Can Natural Remedies Really Help You Fight the Coronavirus?

Online health gurus say high doses of vitamins and natural remedies can stave off COVID-19 — but evidence to support these claims is lacking.

By Elizabeth Svoboda
Mar 26, 2020 10:27 PMNov 3, 2020 4:55 PM
natural remedy medicine garlic - shutterstock
(Credit: YASTAJ/Shutterstock)

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As COVID-19 blasts its way across the globe, viral wellness videos, tweets and social media posts are springing up in its wake. Whatever the platform, these blitzes share the same underlying message: Certain supplements and natural remedies can prepare your immune system to do battle against the infection caused by the novel coronavirus.

Some online gurus advise downing mega quantities of vitamin C. Others recommend stacking zinc doses, prompting the swift clearing of pharmacy shelves. Others sing the praises of colloidal silver, a compound natural-health buffs have long touted, or boiling massive amounts of garlic and drinking the fragrant liquid straight.

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