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Plant-Based Diet and Covid-19 Severity: Results From a Cross-Sectional Study Publisher



Soltanieh S1 ; Salavatizadeh M1 ; Ghazanfari T2 ; Jahromi SR1 ; Yari Z1 ; Mansournia MA3 ; Nazemipour M3 ; Kheradmand JA4 ; Ardestani SK5 ; Karimi S1 ; Hekmatdoost A1
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. Immunoregulation Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
  3. 3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  4. 4. Ahya Neuroscience Research Center, Tehran, Iran
  5. 5. Department of Immunology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Source: BMJ Nutrition# Prevention and Health Published:2023


Abstract

Although previous findings have shown the beneficial role of healthy eating pattern on the human immune system, the association between plant-based diet and COVID-19 severity has not yet been elucidated. This study aimed to determine the possible role of plant-based diet index (PDI) in COVID-19 severity. This cross-sectional, multicentral study was conducted on 141 patients with confirmed COVID-19. Dietary intakes of the patients were evaluated using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Then, PDI was compared between patients who needed to be hospitalised (considered severe cases), and those who got treatment at home (considered non-severe cases). After adjustment for confounders including age, sex, energy intake and body mass index, lower odds of hospitalisation were found for participants having a greater score of overall PDI (OR per 10 units increase: 0.42; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.80) and healthy PDI (OR per 10 unit increase: 0.45; 95% CI 0.26 to 0.78). In conclusion, our data presented that there is a relation between PDI and lower risk of hospitalisation in COVID-19 patients, possibly through boosting the immune function. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.
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