MUSCAT, Nov 11 - People who are deficient in vitamins A, E and D are more prone to respiratory diseases. Those who consumed more of the vitamins are less likely to have respiratory complaints, a recent study found. The findings by a team led by an Omani scientist at Imperial College London assume significance in the wake of COVID-19, which is a lung disease caused by novel coronavirus. Dr Suzana al Moosawi and colleagues from Imperial College’s School of Public Health, conducted the study recently on the association between vitamin intake and respiratory complaints in adults from the UK even when other factors like weight and smoking were taken into account. The study examined a group of 6,115 people aged 19 years and above.
Dr Al Moosawi said: “We know that good nutrition is at the foundation of good health. In the first instance, our findings emphasise the importance of overall diet and the need to achieve adequate intake of vitamins such as A and E from diet. Given our knowledge of the extent of vitamin D deficiency in the general population, balanced with the low cost and low risk of adverse events, it seems sensible to provide supplementation of this key vitamin, particularly to those most likely to be deficient or vulnerable to vitamin D deficiencies.”
Vitamin A, found in whole milk, carrots, green and leafy vegetables, and vitamin E, found in nuts and seeds, are believed to boost the immune system. Fish, milk, meat, egg, oats and mushrooms have vitamin D.
Lead author Prof Adrian Martineau of Queen Mary University of London, said some studies suggested “people with lower vitamin D levels may be more susceptible to coronavirus.”
Commenting on the study, Shane McAuliffe, science communications lead for the NNEdPro Nutrition and UK’s COVID-19 Task Force, which includes experts from the University of Cambridge, said: “While acknowledging the limitations of this data, it does add further to a growing body of interest and evidence for the role of vitamin D in respiratory health. Given our knowledge of the extent of vitamin D deficiency in the population, balanced with the low cost and low risk of adverse events, it seems sensible to provide supplementation of this key vitamin, particularly to those most likely to be deficient.”
The researchers recommended that further study is required to assess the implications of the current study in the context of the current coronavirus pandemic.
There isn’t enough data to recommend use of vitamin D to prevent infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 or to treat COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization.
Several recent studies have looked at the impact of vitamin D on COVID-19. One study of 489 people found that those who had a vitamin D deficiency were more likely to test positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 than people who had normal levels of vitamin D.
Dr Al Moosawi is a public health nutritionist and a nutritional epidemiologist whose primary research focuses around chrono-nutrition, the science of understanding how timing of eating influences health. She holds a PhD in Public Health Nutrition from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Between 2010 and 2013, she acted as an investigator scientist at the MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge.
Dr Al Moosawi has won multiple awards from the British Council for promoting nutrition education in low to middle-income countries. She continues to pursue her research on the relationship between circadian rhythms of eating and dietary patterns, and metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Dr Al Moosawi is a member of the NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition and Health.
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