Koyama S, Joseph PV, Shields VDC, Heinbockel T, Adhikari P, Kaur R, Kumar R, Alizadeh R, Bhutani S, Calcinoni O, Mucignat-Caretta C, Chen J, Cooper KW, Das SR, Rohlfs Domínguez P, Guàrdia MD, Klyuchnikova MA, Laktionova TK, Mori E, Namjoo Z, Nguyen H, Özdener MH, Parsa S, Özdener-Poyraz E, Strub DJ, Taghizadeh-Hesary F, Ueha R, and Voznessenskaya VV
Introduction: There have been large geographical differences in the infection and death rates of COVID-19. Foods and beverages containing high amounts of phytochemicals with bioactive properties were suggested to prevent contracting and to facilitate recovery from COVID-19. The goal of our study was to determine the correlation of the type of foods/beverages people consumed and the risk reduction of contracting COVID-19 and the recovery from COVID-19., Methods: We developed an online survey that asked the participants whether they contracted COVID-19, their symptoms, time to recover, and their frequency of eating various types of foods/beverages. The survey was developed in 10 different languages., Results: The participants who did not contract COVID-19 consumed vegetables, herbs/spices, and fermented foods/beverages significantly more than the participants who contracted COVID-19. Among the six countries (India/Iran/Italy/Japan/Russia/Spain) with over 100 participants and high correspondence between the location of the participants and the language of the survey, in India and Japan the people who contracted COVID-19 showed significantly shorter recovery time, and greater daily intake of vegetables, herbs/spices, and fermented foods/beverages was associated with faster recovery., Conclusions: Our results suggest that phytochemical compounds included in the vegetables may have contributed in not only preventing contraction of COVID-19, but also accelerating their recovery., (Copyright © 2024 Koyama, Joseph, Shields, Heinbockel, Adhikari, Kaur, Kumar, Alizadeh, Bhutani, Calcinoni, Mucignat-Caretta, Chen, Cooper, Das, Rohlfs Domínguez, Guàrdia, Klyuchnikova, Laktionova, Mori, Namjoo, Nguyen, Özdener, Parsa, Özdener Poyraz, Strub, Taghizadeh-Hesary, Ueha and Voznessenskaya.)