Corona Crazed Poppin’ Palooza! Should you be in on the supplement swipe n’ swallow fest?

The masses are buying up supplements to ward off Covid.

Boffo!

Amazon just dropped off a beefy box you’re pretty dang sure is that Hazmat suit you 1-clicked in your Corona Warrior frenzy. Nice.

Worldwide pandemic pandemonium continues to grip us all in 2021.

Things open up here, they’re shutting back down there. Fake news, partisan news, no news.

One mask, no mask, three masks. Six feet and a face shield. If it’s exposed, drown it in bleach!

You wouldn’t wash your hands more vigorously if you were chief surgeon in Beyonce’s open-heart surgery with her entire fanbase watching from the gallery.

Who can blame you for feeling overwhelmed?

The CDC’s site tells you exactly what you’ve heard a thousand times since early 2020:

• Snug mask over nose & mouth
• Six feet and no crowds
• Hand washing or hand sanitizers with 60% alcohol
• Cover mouth & nose if you sneeze
• Clean & disinfect all frequently touched surfaces
• Monitor your health and stay home if you’re not well

Still, the numbers make you dizzy. And not everybody follows the same advice.

That’s what it is to share the same rock with 7.5 billion other marchers to the beats of their own drums. Not much you can do.

And maybe you know someone who’s been affected. Heavy stuff.

So you get to wondering. What else can I do?

Now you learn that immunity system boosting vitamins and supplements are selling like hotcakes…. during a hotcake festival… outside the best maple syrup factory in Vermont. They’re flying off the shelves like toilet paper in a lockdown.

Immunity system boosting vitamins and supplements?!

WHY didn’t I think of that?!

There’s a cartoon from the 1940s called Pandora’s Box.

A wicked witch sets loose a squadron of flying demon cats on a little village of field mice. She sends them inside a magic box to a wistful dreamer named Pandora, who just can’t help herself. She opens the box and releases the plague. The handsome hero mouse Pandora had manifested to be her guy jumps into various bottles…

He takes vitamin A…

Vitamin B…

C… D… and E….!

Every possible essential substance through vitamin Z!

And he emerges as…

MIGHTY MOUSE!

Of course, Mighty Mouse kicks the tar outta the demon cat pandemic. It should go without saying the supplements industry draws a zero on stomping out Covid.

We’re just at the point of the 2-round vaccine. Which itself is in restricted short supply. Not everybody can get it. Who can say when you will?

But you didn’t think this was a mouse cartoon. You want to know if there’s anything to this bullrush on immune system reinforcers.

Does Zinc zap the virus?

Can vitamin C clamp corona?

Is D the Big Dog in the fight?

The real answer seems to be… we just don’t know for certain. There just has not been enough time to complete randomized control trials (RCTs).

There are ongoing studies on everything under the sun (more on that in a bit) related to Covid & its treatments. But the majority of current recommendations are based on reexamining old studies.

That’s all one giant inconvenient truth when it comes to the science on supplements and their effectiveness. Medical science research requires time to let things play out. And loads of data to be considered definitive.

With all things being equal for an otherwise healthy person, the general consensus says, no supplement is a magic bullet to guarantee you won’t get coronavirus.

The current studies and the interpretations of data from before the pandemic suggest that there may be some benefit for prevention. Perhaps some benefit for treatment.

Here’s a quick look at what’s being said about three of the most common supplements people take in hopes of shielding themselves from Covid-19:

ZINC

The long-time lozenge additive has some research data to suggest it can shorten the duration of coronavirus infections if taken shortly after the onset of symptoms. Not all scientists agree. It seems probable that the effectiveness of zinc is greatest for those with a zinc deficiency.

To be clear, “coronavirus infections” referenced are colds and SARS. Older studies. This is not research specific to Covid-19.

Zinc was looked at earlier last year in the somewhat infamous early hydroxychloroquine drug studies. If you recall, those trials became something of a political football. Researchers generally maintain that hydroxychloroquine is ineffective in Covid-19 treatment. Though that doesn’t really comment on Zinc’s possible effectiveness.

VITAMIN C

For ages, worried moms have dumped rivers of orange juice down the gullets of their ill children. We have long believed vitamin C to be a cure-all for the common cold.

The deeper researchers dig, the more they challenge those beliefs.

Vitamin C seems to prevent inflammations and promote overall immune system health. But there’s less of an idea that pumping it into your system during an illness can have a remedial effect. That’s to say nothing of the current severe disease phenomenon.

A very recent study (February 2021) from the Cleveland Clinic finds zinc and vitamin C have no effect on coronavirus symptoms whatsoever.

VITAMIN D

So how far north are ya?

And what does that have to do with the price of beans in Coronaville?

Well, again, vitamin D won’t be found in a shop in the back alley behind Hogwarts. But there does seem to be data to suggest a vitamin D deficiency could put a person at greater risk for contracting the virus.

Statistics are showing a correlation between infection rates and sun exposure. The closer to the equator, the lower the rates. This is believed to be tied to vitamin D one gets from the big ball o’ gas in the sky.

There is a high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in the United States. The rates are highest among those with the darkest skin — those absorbing the least from the sun.

Even the illustrious Dr. Fauci has given the endorsement for vitamin D supplements for those low in it.

And apparently research at the University of Barcelona found that large infusions of Vit-D reduced the chances of severe symptoms & death. (And who doesn’t like to avoid death when possible?)

What seems reasonable here is to continue to follow the general protocols to minimize exposure.

Unless you know you have a deficiency, it’s not likely that pounding down supplements is going to do anything for you.