A paper in the British Journal of Family Medicine said as many as 30% to 40% of the UK population is vitamin D deficient in winter, falling to 8% by the end of summer. Our bodies produce vitamin D in response to strong sunlight, and levels of vitamin D deficiency fluctuate throughout the year according to the amount of sunlight. Fortification is a really good way of eliminating deficiency.” Even I forget to take my supplement sometimes, and I’m living and breathing this subject. “But we know that people just aren’t doing that in any significant numbers. “The government recommends that the whole population takes vitamin D supplements in winter months, and those in high risk groups take it all year round,” Martineau said. The Coronavit study, which began last week and is backed by the Barts Charity, the Fischer Family Trust and the AIM Foundation, will follow more than 5,000 people through the winter.
“But it’s clear that the current policy is not working.” He said that at least half the population has a vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency.Īdrian Martineau, professor of respiratory infection at Queen Mary University in London, who is not part of Davies’s group, is leading a clinical trial to examine whether vitamin D can reduce the risk of Covid-19, or its severity. Picking the right foods to fortify would need to be done carefully. “Food fortification would need careful planning to be rolled out effectively, particularly as people are now taking supplements. “In my opinion, it is clear that vitamin D could not only protect against disease severity but could also protect against infection,” Davies said. However, Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care have rejected calls over the past 10 years to fortify foods such as milk, bread and orange juice, which is the practice in Finland, Sweden, Australia, the US and Canada. Vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults – soft bones that lead to deformities – and children with severe vitamin D deficiency are prone to hypocalcaemia – low levels of calcium in the blood – which leads to seizures and heart failure. The picture is mixed, however – some research shows that vitamin D levels have little or no effect on Covid-19, flu and other respiratory diseases. Last week, researchers in Spain found that 82% of coronavirus patients out of 216 admitted to hospital had low vitamin D levels. Low levels of vitamin D, which our bodies produce in response to strong sunlight, may lead to a greater risk of catching the coronavirus or suffering more severe effects of infection, according to some studies. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy Page.Scientists are calling for ministers to add vitamin D to common foods such as bread and milk to help the fight against Covid-19.Ībout two in five people in the UK are estimated to have a vitamin D deficiency in winter, and government guidance that people should take supplements is not working, according to a group convened by Dr Gareth Davies, a medical physics researcher.
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