Nutrient/COVID Studies Now!

There are no drugs for preventing COVID-19, so the government says almost nothing about prevention except for social distancing while our economy collapses. There are many indications, however, that nutrients and lifestyle approaches can help protect us from this virus. The “problem” is that these approaches don’t make billions for the drug companies, so the government doesn’t care. We must demand research into nutritional strategies to prevent COVID-19 infection.

Send a message to the National Institutes of Health, with a copy to Congress, calling for the government to fund projects looking at nutrient/COVID-19 connections.

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Please study nutrient/COVID-19 connections

Dear [Decision Maker],

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We know that as many as 50% of COVID-19 cases have no symptoms. The question is, why? Why do these people have no symptoms, while others get very sick and die?

There are some clues:
	Data show that dietary selenium is linked with COVID-19 outcomes: a study found that patients in areas with high levels of selenium were more likely to recover from the virus, while places with lower selenium intake had a death rate five times higher. 
	Research has also shown that low vitamin D is linked with worse COVID-19 outcomes. Places where the mean serum vitamin D level was below 30 nmol/L, which is considered severe deficiency, had more COVID-19 cases.
	Multivitamins also have been shown to protect against devastating viruses. One study compared supplementation consisting of multivitamins alone, vitamin A alone, or both with placebo in women in Tanzania, Africa who had HIV infection. The study found that women who received the multivitamin were less likely to progress to advanced stages of HIV disease.
	A third of patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection have at least one underlying condition;  a study of hospitalized COVID patients in New York found that 60% had high blood pressure, 40% were obese, and a third had diabetes. All of these conditions are amenable to nutritional and lifestyle prevention and interventions.
	We also know that research has tied micronutrient inadequacies to long-term health consequences, increasing our risk for chronic diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes--which are comorbidities for COVID-19.
	Drugs like proton pump inhibitors can increase the likelihood of serious infection with COVID-19.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) must fund studies looking at the full spectrum of patients, from asymptomatic carriers to patients who died, and correlate patient outcomes to a number of parameters: nutrient levels (particularly vitamin D), hip/waist ratio, hemoglobin A1C to assess blood sugar control, and what drugs patients were taking, such as proton pump inhibitors, that could increase the likelihood of serious infection with COVID-19.

Research into these various areas could be used to develop a "COVID-19 fitness exam" that tells us how at risk we are. This is what a well-functioning health system would do: help Americans protect themselves and reduce COVID casualties by conducting research into prevention. Research should look into how levels of vitamin A, C, D, E, and K, as well as selenium, magnesium, zinc, calcium, and potassium are related to COVID-19 infection and outcomes. This is particularly critical given the fact that 43% of Americans are below the estimated average intake (EAR) for vitamin A, 38.9% are below the EAR for vitamin C, 94.3% for vitamin D, 88.5% for vitamin E, 66.9% for vitamin K, 44% for calcium, 52% for magnesium, and 100% are below the EAR for potassium.

Different diets should also be assessed: are diets high on the Mediterranean scale associated with better COVID-19 outcomes?

We also need to get a handle on which drugs could worsen COVID-19 outcomes. Some data suggest PPIs and angiotensin II receptor blockers may increase likelihood of infection, but NIH should look at the data and assess if other common medications are linked with worse COVID-19 outcomes.

Please support research projects regarding how Americans can use nutrition and supplementation, as well as other lifestyle changes, to help protect against viral infection.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Your Email]