Vitamin D Deficit and Obesity Leave UK Vulnerable to Next Pandemic
The UK’s immune health is not pandemic-ready due to widespread nutrient shortfalls – especially in vitamin D, zinc, selenium and omega-3. That’s according to a research review published in Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, where nutritional immunologist Professor Philip Calder highlights that poor nutrition, along with rising obesity, frailty in the elderly, and imbalances in gut bacteria, severely hampered the UK’s resilience during COVID-19. The findings back up research by the Health and Food Supplements Information Service (HSIS), which found that vitamin and mineral intakes in the UK have steadily declined since 2008-9.
Dietitian Dr Carrie Ruxton from HSIS stresses the importance of better food choices, minimising sugary and fatty snacks, and bridging dietary gaps.
A research review published in the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society by an eminent UK professor has warned that the UK’s immune health is not ready to deal with future pandemics because of major nutrient gaps in vitamin D, zinc, selenium and Omega-3s.
Widespread obesity, frailty amongst elderly people and poor gut health also made things worse for Brits during the Covid pandemic, according to Professor Philip Calder, who is a nutritional immunologist based at the University of Southampton.
He said: “Addressing frailty, obesity and micronutrient insufficiency will be important to reduce the burden of future pandemics. Nutrition will need to be a central part of the approach to preventing infections, optimising vaccine responses and promoting recovery from infection. Supplements may be necessary to achieve the required intakes of some of the key immune supporting nutrients such as vitamin D”.
Professor Calder outlines four things which are holding back our immune health andneed to be addressed to better prepare the UK. These are:
Low intakes of the nutrients most needed for optimal immunity. Vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, selenium and omega-3 fats from seafood and fish oils all help the body to ward off viruses and recover faster from infection. Dietitian, Dr Carrie Ruxton from the Health and Food Supplements Information Service – www.hsis.org – says: “The UK BioBank study found that people who took vitamin D supplements were less likely to test positive for Covid. Also, short term use of high dose vitamin C supplements is well known for cutting down the number of days we suffer from the common cold. This is because vitamin C calms inflammation and activates certain types of immune cells”.
Imbalances in gut bacteria – called gut dysbiosis – which make the gut lining leaky and enable viruses and harmful bacteria to access the body. Dr Ruxton explains: “So-called ‘friendly’ gut bacteria actively ward off germs helping to protect us from infection. Eating more fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and fermented foods is great for boosting these beneficial species. Studies show that probiotics can help for example by enhancing our bodies’ response to the flu vaccine”.
Rising obesity levels which dampen immunity and make people more susceptible to serious infections. As Professor Calder comments in his review: “There are multiple reports that adults living with obesity were more susceptible to severe COVID-19 and to mortality from COVID-19 than healthy weight adults”. During the pandemic, people with excess body weight were three times (300%) more likely to get the severest forms of COVID and were 60% more likely to end up being ventilated.
Frailty and malnutrition in the elderly. Ageing gradually lessons natural immunity and affects how well we respond to vaccines. This is fast tracked once older people become undernourished and frail. Age UK estimates that around one in ten adults aged over 65 years are either malnourished or at risk from malnutrition. Dr Carrie Ruxton says: “Older people are less able to get all the nutrients they need from their diets due to impaired absorption and smaller appetites. That’s why a daily multivitamin and mineral can be a bonus”.
The findings of the review back up previous research by HSIS which found that vitamin and mineral intakes in the UK have steadily declined since 2008-9. The fall in nutrients was especially evident in women and younger men who are now seeing dietary gaps in vitamin A, riboflavin, folate, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine and selenium.
Dr Carrie Ruxton says: “Despite decades of diet advice and campaigns, Brits are actually worse off when it comes to our nutrition, and this isn’t helping our future immunity. We need to get back to the basics of cooking at home and minimising sugary, fatty snacks. A simple starting point is to take a daily multivitamin and multimineral supplement plus a fish oil supplement”.