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Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

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Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#21

Post by paulirwin »

andreygrehov wrote: post #8

I'm surprised the article barely mentions Vitamin K, which is needed along with Vitamin D - D to mobilize the calcium and K2 to put it into the right place. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5613455/

There is another important pair, too: Vitamin D and Magnesium. But consult your doctor before taking extra amounts of anything.

There is a lot of misinformation on the web around Vitamin D, such as that even high amounts (>= 5000IU) are tolerable and safe. After a blood test showed me Vitamin D deficient, taking 5000IU (that size is readily available over the counter at my grocery store) daily gave me disturbing heart palpitations, which I didn't realize were related to Vitamin D until after thousands of dollars in tests showed my heart to be perfectly healthy. It wasn't until I had slacked off in taking the vitamins and then started taking them again that I discovered the connection. Apparently magnesium has something to do with it, but IANAD. (I was not taking magnesium supplements at the time.) I can tolerate 1000IU occasionally, but people need to be aware that not everyone tolerates supplements (especially high doses) the same.

I was happy to see the article you linked to above only claims Vitamin D is considered safe up to 4000IU. Although IMHO, after my experience, anything over 1000IU should require a prescription. Of course nothing would stop people from taking five 1000IU OTC doses to get 5000IU, but I think most people know better than to take five of the same type of vitamin daily without talking to their doctor first.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#22

Post by tomhoward »

All these articles about different individual nutrients start to feel like heath whack-a-mole.

How about this: to be in the best possible position to beat any serious infection, you need to be in generally good health.

That means having adequate levels of all essential nutrients - i.e., all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes etc that you get from maintaining a good diet and healthy lifestyle over the long term.

To focus on just one nutrient as a pandemic looms just isn't the answer; it's not how health works.

That said, I've personally researched what nutrients (note the plural) are most important for beating an infection like this, and have adjusted my nutrient intake somewhat, and recommended to close relatives they do the same. But this is after I and they have spent many years researching and maintaining good health practices.

Update: if I was in not-so-good health (and not in medical treatment for a diagnosed condition, in which case, consult your doctor), my approach would be:

- boost my amino acids, fatty acids and minerals with a few spoonfuls of hemp seeds every day

- take extra supplements of vitamins A, B complex, C and D (and perhaps K?)

- do plenty of walking in the fresh air and sun,

- keep a generally healthy diet of good quality protein and veg.

Update 2: Others are mentioning Vitamin K, which seems like a good idea to supplement if you're generally nutrient deficient, but may not be necessary if you have a good diet. [1]

Disclaimer: not a health professional, but have had personal reasons to get very knowledgable about health and diet over many years.

[1] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-high-in-vitamin-k

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#23

Post by pjkundert »

api wrote: post #3

One difficulty in determining if vitamin D actually helps with COVID is determining if vitamin D levels are directly affecting outcomes or whether they are a proxy for something else. For example: are low levels a proxy for people who don't go outside much and therefore don't exercise? That's a huge problem in medical studies generally.

There is strong evidence of this, summarized: https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure...

Huge inverse correlation between Vitamin D and all-cause mortality -- but almost complete failure of vitamin D supplementation vs. cancer, heart disease and stroke. What?

Turns out that sunlight produces vitamin D -- and a host of other difficult to detect artifacts, which seem to be at the root of the reduction in all-cause mortality.

Seems interesting. Or, carry on -- I'm sure there's nothing to see here, and your pasty-white overweight doctor's advice to avoid sun exposure is right...

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#24

Post by deweller »

tomhoward wrote: post #22

All these articles about different individual nutrients start to feel like heath whack-a-mole. How about this: to be in the best possible position to beat any serious infection, you need to be in generally good health. That means having adequate levels of all essential nutrients - i.e., all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes etc that you get from maintaining a good diet and healthy lifestyle over the long t…

"Just" focusing on one nutrient isn't the answer. But sufficient Vitamin D is important. It is something we should pay attention to.

Health is complex. No one is advocating ignoring all the other aspects of immune system function by paying attention to vitamin D.

[Update] I see you have toned down your comment since I started composing this response. We are in agreement.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#26

Post by psychometry »

There are so many medical questions that can only be answered definitively with large-scale, years-long randomized experiments. Anything relating to supplements, where effect sizes are probably small, especially. These are expensive and difficult to perform and there's (to my knowledge) no institution dedicated to that goal.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#27

Post by _bxg1 »

tomhoward wrote: post #22

All these articles about different individual nutrients start to feel like heath whack-a-mole. How about this: to be in the best possible position to beat any serious infection, you need to be in generally good health. That means having adequate levels of all essential nutrients - i.e., all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes etc that you get from maintaining a good diet and healthy lifestyle over the long t…

Agreed. I've started taking multivitamins and aiming to get 15 minutes of sun each day; things I probably should have been doing anyway.

Everybody in nutrition disagrees about specific, outsized effects. But pretty much everyone agrees what constitutes "basically healthy".

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#28

Post by kmonsen »

watertom wrote: post #20

Since I was a child I’ve been a walking respiratory illness machine. Bronchitis, sinusitis, flu, pneumonia, common cold, etc. During “flu” season I was usually sick for the entire season with a rotating assortment of viral respiratory issues, this lasted until about 7 years ago. 8 years ago in September I started taking 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 and 180mg of K2 daily. I haven’t had a deputies illness since. My children…

Which supplements do you get?

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#29

Post by bencollier49 »

watertom wrote: post #20

Since I was a child I’ve been a walking respiratory illness machine. Bronchitis, sinusitis, flu, pneumonia, common cold, etc. During “flu” season I was usually sick for the entire season with a rotating assortment of viral respiratory issues, this lasted until about 7 years ago. 8 years ago in September I started taking 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 and 180mg of K2 daily. I haven’t had a deputies illness since. My children…

Ironically there are papers suggesting that blood pressure and cholesterol medication is bad for people if they get Covid.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#30

Post by ericb »

sarchertech wrote: post #12
rafaelturk wrote: post #9

For me this is a perfect example of wishful thinking. It's really hard for average person to accept reality: This virus, like all others, will last for a long time. We won't have, in a foreseeable future, a treatment neither a cure. Cancer, HIV or even seasonal flue are good examples examples of diseases that were discovered decades ago for which science still don't have a cure, there are a few treatments or easing m…

We have multiple vaccine candidates that based on early human trials, and animal trials are very likely to work. Sure it's possible all of them could fail, but I wouldn't set my bet on that.

Right. There are around 100 vaccines in development. We have vaccines that have created binding antibodies in primates already. We have some that have been given to humans and produced antibodies as well.

Even pessimistically assuming 90% fail, you end up with 10 vaccines.

https://www.centerwatch.com/articles/12702-new-mit-study-put...

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