Nutrition in the Actual COVID-19 Pandemic. A Narrative Review

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 6; p. 1924
• Main Authors: Clemente-Suárez, Vicente Javier, Ramos-Campo, Domingo Jesús, Mielgo-Ayuso, Juan, Dalamitros, Athanasios A, Nikolaidis, Pantelis A, Hormeño-Holgado, Alberto, Tornero-Aguilera, Jose Francisco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-06-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Ascorbic acid; body composition; Body weight; China; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Diet therapy; dietary pattern; Eating behavior; Epidemics; Exercise; Fatty acids; Global health; Health aspects; Internet/Web search services; Literature reviews; lockdown; Malnutrition; Nutrition; Pandemics; Physical activity; Public health; Review; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Scientific papers; Selenium; Spain; vitamin; Websites; World health; China; Spain
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13061924

The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has shocked world health authorities generating a global health crisis. The present study discusses the main finding in nutrition sciences associated with COVID-19 in the literature. We conducted a consensus critical review using primary sources, scientific articles, and secondary bibliographic indexes, databases, and web pages. The method was a narrative literature review of the available literature regarding nutrition interventions and nutrition-related factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main search engines used in the present research were PubMed, SciELO, and Google Scholar. We found how the COVID-19 lockdown promoted unhealthy dietary changes and increases in body weight of the population, showing obesity and low physical activity levels as increased risk factors of COVID-19 affection and physiopathology. In addition, hospitalized COVID-19 patients presented malnutrition and deficiencies in vitamin C, D, B12 selenium, iron, omega-3, and medium and long-chain fatty acids highlighting the potential health effect of vitamin C and D interventions. Further investigations are needed to show the complete role and implications of nutrition both in the prevention and in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.