Healthline.com just came out with an article that got my blood boiling. It was trying to answer whether Vitamin C can help protect you from COVID-19 and started with this statement:
“With the 2019 coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, it’s especially important to understand that no supplement, diet, or other lifestyle modification other than social distancing and proper hygiene practices can protect you from COVID-19.” https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-c-coronavirus
Now, before I explain what annoyed me about this statement (if not already obvious), let me be clear. I agree that Vitamin C is not a cure for COVID-19 or any other viral infection. Anyone who claims it is a cure-all is misleading you. BUT, that does not mean that we must swing to the other end of the spectrum and throw out vitamin C (and ALL other supplements, diet and lifestyle changes as the article suggests) as viable tools in any person’s tool box to support a healthy immune system.
What this article in Healthline misses, is that there is a tremendous difference between “proven” and “suspected”. The difference can often be measured in months if not years. For example, there are two large studies happening RIGHT now in both Italy and China to validate (or disprove) the anecdotal evidence presented by many doctors around the world that high-dose intravenous Vitamin C is highly effective in the fight against COVID-19! If you review the two clinical trials currently underway (linked below), you will see that one goes through September 2020 and the other through March 2021.
Studies. Take. Time.
That is where this Healthline article comes in! For them to say that Vitamin C can NOT protect you from COVID-19, does a disservice to the facts. The facts are:
We do not have enough evidence to definitively show that Vitamin C improves the outlook for a COVID-19 patient.
There is no evidence to suggest that Vitamin C has a negative impact on COVID-19 patients.
There is anecdotal evidence from all over the world that suggests Vitamin C MAY be effective at fighting COVID-19 (thus the studies underway to further study this hypothesis).
Given that, PLEASE keep an open mind to the possibility that Vitamin C can be a powerful tool in doctors hands to help heal their patients. The best thing we can do is support the doctors on the front lines who are investigating the many different options for effective treatment of this new disease.
Back to Healthline’s original statement though: No supplement, diet, or other lifestyle modification other than social distancing and proper hygiene practices can protect you from COVID-19. If you’ve been in the cancer world for very long, you’ve heard similar statements from doctors, the internet, or friends. “There is nothing you can do”
It’s just not true. There is so much evidence to show that your lifestyle, diet, and supplementation has SO MUCH affect on your quality of life. Even in the case of COVID-19, doctors recognize that “high risk” individuals are those with underlying health conditions, like heavy smoking, obesity, and other immune-compromising situations. I (and any doctor worth a darn) believe that the best thing we can do at times like these, is analyze our lifestyle (diet, etc.) and make the much-needed changes to ensure that our tomorrow is healthier than our today. Whether it’s cancer, COVID-19, or something else, we all have good reasons to make better choices about our health.
What do you think?
You can check out the Healthline article for yourself here: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-c-coronavirus
Italian Clinical Trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04323514
Chinese Clinical Trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04264533