UNCONFIRMED: DO NOT SHARE
Claim:
Taking doses of vitamin C and iodine will “kill all microbes”.
Answer:
There is no known treatment, and no conclusive evidence that vitamin C and iodine will kill the virus.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The video claims that taking doses of vitamin C and using iodine in a salt pipe will “kill all microbes” and that “everyone should be taking 5 grams” of vitamin C a day, but on the sign of an infection to take “10 grams every hour until you get diarrhea” and that there is no harm to doing so.
The NHS advises that taking less than 1,000mg of vitamin C supplements is unlikely to cause any harm.
Harriet Smith, a registered dietitian told Sky News that: “There is some research going on to see the effects of extremely high doses of IV vitamin C on coronavirus, however these trials are in the early stages and no conclusions can be drawn.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) currently says that “at this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. WHO will continue to provide updated information as soon as clinical findings become available.”
WHO also recommends the following basic protective measures:
- Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, or clean them with alcohol-based hand rub.
- Maintain at least 1 metre distance between you and people coughing or sneezing.
- Avoid touching your face.
- Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
- Stay home if you feel unwell.
- Refrain from smoking and other activities that weaken the lungs.
- Practice physical distancing by avoiding unnecessary travel and staying away from large groups of people.
SOURCE
National Health Service (NHS) – Vitamin C – Vitamins and minerals
Origins of Claim
FULL TEXT OF CLAIM
1:09 – Vitamin C contact kills all microbes. We can take that internally and that works from the inside out. Iodine contact kills all microbes. And we can use that from the outside in. And you use both tools to prevent infection. I liken it to a defence with Muhammad Ali, a right hook and a left punch and you get the microbe in between the pincer movement. Let’s start off with vitamin C – bowel tolerance – the key with vitamin C is the dose. If you do not take enough of it, you just won’t get the benefits. And the dose needed to reach bowel tolerance as we call it is much higher in acute infections. Everybody should be taking five grams a day but when you get the first signs of a sniff, a cold or a sneeze – you take 10 grams every hour until you get diarrhea. Harm? Zero. Potential for good? Enormous, because that sweeps the invaders off the beaches. It cleans up our gut. It cleans up our blood. At the very first sign of any infection.
