Coffee And Vegetables May Offer Strength Upon Covid-19, As A Study Shows.

A study by Northwestern Medicine suggests that coffee consumption and consumption of lots of vegetables may provide some Covid19 protection. Using data from the UK Biobank, the researchers examined the association between eating habits measured in 2006-2010 and Covid-19 infections in March-December 2020, before a vaccine was available.

They focused on nutritional factors and self-assessment of coffee, tea, vegetables, fruits, fatty fish, processed meats, and red meats. Of the 37,988 participants tested for Covid-19 and included in the study, 17 percent were positive.

The researchers found that drinking one or more cups of coffee a day was associated with a reduced risk of Covid-19 by about 10 percent compared to less than one cup a day. Eating at least 0.67 servings of vegetables, cooked or raw, per day, except potatoes, was associated with a lower risk of Covid-19 infection. Eating as few as 0.43 servings of processed meat per day was associated with a higher risk of COVID-19. Breastfeeding as a baby reduces the risk by 10 percent compared to not breastfeeding.

The exact mechanism linking this nutritional factor to Covid-19 is unknown. "Coffee is a major source of caffeine, but there are dozens of other compounds that could potentially underlie the protective associations we're seeing," said senior author Marilyn Cornelis, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "The association with processed meat, but not red meat, suggests a non-meat factor."

Most previous Covid-19 research has focused on individual factors assessed after testing positive for Covid-19. The study, published on the Northwestern University (NU) website on Monday, was published in Nutrients. Northwestern Medicine collaborates between Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine covering research, teaching, and patient care.