At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, articles emerged almost daily with recommendations by holistic doctors, nurses, and even people who had beat the disease, about a recommended vitamin regimen to help protect from the virus by strengthening the immune system.
It was reported that those most at risk had compromised immune systems, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, or those undergoing chemotherapy. Usually, diabetes and heart disease are contracted in the first place because of a compromised immune system that is too weak to fight off those diseases, as our bodies are created to do.
If you are taking medications for any of those diseases, and among the side effects listed are “may cause infection,” there is a chance that the COVID-19 infection would be more apt to attack your body in a severe way. As for obese people, simply put, one doesn’t become obese by consuming a nutritious diet and enjoying a healthy lifestyle. Anything less than a good diet, exercise, and supplements result in an immune compromising lifestyle.
Beginning in November and December 2020, as the promise of a vaccine emerged, discussions about vitamin regimens diminished. The new narrative became “only the COVID 19 vaccine protects you from COVID.”
In January 2021, WebMD reported that “Vita-min D is an essential nutrient and recent research has suggested it may also help guard against severe COVID-19.” In fact, one of the risks of Vitamin D deficiency, as explained in that article, is “decreased immune health.”
More recently, a new research study at the University of Chicago Medicine has found that when it comes to COVID-19, “having vitamin D levels above those traditionally considered sufficient may lower the risk of infection, especially for Black people.”
(Caldwell, Alison, Ph.D., UChicagoMedicine, March 19, 2021, “Study suggests high Vitamin D levels may protect against Covid-19, Especially for Black people.”This investigation was inspired by an article in early 2020 that found people with vitamin D deficiency who were randomly assigned to receive vitamin D supplementation, had much lower rates of viral respiratory infections compared to those who did not receive supplementation.
David Meltzer, MD, Ph.D., Chief of Hospital Medicine at UChicago Medicine and lead author of the study, concluded that earlier studies may have given doses that were too low to have much of an effect on the immune system, even if they were sufficient for bone health. This is not surprising, because often the traditional medical establishment has recommended 400 iu daily of Vitamin D3. However, most holistic doctors and holistic health writers, recommend beginning with 5,000 iu daily, possibly increasing to 10,000 iu.
This article, in no way, is proposing that readers forego the vaccine in favor of Vitamin D3 supplementation. My intentions are to ring the bell and let everyone know that for those who don’t feel comfortable taking the vaccine, there is a choice.
The vaccine works. The Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective against COVID. The Moderna is slightly less effective, but they both work.
Yet scientists at the Robert Koch Institute contend that “Currently there is not enough data to know if mRNA and vector-based COVID-19 vaccines can prevent or reduce transmission. In fact, they go on to say that “Most vaccines cannot prevent transmission, including the majority of vaccines that have been in use for a long time. They can’t induce sterilizing immunity.” Both the Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA Vaccines, (messenger RNA) which means instead of putting weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies, they teach our cells how to make a protein, or even just a piece of a protein that triggers an im-mune response inside of our bodies. A vector-based vaccine uses a modified version of a different virus (the vector) to deliver important instructions to our cells, and produces a “spike protein” which triggers our immune system to begin producing antibodies and activating other immune cells to fight off what it thinks is an infection.
Neither the COVID-19 vaccinations, nor the Vita-min D3 regimen (along with other supplements such as C, Zinc, and Magnesium) claims to be 100% effective against contracting the virus. Although Vitamin D3 has a much longer, proven history of strengthening immune systems and combating disease.
For those who don’t want to be tied down to a daily vitamin regimen, the yearly vaccine may be just the thing for you.
For others, who don’t want to introduce any new and unknown substances into their systems, then perhaps a vitamin regimen is your best bet.
Both options appear to be effective in mitigating the serious and lethal effects of the virus, if not the virus itself. However, these two choices – the vaccine or the vitamin, are your only option. Not doing anything at all in light of this serious and often deadly pandemic, is not an advisable option.
Emma Young is a Chicago-based Writer and Author
