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COVID-19: Multivitamins, Omega-3 May Cut Coronavirus Infection Risk In Women

COVID-19: Multivitamins, Omega-3 May Cut Coronavirus Infection Risk In Women
Multivitamins, Omega-3 May Cut Coronavirus Infection Risk In Women

A recent study has shown that women who take multivitamins, omega-3, probiotics or vitamin D supplements may be at less risk of getting infected by coronavirus.

Written by Satata Karmakar |Published : April 21, 2021 3:26 PM IST

Coronavirus is still lingering over us and this time it is the second wave that has hit the country. The fear of the coronavirus is here to stay and it will probably last a lifetime deserted streets, face masks, isolation from your loved ones, and the fear of losing it all will linger in the minds of everyone for a long time. What is the solution? Well, the best way to fight the microscopic villain is preparing your system to fight against the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Amid all the woes, scientists have revealed that women who take multivitamins, omega-3, probiotics, or vitamin D supplements may be at less risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19 infection.

Is It Applicable For Men Too?

According to the research, women taking probiotics showed a 14 per cent lower risk of infections, while omega-3 fatty acids reduced risk by 12 per cent. Multivits and vitamin D were associated with a 13 per cent and 9 per cent lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, respectively. Can men too keep themselves safe from novel coronavirus attacks by taking multivitamins, omega-3, probiotics, or vitamin D supplements? Well, no such clear associations were seen in men.

Moreover, the intake of much-publicized vitamin C, zinc, or garlic supplements did not lower the risk of testing positive for the virus, showed the findings published online in the journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health.

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Dietary Supplements Can Only Help To Boost Immunity

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been plenty of celebrity endorsement of the use of dietary supplements to both ward off and treat Covid-19 infection. In the UK alone, market share rose by 19.5 per cent in the period leading up to the first national 'lockdown' on March 23 last year, with sales of vitamin C rising by 110 per cent and those of multivits by 93 per cent. Similarly, zinc supplement sales rose by 415 per cent in the first week of March, at the height of Covid-19 fears in the US.

Dietary supplements can help to support a healthy immune system, but whether specific supplements might be associated with a lower risk of catching SARS-CoV-2 isn't known, the researchers said. To understand, the team analysed information supplied by 372,720 UK people on the Covid-19 Symptom Study app, to see if regular supplement users were less likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2. "This is an observational study, and as such, can't establish cause," the team noted.

But although the observed effects were modest, they were significant, note the researchers, who call for large clinical trials to inform evidence-based therapeutic recommendations.

(With inputs from IANS)