Welcome to Straight Talk on Health.. I’m your host Dr. Chet Zelasko. Straight Talk on Health. is a joint production with WGVU in Grand Rapids MI. I examine the practical application of health information. Nutrition. Exercise. Diet. Supplementation. I look at the science behind them, and let you know whether it’s something to consider or not. You can check out other things that I do on my website Drchet.com and sign up for my free emails.
This is the final podcast of this season. I think it’s appropriate to provide a research update and an opinion or two about nutrition and dietary supplements. Then finish with a personal update.
Let’s begin with vitamin D. My news feed, the week before I recorded this, contained at least three referrals to a recent article published in the Journal of Nutrition. The headlines were all about the same: vitamin D supplementation is ineffective in the short term as a treatment for COVID but provides insight into how to reduce the risk of long-term COVID symptoms. I thought it deserved a look.
Researchers selected a large group of potential subjects in the US and Mongolia. Subjects were notified of the trial by the testing companies within seven days after a positive COVID test. If the subjects passed criteria for inclusion in the trial, they were assigned to a placebo or vitamin D supplement group. The subjects were required to perform surveys periodically about symptoms with the primary outcome being further professional treatment or death. There were a number of secondary criteria related to worsening symptoms requiring more than a single visit to a healthcare professional or hospital.
In short, there were no observable differences between those who used vitamin D supplements for the four-week trial or the placebo group in those who required additional treatment. A disappointment for vitamin D users? Maybe not.
Back to the headlines. The rest of the headline suggested that taking vitamin D upon getting COVID may reduce symptoms of long-term COVID (LTCOVID), a serious aftereffect of a COVID infection that can impact the nervous and muscular system. Brain fog, chronic fatigue, and pain are just some of the common symptoms.
The reason for hope with LTCOVID symptoms is that those subjects who continued to supplement with vitamin D showed a lower propensity for LTCOVID symptoms than the placebo group. It was not statistically significant with 21% of the vitamin D group showing symptoms of LTCOVID versus 25% in the placebo group, but it provided hope for further research; there were no differences in serious adverse events between the placebo and vitamin D groups.
Two things I found interesting: first, those subjects in either group who had normal vitamin D levels in their blood didn’t have an advantage over those who had very low or low levels of vitamin D. That surprised me as one would think that having a good baseline would be protective in some way. Maybe not.
Second, whether vitamin D impacted COVID as to length of symptoms, it showed that vitamin D supplementation at the first symptom of COVID may be protective. The amounts used in the study were two days at 9,600 IU and then 3,200 IU daily for eight weeks or more, based on the length of the study.
Why would vitamin D be beneficial after a person contracted the virus? Speculation by two researchers, one of the authors and a scientist from another lab, was that vitamin D boosts the immune system by reducing inflammation during the infection. The only way we’ll know for sure is by doing more research. For now, it’s up to you and your healthcare professionals how best to deal with your next COVID infection. Vitamin D seems to be a viable option.
Paula mentioned something about a hamburger cereal and I just shook my head. Then, I had to check it out. Yep. There is a product with dehydrated beef that makes it crunchy, sugar from honey, and a bunch of other natural ingredients. Just pour on the milk. Except one thing: this processed food contains no fiber. You may get more protein but why this way? Which brings me to my first opinion: the new DG have been over-hyped by the officials of the USDA. Does it call for more protein? A bit more. Does it recommend frying in tallow and butter instead of seed oils? Yes. But I want to be clear: since the McGovern Report outlining the lack of healthy foods in the typical American diet back in 1977 and recommending what eventually became the 1980 DG, nothing has really changed in the recommendations.
The recommendations still say to reduce fat intake to 30% with only 10% from saturated fat. They still suggest high carbohydrates but not what the keto people think. The original recommendations said to eat vegetables, fruits and whole grains to make up most of that 50-60%, not the ultra-processed food that was implied by the latest DG. It was the manufacturer’s that ramped up the processing which wasn’t and still isn’t illegal. Should we fix our own meals and cook for ourselves? Absolutely. Now, how much are you going to spend on education to help the population learn how to do just that? I’ve seen a couple of commercials but not the type of program that it would take to really teach nutrition. The new DG are all hype, no substance.
I’m going to turn to the continuing attack on the dietary supplement industry by the medical profession and the FDA. My brother in law suffers from fibromyalgia. I’ve recommended some different nutrient approaches but they didn’t help much. He heard about l-arginine, the amino acid. He said since he’s been taking it, he’s had much less discomfort. It makes perfect sense as l-arginine promoted the production of nitric acid which increases blood flow to muscles. A different source are the nitrates in beets but that didn’t see to help. Neither did creatine. But one nutrient did. Trial and error is a pain but it’s the only way to identify what is specific to an individual.
Where’s the opinion? Here it is: a nutritional dysfunction is not a disease. The McGovern Report turned from enriching and recommending foods to make up for vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the diet to actually recommending what people should eat to maintain a healthy weight and reduce their risk of degenerative diseases.
We are complex animals and in a word, we are all mutants. The are thousands of chemical reactions that have to take place for a single nutrient to be digested, absorbed, transported to the liver or other target tissue, transported into the cells, be processed by the correct receptor to make the correct protein and bring about the desired outcome. To think that we understand the complexity of nutrition is sheer fantasy.
I’m not just talking about vitamins and minerals. There are thousands of phytonutrients from plantsthat can have roles as well. So when it comes to nutrients and food deficiencies that are as yet undiscovered and unresearched, they do not result in disease. They may if the deficiencies last long enough but any more, food is not pharmaceuticals. Whether from food or as a dietary supplement, they do not treat disease. They compensate for nutrient-related dysfunctions.
Finally, I’m going to have cataracts from both eyes removed, lens replaced, as well as drains put in both eyes a couple of weeks apart. It’s been a chore to try and read thru vision just blurry enough to be a real inconvenience. I should be good to go and be able to read without glasses again before the next season begins. Remember: be good, do good, God Bless, and Go Bills!
That’s all the time I have for this episode and this season. If you like this podcast, please hit the share button and tell your friends and colleagues about it. Until next time, this is Dr. Chet Zelasko saying health is a choice. Choose wisely today and every day.
Reference: J Nutr. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101398
