It is nutrient especially important for the health of immune systems leaving people to wonder whether vitamin D may help reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
It’s important to note that there’s no cure for Covid-19 and no known prevention measures apart from social distancing, proper hygiene practices.
That said, some research show that having healthy levels of vitamin D supplement can help to keep the immune system healthy and may protect against respiratory illness in general.
With the virus counting for well over 100,000 cases in the UK alone, the one abiding fact is the disproportionate level of people who are affected are from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background.
Figures showed that whilst accounting for 13% of the population, people from a BAME background make up 35% of coronavirus cases in intensive care and 70% of fatalities from frontline medical staff. Figure further showed that when the number of Covid-19 deaths reached over 13,000, of those over 19% were BAME.
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: “People with a vitamin D deficiency (including: people with dark skin, from African, African-Caribbean and South Asian background) should take a supplement all year round”, in order to protect musculoskeletal.
Generated from the exposure of sunlight, vitamin D – otherwise known as the ‘sunshine vitamin’ – is crucial to the immune system, as well as healthy bones, muscles and teeth.
