vegetarians are 73 per cent less likely to contract a severe case of covid-19 than their meat-eating mates, according to a new study of thousands of healthcare workers across six countries.
the study, which appears in the journal
bmj nutrition, prevention & health
, also found that pescatarians — people who eat fish but not meat — were 59 per cent less likely to fall ill from the virus.
“in six countries, plant-based diets or pescatarian diets were associated with lower odds of moderate-to-severe covid-19,” the study’s authors wrote. “plant-based diets or pescatarian diets are healthy dietary patterns, which may be considered for protection against severe covid-19.”
the study polled 2,300 healthcare workers who had not contracted the virus and 568 who had in attempt to determine the relationship, if any, between diet and covid-19. of those who had previously been infected, 138 people reported experiencing moderate to severe symptoms while 430 others described their symptoms as mild.
the group was asked to reflect on their food intake during the year prior to infection and choose from 11 options that best describes their diet: whole foods, plant-based diet; keto; vegetarian; mediterranean; pescatarian; palaeolithic; low fat; low carbohydrate; high protein; or none of the above. of the group that fell ill, only 41 adhered to a plant based diet; just 46 followed a plant-based or pescatarian diet. a low carbohydrate, high-protein diet appeared to increase the chances of a severe case of covid but this finding was not statistically significant.
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