Could Dietary Factors Reduce COVID-19 Mortality Rates? Moderating the Inflammatory State.

Abstract

It has become well known that the severity of illness and lethality in corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is strongly associated with exuberant inflammatory cytokine activation. Many factors may go into determining one’s preinfection inflammatory status including genetic constitution, presence of obesity, air pollution, exercise, and even the sauna usage. None is probably more important than the role of nutrition in determining one’s inflammatory status. This hypothesis, based on the evidence presented below, indicates that the baseline inflammatory state of an individual in the absence of disease is significantly influenced by the content of one’s diet, specifically whether it contains proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory foodstuffs. Furthermore, the hypothesis suggests that the severity of illness that develops when one contracts COVID-19, that is, whether it be a mild-to-moderate upper respiratory viral illness or a fatal acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or myocarditis death is dependent on that inflammatory state. I will contrast the Japanese diet and the Mediterranean diet both known for its anti-inflammatory qualities with the Western diet, known for its proinflammatory properties as well as refer to laboratory studies addressing lethal viral infections and COVID-19 risk factors. The Mediterranean diet containing specific polyphenols, lipids, and peptides with anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, and antioxidant properties has been suggested as offering benefit regarding COVID-19 infectious severity as well through similar mechanisms.