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YOUR NUTRITION EVIDENCE ALERT
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Vitamin C and Covid-19 - what the evidence says
As we ride the second wave in coronavirus cases in the UK and globally, researchers remain focused on finding answers to important questions regarding treatments, protection and vaccines. Vitamin C has long been known for its immune system supporting properties and is receiving renewed attention by scientific groups across the world in relation to Covid-19.
This month, we are delighted to host Patrick Holford as guest editor, who has spent much of the last 9 months reading and researching on Vitamin C and what role it may play in the fight against Covid-19. See Patrick's pick list of articles below. Patrick also has an article going through peer-review at the moment for publication in our partner MDPI's journal Nutrients. You can read the pre-print here and we'll be loading the peer-reviewed version to Nutrition Evidence as soon as it is available (estimated for 6 December 2020). This list of 51 scientific articles with plain language summaries released in the last 5 years on immune system support provides useful background reading.
Don't miss the highlighted podcast this month, featuring Dr William B Grant in interview with Ben Brown, where they discuss Vitamin D supplementation in relation to Covid-19. Details below.
And finally, check out the new Optibac Practitioner Learning Platform, talking all things probiotics. This is newly launched and they are keen for feedback, so check out the details below and let them know what you think.
Happy exploring.
Miguel Toribio-Mateas, Editor-in-Chief
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Meet the Guest Editor: Patrick Holford
Ever since I came across Dr Linus Pauling, and his incredible research on vitamin C, I’ve been convinced that optimum nutrition is the future of medicine and I’ve spent 40 years studying nutrition, health and what helps people reclaim it, not with drugs, but with a good, healthy diet, lifestyle and natural food supplements. Every year I read over a thousand studies assimilating the latest health breakthroughs. I hope you like my picks this month, reflecting my current focus on Covid-19 and Vitamin C - it’s a life saver.
Patrick Holford, BSc, DipION, FBANT, NTCRP, is a leading spokesman on nutrition and mental health and founder of both the Food for the Brain Foundation and the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, an educational charity that offers degree accredited training in nutritional therapy. Originally trained in psychology. Patrick was involved in groundbreaking research showing that multivitamins can increase children’s IQ scores – the subject of a Horizon television documentary in the 1980s. He was one of the first promoters of the importance of zinc, essential fats, low-GL diets and homocysteine-lowering B vitamins and their importance in mental health and Alzheimer’s prevention, working closely with David Smith, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. He is currently researching vitamin C in relation to covid-19 and the effects of fasting mimicking diets.
He is the author of 46 books, translated into over 30 languages, including The Optimum Nutrition Bible,,Optimum Nutrition for the Mind and, more recently,Optimum Nutrition for Vegans, The Hybrid Diet, The Five Day Diet and Flu Fighters... He is a retired visiting professor at the University of Teeside and is in the Orthomolecular Medicine Hall of Fame. Patrick brings 40 years of research and experience in the field of nutrition.
These are Patrick's editorial picks for this alert focusing on Vitamin C, Covid-19 and upper respiratory tract infection:
Could Vitamins help in the fight against COVID-19? in Nutrients. 2020
MATH+ protocol for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection: the scientific rationale in Expert Review of Anti-infective therapy. 2020
CITRIS-ALI: How statistics were used to obfuscate the true findings. in Anaesthesia, Critical Care & Pain Medicine. 2019
Reanalysis of the Effect of Vitamin C on Mortality in the CITRIS-ALI Trial: Important Findings Dismissed in the Trial Report Frontiers in Medicine 2020
Vitamin C in Pneumonia and Sepsis in Vitamin C in Health and Disease. 2018
Vitamin C Can Shorten the Length of Stay in the ICU: A Meta-Analysis. in Nutrients. 2019
Vitamin C may reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients: a meta-regression analysis in Journal of Intensive Care. 2020
Vitamin C and Infections in Nutrients. 2017
Vitamin C: an essential "stress hormone" during sepsis in Journal of thoracic disease. 2020
Vitamin C levels in patients with SARS-CoV-2-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome in Critical care. 2020
Serum Levels of Vitamin C and Vitamin D in a Cohort of Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients of a North American Community Hospital Intensive Care Unit in May 2020: A Pilot Study in Medicine in drug discovery. 2020
High-Dose Vitamin D Administration Is Associated With Increases in Hemoglobin Concentrations in Mechanically Ventilated Critically Ill Adults: A Pilot Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition. 2018
High Dose Vitamin D Administration in Ventilated Intensive Care Unit Patients: A Pilot Double Blind Randomized Controlled Trial in Journal of clinical & translational endocrinology. 2016.
Zinc lozenges and the common cold: a meta-analysis comparing zinc acetate and zinc gluconate, and the role of zinc dosage in JRSM open. 2017
Podcast - for your listening this month
Vitamin D Supplementation and Covid-19: From Evidence to Action
Listen to Dr William B Grant exploring vitamin D research and it's clinical use with particular focus on the relationship between vitamin D and viral respiratory tract infections including COVID-19.
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OptiBac announces launch of the OptiBac Practitioner Learning test site!
Training and education have been a cornerstone of OptiBac’s values from the very beginning and over the years, we have continued to grow our educational resources for practitioners. The primary aim of our new practitioner learning platform is to make these resources available to you all in one place! We want to provide practitioners with the tools they need to make the most effective recommendations. Sign up to access:
- Self-directed probiotic modules
- CPD accredited webinar recordings
- Links to our other valuable resources
- Monthly case study alerts
The site is currently being trialled and developed, so we would really appreciate your feedback (good or bad!) and please do let us know if there is anything else you would like to see. This will help us to build an educational resource that works for you!
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