Question

Italian Study Reveals How to Boost Immunity with Antioxidants Against COVID-19

www.thailandmedical.news/news/italian...

Answer 1

This headline is attention-grabbing, but I think the article does fully back it up. It doesn't try to claim that antioxidants are going to completely neutralize COVID-19, but rather that they can boost immunity specifically against the pneumonia brought on by COVID-19. The link posted here leads to a great summary of this study, which is the "Italian Study" referenced in the post. It is published on the site MDPI, which features peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journals, and the study itself cites other studies as well as agencies such as the World Health Organization for its data. In addition, the first result that appears when I search "Can I Boost Immunity with Antioxidants Against COVID-19" on Google is another scientific study that comes to a similar conclusion, saying specifically the antioxidant "curcumin could be a potential supplement in combating the COVID-19 pathogenesis". This article was published on October 6, 2020, which also lends the argument a sense of longevity.

Comments

Really good answer, covers all the bases of the claim and uses a reliable and source with peer reviews.

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I think that your response is great. You provided a detailed analysis about how the article that was used doesn't state that antioxidants neutralizes Covid-19 completely but that antioxidants can provide some immunity.  I like how you used a quote that was stated in the article.

Answer 2

Looking into the initial source of this claim (a post on Blue Sky by an account called Thailand Medical News) raised some concerns. The account itself looked attention-grabbing and linked to their own website as their sources. Their website was a big red flag as it was unprofessionally laid out and full of ads, usually not a sign of a trustworthy site. They seemed fairly legitimate in their "about us" section of the website but I could find no external information that confirmed or denied this claim. The claim itself, though, is more easy to legitimize. According to the National Library of Medicine, antioxidants do have properties that help to provide immunity against Covid-19, affirming the original claim. Though that was the only source I found that discussed protection against Covid-19 itself, many other websites affirmed that antioxidants support immune health, including IOPScience who said that antioxidants "protect the immune system and enhance resistance against infectious microbes such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites." Overall it seems as if the original claim was true, but the source was flawed and further investigation was required to verify that it was the truth.

National Library of Medicine: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8452284/#:~:text=Some%20antioxidants%20proposed%20for%20COVID,%2D19%20forms%20%5B25%5D.

IOPScience: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1853/1/012065

Answer 3

The source is from a bluesky post by a page called "Thailand Medical News" Initial thoughts on the page is that it looks really attention grabbing and doesn't seem to be a very professional source. There are ads, and there are colors on the website that are very attention grabbing. After looking at the page deeper, it does seem to have reliable information. Thailand Medical News claim is that antioxidants can help mitigate symptoms of COVID-19 and never claim that they will make someone completely immune to the symptoms.

Answer 4

The article doesn’t claim that antioxidants will completely neutralize COVID-19, but rather that they may help boost immunity, particularly against the pneumonia caused by the virus. When I investigation into the peer-reviewed studies and reputable scientific sources, such as the National Library of Medicine and IOPScience, it confirmed that antioxidants can play a role in supporting immune health When I searched for "Can I Boost Immunity with Antioxidants Against COVID-19," the first result was another scientific study that reached a similar conclusion.