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Impact of diet in this pandemic


DownWithJunkFood

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I'm not sure where this topic belongs.  For all I know, this thread will be moved to the Speculations board.  Just to make it clear: I'm not a doctor or scientist.  I am 100% for face masks and social distancing.  However, it seems all too clear that face masks and social distancing are necessary but NOT ENOUGH.

Just how much of a role does diet have in this pandemic?  Over the years, I've seen many articles saying that consuming refined sugar and junk food weakens the immune system and promotes inflammation.  (And they're not from the chemtrails brigade or the tinfoil hat brigade.)  A number of negative factors have been making the pandemic especially bad here in the US, and I believe that excessive junk food consumption is one of them.  Unlike the other factors, diet is the one thing that individuals have control over.

Indoor restaurant dine-in should be the last establishment to reopen.  It's impossible to wear a mask when eating or drinking, the limited ventilation allows any viral load to accumulate, and people are in there long enough to exhale or inhale a large viral load.  This would be risky enough if restaurants served only healthy superfoods.  In reality, most restaurant food is unhealthy junk food.  So this all means a high risk of being exposed to a large viral load, a weaker immune system less able to handle this viral load, AND more of the inflammation that leads to the cytokine/bradykinin storm.

The idea of fully eliminating refined sugar and junk food from my diet never did occur to me until this pandemic struck.  I'm avoiding all refined sugar, junk food, and restaurant food until this pandemic is over.  (This idea once seemed inconceivable, but it now seems like a very tiny sacrifice.)  At the same time, I'm trying to eat as many different superfoods as possible, because certain nutrients are said to strengthen the immune system, reduce inflammation, and possibly even disable viruses.  I'm making sure to consume pineapple (for the bromelain), sauerkraut (for probiotics), natto (for probiotics and Vitamin K2), and one Brazil nut (for selenium) daily.   I've doubled down on my onion (quercetin) consumption, and I'm making sure to use a variety of spices.  And I'm continuing to consume fruits, vegetables, water kefir, milk kefir, and yogurt daily.  This is the healthiest and most nutritious diet I've ever been on in my entire life.  Yes, I'm eating many of the foods cited at a website I'm not allowed to advertise here as possible COVID-19 fighters.

Yes, I'm also taking Vitamin D supplements daily. I normally take a break from that in summer, but I made sure to keep taking Vitamin D daily through this summer.  I'm also taking magnesium, Vitamin C, zinc, and copper as well.  (I'm taking the zinc and copper supplements on alternate days because they compete for absorption.)

Certain people who have been in the news will be treated harshly by history.

I also can't help but wonder what future generations will think if the solution to safely reopening turned out to be free or dirt cheap.  What if it turns out that a certain key food or nutrient turned out to be a big immune booster, anti-inflammatory, or virus killer but we overlooked it?  During the European Age of Exploration, 2 million sailors died from scurvy, which we now know is a Vitamin C deficiency.  They could have not only stayed alive but also stayed well merely be eating some fruits and vegetables every day.  (And some are so rich in Vitamin C that it wouldn't even take that much food to prevent scurvy.)  Is history repeating itself?

Some questions:

