Do you have questions about whether any vitamins, minerals, herbs, or other dietary supplement ingredients are useful during COVID-19? Have you wondered if supplements can boost immunity, reduce disease severity, or speed recovery? If someone is getting sufficient amounts of essential nutrients, does getting more help?
The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) has published a new fact sheet for health professionals, Dietary Supplements in the Time of COVID-19, that answers these questions and more. It summarizes the state of the science on the safety and effectiveness of 11 dietary supplement ingredients from andrographis to zinc and helps set the record straight about what the available evidence shows.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in 2019 and has infected over 150 million people worldwide as of May 1, 2021. Common initial signs and symptoms include cough, fever, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and pain, and diarrhea. Some individuals with COVID-19 become severely ill, usually starting about 1 week after symptom onset; severe COVID-19 often involves progressive respiratory failure and may also result in life-threatening pneumonia, multiorgan failure, and death. In addition, thousands of individuals—possibly 10% to 75%—who have had COVID-19 report symptoms of “long COVID” (including fatigue, muscle weakness, sleep difficulties, and cognitive dysfunction) for several months after the acute stage of illness has passed.
Currently, data are insufficient to support recommendations for or against the use of any vitamin, mineral, herb or other botanical, fatty acid, or other dietary supplement ingredient to prevent or treat COVID-19. Nevertheless, sales of dietary supplements marketed for immune health increased after the emergence of COVID-19 because many people hoped that these products might provide some protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection and, for those who develop COVID-19, help reduce disease severity.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/COVID19-HealthProfessional/
