When it comes to preventing COVID-19, we know the most proven tips: get vaccinated, wear a face mask in public, and observe social distancing. But lesser known and perhaps just as important is how to boost the immune system to reduce the risk of getting the virus. Using solid data from non-specific COVID studies, experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci recommends exercising, reducing stress, and taking vitamins C and D. But new research suggests that your daily diet may be directly protected from COVID. Keep reading for more information and not to guarantee the health and well-being of others Signs that you may have had COVID.
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Study analyzed About 600,000 people
For a study recently published in Tripa, the researchers examined about 600,000 participants in the COVID symptom study, who sent information to a smartphone app. Participants, who lived in the United States and the United Kingdom, were followed from March to December 2020. At the start of the study, they answered questions about their eating habits before the pandemic. The quality of each person’s diet was assessed using a diet score that emphasized plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables.
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What did the research find?
The study found that people on plant-based diets had a lower risk of contracting COVID-19 or suffering from serious virus diseases. People who ranked in the highest quartile of the diet score had a 9% lower risk of developing COVID and 41% less risk of developing serious illness than people in the lowest quartile.
“These findings were consistent with a series of sensitivity analyzes that take into account other healthy behaviors, social determinants of health, and community virus transmission rates,” said study lead author Jordi Merino. associate researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School.
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Diet can reduce the risk of COVID
“While we can’t stress enough the importance of getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in crowded settings, our study suggests that people may also potentially reduce their risk of getting COVID-19 or have poor results by paying attention to his diet, ”said co-lead author Andrew Chan, a gastroenterologist and head of MGH’s clinical and translational epidemiology unit.
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This group is particularly at risk
The researchers found that people who had a lower socioeconomic status and followed an unhealthy diet had a much higher risk of COVID, rather than the sum of the risk of each factor. “Our models estimate that nearly a third of COVID-19 cases would have been prevented if there had not been one of the two exposures (diet or deprivation),” Merino said.
Researchers urged the development of public health strategies that promote healthy eating. “Our findings are a call to governments and stakeholders to prioritize healthy diets and well-being with impactful policies, otherwise we risk losing decades of economic progress and a substantial increase in health disparities said Merino.
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How to stay safe
Follow the basics and help end this pandemic, no matter where you live; get vaccinated as soon as possible; if you live in an area with low vaccination rates, bring a N95 facial mask, do not travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, do not go inside with people you do not welcome (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene and to protect your life and that of others, no. Do not visit any of these 35 places where COVID is most likely to be captured.