Use of Dietary Supplements in COVID-19

Authors

Riya Singh
United Institute of Pharmacy, Prayagraj
Sunil Singh
Department of Pharmacy, United Institute of Pharmacy, Naini, Prayagraj, India

Synopsis

Dietary supplements may reduce chance of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but we do not have a scientific data which support such a role of dietary supplement in case of SARS-CoV-2. We knew for a long time that nutrition is directly or indirectly linked to immunity and to the risk and severity of infections. Dietary supplements (DSs) are products that include one or more dietary ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, or other chemicals that have a nutritional value. DS use has been continuously expanding all over the world, and sales of DS have been dynamically high during SARS-CoV-2 infection in most nations. We believe that consuming nutritious foods high in vitamins C, D, and E, as well as zinc and flavonoids, can help enhance the immune system and protect the body from dangerous illnesses. This review summarizes how nutraceuticals and supplements are involved in biological processes important to COVID-19 recovery or prevention.

Methods: In this review, the data was collected from the review articles. We searched this data for PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar for studies on food supplements, probiotics, or nutraceuticals for the prevention or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 infection.

Results: We analyzed the data regarding the links between dietary supplements and immune system boosting in the battle against COVID 19.

Conclusion: After this review, we observed a modest but significant association between use of Dietary supplement which contain flavonoids, probiotics, omega-3 fatty acid, multivitamin or vitamin D and lower risk of severity or chance of infection for SARS-CoV-2, but randomized controlled clinical trials are required to confirm these observational findings before any therapeutic recommendations can be made.

LR
Published
February 1, 2023