IMMUNITY: Vitamins and minerals

In previous posts we have talked a lot about immunity, due to COVID 19, and we commented, mainly, on the role of vitamin D as one of the key vitamins for protection against infections.

I would like to add now information about other vitamins and minerals that also play an important role in regulating this immune system, as well as being key elements in maintaining our health.

VITAMIN A

• Vitamin A is crucial for maintaining vision, promoting growth and development, and protecting the integrity of the epithelium and mucus in the body.
• It has anti-inflammatory effect due to its critical role in improving immune function.
• It exerts a regulatory role in cellular immune responses and humoral immune processes.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162863/

• It has demonstrated a therapeutic effect in the treatment of various infectious diseases.
• People with vitamin A deficiency are prone to increased risk, high severity and impaired immune responses to viral infections.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162863/

VITAMIN C

• The immunomodulatory effect on respiratory infection is well documented.
• Vitamin C deficiency is associated with pneumonia in several publications.
• In alignment with evidence from other micronutrients, supplementation may benefit the individual with vitamin C deficiency, but not in healthy subjects.
• In addition, it has been reported that administering megadoses of vitamin C before or after the onset of flu symptoms could alleviate symptoms in the test population relative to the control group.
• In a study that evaluated 9745 episodes of the common cold, it was revealed that regular vitamin C supplementation had a modest but consistent effect on decreasing the duration of common cold symptoms.
• Five trials with 598 participants showed that vitamin C decreased the risk of the common cold without any adverse effects.
• Vitamin C supplementation is therefore one of the sensible options to prevent and support immune responses in the micronutrient-deficient individual at risk of virus infections.

SELENIUM

• Selenium has a critical role in defending against viral infection through its antioxidant effect, redox signaling, and homeostatic redox contributions, as an integral part of several selenoproteins, including glutathione peroxidase and thioredoxin reductases.
• Viruses produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are fought by GPx and other selenoproteins to slow viral replication and mutations.
• Selenium deficiency is associated with increased pathogenicity of several virus infections.
• Its deficiency also promotes mutations, replication and virulence of RNA viruses.
• Selenium could be beneficial through various mechanisms, including virus-host cell-binding interaction, restoration of host antioxidant capacity, anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant effects, to name a few.
• Selenium has been overlooked, but it probably has an important place in the management of Covid-19, and serves to prevent future epidemics or pandemics especially in the elderly, and could represent a game-changer in the global response.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341061552_Selenium_and_RNA_viruses_interactions_Potential_implications_for_SARS-Cov-2_infection_Covid-19

• One of the main problems is the depletion of this mineral in the soils, which causes most of the deficiencies.
• In Western Europe, the selenium content in the soil is typically low.
  Intensive agriculture depletes the soil and selenium is not found in fertilizers, as it is not an essential substance for crops.
  Selenium is added to animal feed, which means that selenium can be found in meat.
• It is found in fish and certain types of nuts, especially Brazilian nuts.

ZINC

• Zinc is an essential micronutrient with crucial contributions to most enzymatic functions, it is the main structural component of around 750 transcription factors in the human body.
• Zinc is essential for the normal function and development of cells that regulate nonspecific immunity, including natural killer cells and neutrophils.
• Zinc deficiency also modifies the development of acquired immunity by limiting the functions and growth of T lymphocytes, including the production and activation of Th1.
• Macrophage function is also negatively affected by zinc deficiency through dysregulation of cytokine production, intracellular death, and phagocytosis.
• Zinc deficiency impairs antiviral immunity, particularly against herpes simplex virus, the common cold, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
• A meta-analysis of studies of oral zinc supplementation suggested beneficial effects on reducing symptoms and duration of common cold infection.
• Zinc supplementation was also useful against hepatitis C virus infection by inducing metallothionein expressions.
• In addition, research has shown that zinc has antiviral effects.
  It improves the immune response and suppresses viral replication.
• Therefore, consumption of up to 50 mg of zinc per day may provide an important role at the immunological level by improving host resistance against viral infection.

For all of the above, it is important to make sure that you have good levels not only of vitamin D but also of other vitamins and minerals.
This can help us to be protected against infections and strengthen our immune system in the current circumstances where the future may bring us new viral infections.

Within the range of dietary supplements that Salengei offers, we have some that stand out for having a combination of these micronutrients, such as:

Phytomatrix: contains selenium, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D₃ and ß-carotene (precursor of vitamin A), as well as other minerals, vitamins and phytochemical components.

VitC&D3: in this product are vitamin C and vitamin D₃.
Also bioflavonoids, magnesium and calcium.