21/06/2021
Vitamin D helps the body fight coronavirus, major Israeli study claims
https://www.timesofisrael.com/vitamin-d-helps-the-body-fight-coronavirus-major-israeli-study-claims/
‘Sunshine’ vitamin is like a steroid, researcher says, urging public to head outdoors; another scientist urges caution, saying other factors may be at play
Good levels of vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, help people to fight the coronavirus more quickly and effectively and reduce chances of hospitalization, Israeli researchers have concluded.
However, others are cautioning broad conclusions, saying other factors may be involved.
Vitamin D levels below the recommended level — classed as deficiency or, less seriously, insufficiency — are very common, and it is estimated that a billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency and 50 percent of the population has an insufficiency. Frenkel-Morgenstern said that her research suggests that some 70 percent of Israelis have low vitamin D levels.
There are growing suggestions internationally that good vitamin D levels — long thought to have a range of health benefits — help people to deal with the coronavirus. A recent German study concluded that “much more attention should be paid to the importance of vitamin D status for the development and course of the disease.”
'Sunshine' vitamin is like a steroid, researcher says, urging public to head outdoors; another scientist urges caution, saying other factors may be at play