Recent suggestions that vitamin D could have a role in COVID-19 virus protection caught the attention of research experts and health professionals. Recent observational studies argued that the increased vitamin D levels could reduce the risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus. However, there wasn’t much scientific evidence to support these claims.
In a bid to scientifically test these allegations, Tomoko Nakanishi and Guillaume Butler-Laporte, research experts associated with McGill University in Quebec, Canada, conducted research with a group of colleagues.
They conducted a Mendelian randomization study in which they used genetic variants strongly related to the increased vitamin D levels. They analyzed the samples of over 4,000 coronavirus-infected individuals and over 1 million samples of healthy individuals from as many as 11 countries worldwide to confirm vitamin D’s effectiveness against the viral infection in question.
The study results published in PLOS Medicine found no relationship between vitamin D supplementation and COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Therefore, increasing vitamin D levels through supplements is not an effective protective measure against the deadly coronavirus.
Finally, the authors suggested that, though there’s no biological evidence to support this vitamin’s effectiveness against COVID-19, we should invest in other preventative and therapeutic coronavirus trials.
