Correlation between Severity of Covid 19 and patient’s dietary habits

As Covid -19 rages on, there is little therapeutic intervention that can be done by the scientific
community. Mitigation and delaying hospitalization is a better alternative until a vaccine is
made available. Current data suggests a clear correlation between severity of Covid -19 and
various comorbidities, however the relation with dietary habit is ambiguous. In this project, I
have interviewed 4 (n=4) of my relatives who recently recovered from Covid -19. I tabulated
their physical conditions, as well as dietary habits and compared that to the medical literature.
A dietary recommendation is chalked out. To protect their privacy, I will refer them as P1, P2,
P3 & P4

Patient #! Age/ BMI /Comorbidities / Severity Dietary habits Therapeutic / Supplemental vitamin
Sex of Covid-19 intervention during infection

P1 30 /F 24 /Mild Asthma/ High fever, Usually eat vitamin C rich Zinc +Multivitamin
cough, chest pain diet,
P2 56 /F Morbidly obese/ Poor dietary habits, too Hydroxychloroquine
Hypertension/ Body ache, many junk food as well as
fever cough, supplemental low vitamin C rich foods
oxygen
P3 25/M Mild obese / No comorbidity Usually take foods rich in Zinc + Traditional Indian medicines
but high viral load as Dr. vitamin C
treating Covid patients / Dry
Cough, Bloody sputum
P4 20 /M Normal BMI/No comorbidity Healthy eating habits, food zinc + multivitamin
/ fever, abdominal discomfort rich in vitamins
Based on the small sample size, it’s really difficult to chalk out a dietary plan but we will review
the literature and search for correlations. According to NIH, randomized control trials have
shown that vitamin C has a positive effect in reducing severity of pneumonia and sequential
organ failures during sepsis shock. Although a direct correlation between Covid 19 and vitamin
C has not been studied in randomized clinical trials, doctors around the world are
recommending its prophylactic use to reduce the severity of the disease. When it comes to
vitamin D, randomized studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency is linked to higher
incidence of Covid-19 infection and respiratory failures. It is postulated that the higher death
rate among the African American and the Latino community could be linked vitamin D
deficiency. Zinc has long been used to treat diseases related to other family of coronaviruses.
Researchers at the recently held Coronavirus conference have concluded that zinc is shown to
reduce the severity of infection and also shortens the length of disease.
Based on these findings, we have recommended the following dietary plan/vitamin
supplements as a prophylactic measure to reduce the incidence and severity of disease. These
guidelines can be used by both health care professionals as well as general public
• Vitamin C supplement – 30 -180 mg/ day, Overdose might happen with dosage >2
g/day, Although overdose is not lethal, it could cause nausea and diarrhea.
• Vitamin D – Those with vitamin D deficiency could take 3000-1000 IU/day. Overdose of
vitamin D is potentially fatal but usually requires dosage >60 000 /day to reach toxic
limit.
• Zinc – 10-20 mg / day can be taken in the form of supplements. Zinc reaches toxic level
>40 mg/day and can be potentially fatal.