Does vitamin D protect against corona, and where can you find it?
For months, there has been debate over the claim that taking vitamin D could help protect you better against corona. Various doctors and scientists have stated in the AD that it helps against respiratory infections and improves immunity, making it a mystery that not everyone takes it. It is not difficult to get, either in supplement form or in a whole lot of delicious dishes!
The Health Council, however, still does not want to issue official advice that vitamin D helps prevent corona, because the positive results come from studies into respiratory infections other than corona. They want to wait for more specific research before recommending that everyone get more vitamin D, but according to Huub Savelkoul, professor of immunology at Wageningen University, by then it may already be too late…
Why wait?
The Health Council does maintain its very urgent advice that people in at-risk groups should take it anyway. These are children up to 4 years old, pregnant women, women aged 50+, men aged 70+, and anyone with dark skin or who gets little exposure to the sun (because too little vitamin D is produced in the skin of these people). Meanwhile, experts, including Savelkoul and Leon van der Toorn, chair of the Dutch Association of Physicians for Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis, recommend simply making sure that you do get enough of it. Too much is not good, as with almost everything, but if doctors and scientists themselves also ensure extra vitamin D by taking supplements, it surely cannot hurt to look into it. How can we help you with that? With good recipes, of course! Because vitamin D can be found in all these delicious foods, among others:
Mackerel
Often sustainably caught because it has little bycatch and fishing does not involve contact with the seabed, this is a truly delicious, fatty top fish. Replace tuna with mackerel for a change, mix it with fresh lemon mayonnaise or that amazing Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, add capers, spring onion, salt and pepper, and you have a super-tasty mackerel salad. Also excellent in a mackerel melt!
Salmon
Choose wild salmon or salmon with an ASC certification, and have fun with it. Crisp-fry it skin-side down, make it deliciously sticky with honey and garlic, or serve it in a creamy spinach shakshuka—it is all equally delicious!
Herring
Whether you eat it standing by the fish stall or wait a little longer and put it in a deliciously Dutchified poké herring bowl at home, this national favorite is not only tasty but also incredibly healthy.
Eggs
Eggs contain less vitamin D than the fatty fish mentioned above, but hey, every little bit helps. So boil an egg exactly the way you like it, scramble away, or fry a perfect crispy egg with crunchy edges to serve with rice (with chili oil!).
In short, there are plenty of possibilities. Keep going, and stay healthy!
Also read:
- Healthy start: take part in our vitamin quiz
- Say what? This is what other countries do with our beloved herring
- This is how you defrost salmon
Sources: NOS, AD
