• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

COVID severity and diet

HSSS

HSSS

Expert
Messages
7,675
Location
South of England
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
A new study out and hitting the papers. https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/bmjnph/early/2021/05/18/bmjnph-2021-000272.full.pdf

Claims plant based and pescatarian are associated with less severe disease

it’s self reported diet over the last year selected from 11 options (lots to criticise there!) condensed into three groups from there from analysis

a couple of quotes that stood out to me “Many demographic characteristics (age, sex, race/ ethnicity), medical specialty, medical history, smoking status, and BMI did not significantly differ by severity of COVID-19.”. That contradicts most existing risk criteria. And “Participants who reported following low carbohydrate, high protein diets had a higher intake of legumes, nuts, soups, and animal products such as eggs and poultry. Studies have hypothe- sised that an unhealthy dietary pattern, such as Western diets which are high in refined sugars, processed foods, and red and processed meats, can be pro-inflammatory and have negative health impacts.15 34 Without plasma micronutrient levels, it is unclear whether low carbohy- drate, high protein diets are unhealthy.” seems to imply a low carb high protein diet is also the unhealthy high sugar/processed pro inflammatory one which to me is quite contradictory.
 
Hmmm one very vegan author.. Seidelmann has form about disliking what she calls Low Carb diets

Healthcare Workers often the most unhealthy people around.

Large bucket of salt required I reckon.
 
HSSS said:
seems to imply a low carb high protein diet is also the unhealthy high sugar/processed pro inflammatory one which to me is quite contradictory
Click to expand...
I don't think it does imply that. I think they are trying to say that they don't know whether low carb high protein diet is unhealthy. A somewhat confusing juxtaposition, I agree.
 
Dark Horse said:
I don't think it does imply that. I think they are trying to say that they don't know whether low carb high protein diet is unhealthy. A somewhat confusing juxtaposition, I agree.
Click to expand...
Possibly, but not just a juxtaposition an actual sandwich of unhealthiest between tow low carb sentences. I wonder how “accidental” that was
 
Excuse me it is one thirty in the morning but the whole thing sounds like gobbledegook to me.
Maybe I'll try again in a few hours.
 
Good that this question has been asked even with all the flaws that this kind of thing always has.
Just got to the abstract and results and it strikes me that there's an obvious issue with the Gwyneth Paltrow confounder i.e. if you eat a plant based diet you are also likely to have many other healthy habits and may also be fairly middle class. Not saying that LCHF isn't fashionable but if we think about reasons why people do it then we might understand why those people could already be more vulnerable to severity of Covid infection such as they are already overweight or pre diabetic?
Also this is a working age population exposed to Covid (good for the study's purpose) but we now the risk is very age stratified so I'd be looking a the diet and lifestyle of the over 60s possibly with a control and intervention group to see if flu can be prevented or its' severity reduced if we improve immunity say by lifestyle in nursing homes.
 
Zoe Harcombe has promised one of her analyses based on the article in the OP - due next Monday. Should be an interesting read.
 
Back
Top