A new study is now suggesting the benefits of a meat-free diet might even extend to cutting the risks of catching COVID-19.
A recently-released report in BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health showed a plant-based diet was linked to 39 percent lower odds of becoming infected with the coronavirus.
Research team leader Dr Júlio César Acosta-Navarro said: “In light of these findings and the findings of other studies, and because of the importance of identifying factors that can influence the incidence of COVID-19, we recommend the practice of following plant-based diets or vegetarian dietary patterns.”
The study monitored the diet of 700 volunteers between March and July 2022 to assess the impact of a vegetarian diet on bolstering the immune system and cutting the risk of contracting COVID-19.
Volunteers were asked about their diets and repeated in different groups, one which included participants who regularly ate both plant and animal products, and another primarily plant-based group.
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The vegetarian ground was then once again split into smaller sub-groups of completely vegetarian and vegan eaters, and another of volunteers who consumed meat three or fewer times a week.
The study group reported a 47 percent instance of COVID infections, 32 percent of whom experienced mild symptoms and the other 15 percent moderate to severe symptoms.
Researchers found 52 percent of meat-eaters contracted Covid compared to 40 percent among the vegetarian/vegan group.
The study found plant-based volunteers were 39 percent less likely to catch COVID, raising questions about the benefit of reducing or removing meat from one’s diet to avoid infection.
Scientists suggested a meat-free diet could help boost the immune system and protect against infections because of the additional nutrients vegetarian and vegan individuals consume.
Shane McAuliffe, NEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health academic associate, said: “This research adds to the existing evidence, suggesting that diet may have a role in susceptibility to COVID-19 infection.
“But this remains an area of research that warrants more rigorous and high-quality investigation before any firm conclusions can be drawn about whether particular dietary patterns increase the risk of COVID-19 infection.”
The new study comes as the head of the World Health Organisation said holiday gatherings and the spread of the most prominent variant globally led to increased transmission of COVID-19 last month.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42 percent in nearly 50 countries — mostly in Europe and the Americas — that shared such trend information.
Ghebreyesus said: “Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable.”
He said it was “certain” that cases were on the rise in other places that haven’t been reporting, calling on governments to keep up surveillance and provide continued access to treatments and vaccines.