Vitamin C, Zinc, and COVID-19: Ask the Right Questions
As we left off Tuesday’s memo, I suggested that both the researchers in the study that was halted as well as the physicians who used dietary supplements as part of their treatment were wrong in their conclusions. At this point we don’t know for certain whether vitamin C and/or zinc can help with COVID-19.
Let’s define which questions we’re asking. Are we trying to prevent people from catching COVID-19? Are we trying to help them recover from a COVID-19 infection? Are we trying to prevent hospitalization? Are we trying to prevent death? Those are all different questions.
The Videos
Let’s stick with helping people recover once they’ve been infected with COVID-19. At this point, we don’t have solid data as to how long the patients were infected before they sought treatment, how many days it took them to fully recover, or if they recovered without any further treatment of any type. We also get no data on the people who needed further treatment in the hospital.
It’s not reasonable to suggest that every patient seen in these physicians’ videos all recover and no one ever gets worse, but that’s never discussed.
The Research
As for the researchers, they didn’t ask two very valuable questions: what were the subjects’ vitamin C and zinc levels before the treatment began? Without that measure, they couldn’t know whether they needed supplements; maybe their levels were as high as needed, and they didn’t need any more.
Second, how did they administer the vitamin C? If they were familiar with the research, they’d know vitamin C is more effective when given intravenously. The subjects could have been given vitamin C on an outpatient basis to begin, and then used supplements for the rest.
The Bottom Line
Neither group really provides us with much information about vitamin C and zinc to help people recover from COVID-19. When it comes to the use of dietary supplements and COVID-19, there’s a difference between preventing a person from catching the infection at all, reducing the number of days that they’re infected with the virus, and reducing the risk of having the infection progressing to hospitalization and potentially death.
Where does that leave us? Now more than ever, we should support our immune system. Vitamins D, C, and the mineral zinc can help us do that, and at the first hint of illness I’d recommend the Immune Boost supplements. I’d also like to recommend getting tested for C and zinc as we do for D, but it’s not practical at present.
Most multivitamin-multiminerals can provide a baseline to get you started. Don’t forget food has nutrients as well, so a healthy diet may help you stay COVID free.
What are you prepared to do today?
Dr. Chet
Reference: JAMA Network Open. 2021; doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.0369
