Can Nutritional Supports Beneficial in Other Viral Diseases Be Favorable for COVID-19?

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2), has rapidly spread worldwide, causing many deaths, the number of which continues to increase. Global public health organizations and governments have advised on the adoption of various handwashing and hygiene guidelines, use of masks, and social distancing, along with isolation or lockdown protocols to prevent SARS-COV-2 spread. There are vaccines and drugs that are confirmed but still many human suffer from this disease. Important risk factors for SARS-COV-2 infection are similar to other viral infectious diseases as including influenza, hepatitis B, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and other lung infections. These diseases might be related to poor nutritional support, affecting the patient outcomes against COVID-19. In this review, we discuss some of the nutritional therapies currently being investigated for infectious diseases. Studies have shown that nutrition has the potential to prevent and mitigate viral infections. Micronutrients (vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, and E, B9, and trace elements, such as iron, zinc, copper, selenium, magnesium, and polyphenols) and macronutrients (carbohydrates, prebiotics, probiotics, protein [amino acids], and lipids [fatty acids]) affect the whole body, including the immune system, preventing viral entry and modulating clinical symptoms. This review discusses the importance of nutrition as a strategy to understand food groups and key nutrients that may affect the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients during the ongoing pandemic. Scientists believe that the likelihood of another pandemic is imminent. COVID-19 remains important and scientists believe it will continue will in the future. We emphasize the lack of studies on the nutritional impact of COVID-19 in terms of nutrition, even though nutritional interventions has been shown to have many advantages during the treatment of viral infections.