06/09/2021
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People who enjoy a plant-based diet like vegetarians and vegans or take fish as their only source of meat are considerably less likely to contract severe Covid-19, a new study has found.
According to the findings published in The BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, which examined data from healthcare workers across six countries including the UK, vegetarians are 73 per cent less likely to be hit by coronavirus while self-declared pescatarians were 59 per cent less likely to become ill than those who eat red and white meat.
Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets appeared to be linked to an increased chance of contracting moderate to severe illness, though the findings were not statistically significant.
The study consisted of a web-based questionnaire that sought to explore the relationship between the respiratory disease and diet, polling 2,300 who had not had the virus and 568 who had. Among the 568 respondents who reported that they had previously been ill, only 41 said they had followed a plant-based diet while just 46 had become ill after pursuing a plant-based or pescatarian diet.
The authors, led by a team in the US, wrote: βIn six countries, plant-based diets or pescatarian diets were associated with lower odds of moderate-to-severe Covid-19.
βThese dietary patterns may be considered for protection against severe Covid-19.
βThe study has been conducted in different countries with widely different diets - a plant-based diet in Spain or Italy is likely to be different from a mainly plant-based diet in Germany or the UK.β
Professor Francois Balloux of the UCL Genetics Institute said: βThe study reports that doctors eating plant-based or pescatarian diets tend to be at significantly lower risk of developing severe Covid-19 symptoms upon infection.
βThe sample size is decent, and the analyses look competently performed. Further validation may be required to confirm a direct, causal link between diet and Covid-19 illness severity.
βIndeed, unaccounted lifestyle variables correlated with diet might influence general health of the subjects of the study, and hence how well they coped with Covid-19 infection.β