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Vitamins can play a key role in fight against COVID-19
Vitamins are vital for the growth of our bodies and our immune system.
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any of us do not know that the word “vitamin” has links with Indonesia dating back to the 19th century. A Dutch medical researcher’s findings, while conducting research into beriberi disease in Indonesia, led to the discovery of vitamins. He was none other than Christiaan Eijkman from the Netherlands.
He first came to what was then called Batavia in 1883 as a military doctor and stayed until 1885. He returned in 1888, this time as a medical researcher. He was the first director of the Javanese Medical School, the precursor to the University of Indonesia, in Batavia.
According to the nobel.org website, Eijkman discovered that the real cause of beriberi, a disease that causes people to lose feeling in their legs and begin to have trouble walking, was a deficiency in a vital substance in the staple food rice. The substance is located in the so-called “silver skin” or pericarpium of the rice.
The discovery in Batavia by Eijkman led to the concept of vitamins. The substance that Eijkman had found was vitamin B1 or thiamine. But the word “vitamin” was not in use until the early 20th century. The substance Eijkman had found in rice was named “vital amine” by Casimir Funk, a Polish-born biochemist, in 1912. Scientists later shortened this to “vitamin”.
For his remarkable research into beriberi disease in Indonesia that led to the discovery of vitamins, Eijkman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929.
Vitamins are vital for the growth of our bodies and our immune system.
How many types of vitamins are there? How we can get them?
“Basically, our bodies need 13 types of vitamins. Without them, we may get several diseases,” Sanjeevini Pertiwi, who studied biomedicine, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The 13 vitamins, according to Sanjeevini, are vitamin A, vitamin B1, riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (a type of vitamin B), pantothenic acid (a type of vitamin B), biotin (a type of vitamin B), folate (a type of vitamin B), vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K.
Everybody knows that we will get most of these vitamins if we consume a healthy diet. But many of us do not know that our bodies make vitamin D and K. We can even get vitamin D from sunshine. We make so many types of vitamin supplements.
“Making and selling vitamins has become a multibillion dollar business. Some vitamins we have to consume, but not all. There is no guarantee that you will be healthy if you eat more vitamin pills every day,” Ratna Dewi, who works at a hospital in West Jakarta, told the Post.
A lack of some of these vitamins may cause serious health problems. For example, according to Ratna, if you have a vitamin C deficiency, you could become anaemic. Vitamin B2 is a key element in growth and the production of red blood cells in our body. Vitamin A prevents night blindness. If you are a vegan, you need to take B12 vitamin pills.
“The key is a balanced diet to get enough vitamins. Before consuming vitamin pills, it is better to contact a doctor as excessive doses of vitamin pills may cause serious health problems,” Ratna said.
According to Sanjeevini, we may get vitamin A from beef liver, eggs, shrimps, fish, cheese, butter, fruits and vegetables. Likewise we may get vitamin B1 from meat, brown rice, watermelons and soymilk. So it’s important to eat meat, dairy products, vegetables and fruits in a balanced manner to get enough vitamins.
Now the whole world is facing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 30 million people and claimed nearly 945,000 lives. But the question is whether vitamins can help us in fighting COVID-19.
Some of them can, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States.
Fauci says boosting our immunity is one of the best ways to prevent COVID-19 besides health protocols like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and washing our hands frequently with soap or sanitizers.
Vitamin D, according to Fauci, is the best immune booster and a frontline defender against COVID-19. Vitamin C, which is an antioxidant, is the second option.
Recently, Newsweek magazine reported that Korean doctors had found that 76 percent of COVID-19 patients had vitamin D deficiencies. Likewise, a similar study in Israel found that people with vitamin D levels below 30 ng/ml were 45 percent more likely to test positive and 95 percent more likely to be hospitalized.
Most of the people who died in Indonesia due to COVID-19 had lower levels of vitamin D in their bodies.
Numerous studies in various countries have pointed out that vitamin D plays a crucial role in fighting COVID-19 and reducing its mortality rate.
So, it’s important the we check our vitamin D and vitamin C levels at a hospital, start consuming food that is rich in vitamins and take vitamin pills as prescribed by a doctor.
