Is Vitamin D good for boosting immunity? What Dr. Fauci says
Fears of contracting the coronavirus increase as businesses & schools reopen and many are trying anything they can to boost their immune systems to prevent catching the virus. While no concoction of vitamins & supplements will make you immune to the virus, some will boost your immune system to help your body fight it off.
The biggest trend has been taking Vitamin D & other daily vitamins to help boost your immune system. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’s leading epidemiologist, has some thoughts on this new health trend.
What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is essential to your body. It helps the body absorb Calcium, Magnesium, & Phosphates in your intestines. It’s produced in fatty fish like salmon, tuna, & mackerel, but much of the Vitamin D we receive is absorbed through our skin from the sun. The primary use of Vitamin D is to help with bone strength.
Dr. Fauci’s thoughts
Dr. Fauci has said in multiple interviews, he does not recommend any vitamins to boost your immune system. In an interview with Tiffany Haddish, Dr. Fauci explained vitamins do not “help much unless you have some sort of a deficiency”. So if you don’t have a problem naturally getting Vitamin D from your diet, there’s no benefit to taking it.
The problem, according to Dr. Fauci, is: “a lot of these herbs that claim to boost your immune system in so many respects, either do nothing, or, if you take too much of them, they harm you.”
Dr. Fauci’s recommendation
Dr. Fauci pushes people away from taking vitamins & daily supplements and towards living a healthier lifestyle. Dr. Fauci explains to Haddish, “the best way to keep your immune systems good is to just lead a healthy life, get good sleep, exercise. Those are the things that are so much better than a bunch of herbs that really have never really been shown to do that.”
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Living a healthier lifestyle might help boost your immune system, but it’s not the only way to prevent COVID-19. Other forms of protection from the coronavirus are to wear a mask, wash your hands, and practice social distancing.
