Covid symptoms might be less extreme for those on vegan and pescatarian diets.
People on plant-based diets and those who eat fish but not meat seem to have less chance of developing a severe coronavirus infection compared with others.
Although the findings are not statistically significant, there appears to be a link between Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets and an increased chance of getting moderate to severe illness, reports WalesOnline and PA reporters.
The new study, published in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, examined data from healthcare workers across six countries including the UK.
Patients completed a web-based survey about their diets and their coronavirus status, with 2,300 stating they didn't have Covid and 568 did.
Among those who had Covid-19, 138 reported moderate to severe symptoms and 430 had mild or very mild illness.
Interestingly, the study highlights that participants who are vegan were 73% less likely to report moderate to severe disease.
Pescatarians had 59% lower odds than people who followed other diets.
And people who had a low-carb, high-protein intake were more likely to have moderate to severe Covid-19, compared to those who don't eat meat.
The authors, led by a team in the US, wrote: “In six countries, plant-based diets or pescatarian diets were associated with lower odds of moderate-to-severe Covid-19.
“These dietary patterns may be considered for protection against severe Covid-19.
“Plant-based diets or pescatarian diets are healthy dietary patterns, which may be considered for protection against severe Covid-19.”
“Finally, the study has been conducted in different countries with widely different diets – a plant-based diet in Spain or Italy is likely to be different from a mainly plant-based diet in Germany or the UK.”
Professor of nutrition and food science at the University of Reading, Gunter Kuhnle, said: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a lot of speculation about the impact of diet on disease risk.
“This study attempts to answer this question, but there are a number of limitations that need to be considered: The study relied entirely on self-reporting, and a lot of data have shown that self-reported dietary intake is unreliable.
“In this study, participants were asked about their diet after they were diagnosed with Covid-19, and this might lead to further misreporting, especially among participants who are interested in a potential link between diet and disease.
Professor Francois Balloux of the UCL Genetics Institute said: “The study reports that doctors eating plant-based or pescatarian diets tend to be at significantly lower risk of developing severe Covid-19 symptoms upon infection.
“The sample size is decent, and the analyses look competently performed. Further validation may be required to confirm a direct, causal link between diet and Covid-19 illness severity.
“Indeed, unaccounted lifestyle variables correlated with diet might influence general health of the subjects of the study, and hence how well they coped with Covid-19 infection.”
