Association between severity of COVID-19 symptoms and habitual food intake in adult outpatients

ObjectiveTo evaluate the association between habitual frequency of food intake of certain food groups during the COVID-19 pandemic and manifestations of COVID-19 symptoms in adult outpatients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection.DesignWe included 236 patients who attended an outpatient clinic for sus...

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Published in:BMJ nutrition, prevention & health prevention & health, 2021-12, Vol.4 (2), p.469-478
Main Authors: Salazar-Robles, Elihud, Kalantar-Zadeh, Kourosh, Badillo, Humberto, Calderón-Juárez, Martín, García-Bárcenas, Cesar Alberto, Ledesma-Pérez, Pedro Daniel, Lerma, Abel, Lerma, Claudia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
dietary patterns
infectious disease
Laboratories
Meals
microbiome
Original Research
Viral infections
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Summary:ObjectiveTo evaluate the association between habitual frequency of food intake of certain food groups during the COVID-19 pandemic and manifestations of COVID-19 symptoms in adult outpatients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection.DesignWe included 236 patients who attended an outpatient clinic for suspected COVID-19 evaluation. Severity of symptoms, habitual food intake frequency, demographics and Bristol chart scores were obtained before diagnostic confirmation with real-time reverse transcriptase PCR using nasopharyngeal swab.ResultsThe results of the COVID-19 diagnostic tests were positive for 103 patients (44%) and negative for 133 patients (56%). In the SARS-CoV-2-positive group, symptom severity scores had significant negative correlations with habitual intake frequency of specific food groups. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex and occupation confirmed that SARS-CoV-2-positive patients showed a significant negative association between having higher symptom severity and the habitual intake frequency of ‘legumes’ and ‘grains, bread and cereals’.ConclusionsIncrease in habitual frequency of intake of ‘legumes’, and ‘grains, bread and cereals’ food groups decreased overall symptom severity in patients with COVID-19. This study provides a framework for designing a protective diet during the COVID-19 pandemic and also establishes a hypothesis of using a diet-based intervention in the management of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which may be explored in future studies.
ISSN:2516-5542
2516-5542
DOI:10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000348