Do vitamin D, zinc, and other supplements help prevent COVID-19 or hasten healing?

In this study, people whose symptoms did not require hospital admission were randomly assigned to receive only vitamin C, 8,000 mg/day (the recommended daily amount is 75 mg/day for women and 90 mg/day for men) only zinc, 50 mg/day (the recommended daily amount is 8 mg/day for women, 11 mg/day for men) both supplements at the doses above neither supplement. The researchers found that people receiving the supplements, whether individually or combined, had no improvement in symptoms or a faster recovery when compared with otherwise similar patients receiving neither supplement. Proponents of melatonin for COVID-19 have encouraged researchers to perform trials of this supplement, but so far convincing evidence of benefit is not yet available. Even without convincing evidence, why not take them anyway? Despite questions about the overall benefit of these supplements, many doctors began prescribing them routinely in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The logic may have been that with so little known about how to best treat this new infection and a long track record of safety for these supplements, why not? But there are significant hazards to consider. These include side effects, allergic reactions, interactions with other drugs, the cost of unnecessary supplements, and the dangers of taking too much. For example: High doses of vitamin C may cause diarrhea or stomach upset. There have also been concerns that high-dose vitamin C supplementation may interfere with blood thi...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Vitamins and supplements Source Type: blogs