Vegetarian and plant-based diets associated with lower incidence of COVID-19
nutrition.bmj.com
Objective To evaluate the influence of dietary patterns on the incidence and evolution of COVID-19. We hypothesised that a plant-based diet or a vegetarian diet compared with an omnivorous diet might be associated with a lower incidence of COVID-19 infection and severity in those infected.Design In this observational study, 702 participants provided information on sociodemographic characteristics, dietary information and COVID-19 outcomes between March and July of 2022. Individuals were divided into two groups based on their dietary habits, omnivorous (n=424) and plant-based (n=278). The plant-based group was further divided into vegetarian and flexitarian subgroups. The groups were compared with respect to the incidence of COVID-19 infection, severity and duration. We used multivariable logistic regression models to evaluate the influence of dietary patterns.Results Plant-based and vegetarian groups had a higher intake of vegetables, legumes and nuts, and lower intake of dairy and meat. After adjusting for important confounders, such as body mass index, physical activity and pre-existing medical conditions, the plant-based diet and vegetarian group had 39% (OR=0.61, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.85; p=0.003) and 39% (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.88; p=0.009) lower odds of the incidence of COVID-19 infection, respectively, compared with the omnivorous group. No association was observed between self-reported diets and COVID-19 severity or duration.Conclusion Plant-based and mainly vegetarian diets were associated with a lower incidence of COVID-19 infection. These dietary patterns may be considered protective against COVID-19 infection. (Study protocol registered in CAAE: 54351421.4.0000.0068.)

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  • dat_math [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    First, im-vegan and I really want to like this paper, but I find it lacking (at least in commentary and discussion if not for their somewhat dubious assumptions):

    The word “mask” appears exactly 0 times in the manuscript.

    For a study on self-reported behaviors and their link to infection risk, I would think the bare minimum is asking participants at least a few basic questions about their masking behavior. Even if there isn’t a standardized survey they could pull from another work’s methods section, it should be pretty easy to have respondents report how often they mask when in an enclosed space with people who don’t live in their household. Without a reason to discount potential associations between diet and mask-wearing, this seems like a major oversight.

    There’s no effort to rule out socioeconomic variability as a confounding factor.