  • Why isn't there a national dialogue on the impact of diet in this pandemic?
  • What would be the impact if everyone copied my current diet that's devoid of junk food but rich in fruits, vegetables, and probiotic foods?  Am I reducing my risk by 1%, 99.999%, or (most likely) something in between?
  • What would be the impact if everyone took a daily Vitamin D supplement?
  • Why don't official recommendations say anything about Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, selenium, avoiding junk food, eating pineapple, eating one Brazil nut per day, or eating probiotic foods?  Earlier on, I assumed that there were concerns that people would use better nutritional habits as an excuse to disregard the main recommendations (face masks and physical distancing).  However, it seems that the anti-mask crowd and those who insist on prematurely reopening aren't even interested in reaching for such an excuse. 
  • Why aren't those who insist on prematurely reopening at least telling people to use face masks, eat better diets, get enough Vitamin D, eat pineapple, or eat probiotic foods?  If one of these measures turns out to be the miracle the world is looking for, somebody gets major bragging rights as a result of sheer good luck.
  • Why aren't there any good studies that definitively prove that having enough Vitamin D in the body reduces risk in this pandemic?  While the evidence so far is more than enough to convince me, it's probably not enough to hold up in a court of law.
  • Why aren't there any studies on the impact of junk food consumption and diet on COVID-19 cases and deaths?
  • Why does it seem that prescription drugs are getting far more attention than nutritional supplements and foods?  Pineapples, oranges, and broccoli are safe and cheap.  Taking a daily softgel containing a few thousand IUs of Vitamin D is safe and cheap.  Given that even OTC drugs have risks and side effects, one can safely assume that there are good reasons that prescription drugs require a prescription.
  • How much longer will it be before we know the impact of bromelain?  (I know that there are studies underway.)
  • Why aren't there more good studies on the impact of probiotic foods?  Probiotic foods improve gut health, which is something like 60% to 80% of the immune system.
  • Why aren't there any studies on the impacts of various other fruits, vegetables, and spices on the coronavirus?
Edited by Phi for All
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What would be the impact if everyone ate a Brazil nut per day (what I'm doing) or took a daily selenium supplement?  Brazil nuts are FAR richer in selenium than any other food.  Just one Brazil nut has a full day's supply of this nutrient.

I've read that a selenium deficiency weakens the immune system and may even help the coronavirus to mutate.  The parts of China with the lowest selenium levels in the soil were hardest hit in this pandemic while the parts of China with the highest soil selenium levels got off easiest.

Given how cheap and safe it is to eat one Brazil nut per day or get an equivalent amount of selenium from supplements, why isn't this an official recommendation anywhere?  If this potential solution really does work, how would it look to future generations if it were overlooked?  Why is there so much more buzz about prescription drugs rather than things that are cheap, safe, and available to the general public?

Edited by DownWithJunkFood
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21 minutes ago, DownWithJunkFood said:

I've read that a selenium deficiency weakens the immune system and may even help the coronavirus to mutate. 

Can you provide a scientific reference? 

21 minutes ago, DownWithJunkFood said:

why isn't this an official recommendation anywhere? 

Because there is no data to support benefits. As a whole, nutritional research is difficult and even after decades of work many links are still uncertain. The reason of course being that it is almost impossible to test human food intake in a controlled environment for the required length of time to actually see health differences.  Based on that, claims that certain food supplements will be effective in protecting against a novel disease are likely misleading at best or outright false claims at worst.

For an actual example with at least some data is the observation that folks with vitamin D deficiency have a higher risk of complications from COVID-19. However, while it is possible that vitamin D sufficiency has some protective properties, it is also possible that folks that are deficient also have other risk factors that cause increased risk. For that reason folks are starting trials to test whether increasing serum levels of vitamin D might have some benefits. 

At the same time it is premature to call everyone to take supplements (which also can cause adverse effects) because no one knows at this point whether it will actually work. Eating nuts is likely not going to do much bad (unless you overindulge) but again, without clinical data it does not make sense to call for consumption.

You know what makes sense? A call for healthy eating habits. A varied diet with sufficient fruit and vegetables, not too high calorie intake, maintain a healthy weight. These correlate more significantly than any single supplement (obesity and cardiovascular issues are highly correlated with COVID-19 related complications. And on top, it keeps you alive even outside of a pandemic.

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Dietetic studies are notoriously difficult to run. They recruit often just dozens of patients, trying to track 100s of variables and several outcomes. And for any prolonged period of time, which dietary changes often need to manifest clinically relevant outcomes, you lose patients to follow-up, or they start eating stuff they agreed not to introducing noise to the dataset etc...

The answer to most of your questions is practical considerations. Another is there are bigger fish to fry: hard to justify the additional resources when we still haven't even got a vaccine to market.

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