#WeAreTogether: No evidence that Vitamin D helps protect against COVID

Peer Reviewed
Editorial

People may not get any protective benefit against Covid-19 from taking Vitamin D, a group of scientists say.

In an editorial in the British Medical Journal, scientists have reviewed academic materials exploring whether Vitamin D supplements reduce the likelihood and impact of getting Covid-19.

The team, from the University of Reading, University of Cambridge and University of Leicester looked at the UK Government’s rapid guidelines about supplementation of Vitamin D. They also reviewed other research that was not considered as part of the guidelines produced by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, Public Health England and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.

They concluded that there was no good evidence that Vitamin D provided any specific protection beyond the broader benefit to health, but that Vitamin D deficiency particularly in some ethnic groups and in certain settings such as in hospitals was a matter of potential concern.

Lead author of the editorial is Professor Vimal Karani, Professor in Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics at the University of Reading’s Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition.

Professor Karani said:

“We are concerned that some may see Vitamin D as some sort of silver bullet to improve immunity, particularly in the face of having to wait to be vaccinated. The editorial looked at the UK Government’s guidance on the matter and found that there were other papers published about the link between Covid and Vitamin D with conflicting but unreliable results.

“All of the data suggests that there is no good evidence for using Vitamin D to protect against Covid-19. However, there are some broader points that the limited evidence set brings up that need further investigation. 

“First, one study from India showed some positive effect of Vitamin D for mild and asymptomatic patients. Although there were confounding factors, the findings should lead us to look further at whether Vitamin D may have a particular role in the immune response to Covid.

“Second, it highlights that Vitamin D deficiency is a significant issue among some ethnic groups, and further studies are needed to consider whether it may have a detrimental impact in the fight against Covid-19.”

Full citation:

K. S. Vimaleswaran, N. G. Forouhi, K. Khunti; 2021 Vitamin D and covid-19, BMJ 2021; 372 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n544