and vitamins A, C, and E. Each bottle has 120 pieces of gummies that come in assorted fruit flavors.