Harvard study: Healthy diet associated with lower COVID-19 risk and severity

Do you approach food as if it were just another task to complete? Do you also neglect to treat food with the respect and regard that it deserves? One reason to have a healthy diet is that it’s linked to a lower risk of COVID-19 and its significant complications. It comes from a study published online on September 6, 2021, in the journal Gut, according to the Harvard Health Weekly.

In February 2020, researchers asked 593,000 participants (mainly middle-aged and older) what they ate and then tracked their health through September.

Researchers discovered that people who reported eating the most fruits, vegetables, legumes had a 9% lower risk of getting COVID-19; a 41% lower risk of developing severe COVID-19 during the study period; compared to people who reported eating the less fruits and vegetables, according to Heidi Godman, Executive Editor, Harvard Health Letter.

COVID-19 has a big link to a poor diet and socio-economic difficulties, according to researchers. “If you could remove just one of those factors — diet or disadvantage — we think nearly a third of the COVID-19 cases could have been prevented,” says Jordi Merino. Merino is the study’s lead author and a research associate at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital’s Diabetes Unit and Center for Genomic Medicine.

“The study was observational”

The study’s authors write: “In conclusion, our data provide evidence that a healthy diet was associated with lower risk of COVID-19 and severe COVID-19 even after accounting for other healthy behaviors, social determinants of health and virus transmission measures.

“The joint association of diet quality with socioeconomic deprivation was greater than the addition of the risks associated with each individual factor, suggesting that diet quality may play a direct influence in COVID-19 susceptibility and progression. 

“Our findings suggest that public health interventions to improve nutrition and poor metabolic health and address social determinants of health may be important for reducing the burden of the pandemic,” the study concludes.

The study was observational, according to the Harvard Health newsletter. It doesn’t establish definitely that a healthy diet prevents COVID. It reaffirmed the evidence-based advice that getting vaccines and wearing a mask indoors are the most effective ways to prevent the disease.

What does it mean to have a healthy diet?

Do you want to learn how to create a well-balanced diet? According to Harvard academics who created the Harvard Healthy Platter, your daily food/meal intake should include:

• Half of your plate should be fruits and vegetables; consume all of the rainbow’s colors.
• Whole grains should make up a quarter of your dish.
• — whole wheat, barley, wheat berries, quinoa, oats, brown rice, and whole-wheat pasta, as well as meals made with them. High-GI foods, such as white bread, white rice, and other refined grains, should not be a part of your diet.
• Fish, poultry, beans, and nuts are all healthful, flexible protein options that should make up a quarter of the dish. Processed meats, such as bacon and sausage, are a NO.
• Olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, and other healthy oils should be a part of your diet. Avoid partially hydrogenated oils, which contain trans fats that are harmful to your health.
• Avoid sugary drinks like colas and fruit juices by drinking water, coffee, or tea. Limit yourself to one to two servings of milk and dairy products each day.
• Whatever you can manage in terms of exercise (walking, jogging, cycling, etc.). However, get moving and keep active.

Healthy eating, according to the CDC, is all about balance. Even if your favorite foods are rich in calories, fat, or added sweets, you can still enjoy them. The idea is to eat them in moderation and to balance them off with healthier foods and more physical activity.

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