Metabolic risks and prognosis of COVID-19: are dietary patterns important?
ISSN: 0034-6659
Article publication date: 29 December 2022
Issue publication date: 25 May 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the dietary patterns of two groups of subjects (with and without COVID-19), and to assess the relationship of findings with the prognosis of COVID-19 and metabolic risk parameters.
Design/methodology/approach
This study included 100 individuals in the age range of 19–65 years. The medical history, and data on biochemical, hematological and inflammatory indicators were retrieved from the files. A questionnaire for the 24-h food record and the food intake frequency was administered in face-to-face interviews, and dietary patterns of subjects were assessed.
Findings
In individuals with COVID-19, the hip circumference, the waist-hip ratio and the body fat percentage were significantly higher (p < 0.05), and the muscle mass percentage was significantly lower (p < 0.05). Mediterranean diet adherence screener (MEDAS), dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) and healthy eating ındex-2015 (HEI-2015) scores were low in the two groups. A linear correlation of DASH scores was found with the muscle mass percentage (p = 0.046) and a significant inverse correlation of with the body fat percentage (p = 0.006). HEI-2015 scores were significantly and negatively correlated with body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference and neck circumference (p < 0.05). Every one-unit increase in MEDAS, DASH and HEI-2015 scores caused reductions in C-reactive protein levels at different magnitudes. Troponin-I was significantly and negatively correlated with fruit intake (p = 0.044), a component of a Mediterranean diet and with HEI-2015 total scores (p = 0.032).
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study includes the small sample size and the lack of dietary interventions. Another limitation is the use of the food recall method for the assessment of dietary patterns. This way assessments were performed based on participants’ memory and statements.
Practical implications
Following a healthy diet pattern can help reduce the metabolic risks of COVİD-19 disease.
Originality/value
Despite these limitations, this study is valuable because, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study demonstrating the association of dietary patterns with disease prognosis and metabolic risks concerning COVID-19. This study suggests that dietary patterns during the COVID-19 process may be associated with several metabolic risks and inflammatory biomarkers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Author contributıons: HB and FÖ contributed to the conception and design of the study. TÇ collected article data. HU and MP analysed all survey data. HB, FÖ, HU, NS and MP wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Data availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, F.Ö.A. The data are not publicly available due to [restrictions e.g. their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants].
Citation
Bakırhan, H., Özyürek Arpa, F., Uğur, H., Pehlivan, M., Saleki, N. and Çelik, T. (2023), "Metabolic risks and prognosis of COVID-19: are dietary patterns important?", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 53 No. 4, pp. 752-768. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-10-2022-0360
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited