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Habitual Food Consumption of Patients with COVID-19 Infection from Rural Regions - Preliminary, Cross Sectional Study. |
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PP: 15-29 |
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doi:10.18576/jans/010102
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Author(s) |
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Mohamed S Ismail,
Shereen M Hassan,
Ahdab A Elmaadawy,
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Abstract |
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| Eating sufficient amounts of specific foods and avoiding unhealthy foods is vital in the host defense against COVID-19 infection. This study aimed to explore the habitual consumption of different foods among rural Egyptians infected with COVID-19. This retrospective, cross-sectional study recruited 53 COVID-19 patients from rural regions. All patients were diagnosed with confirmed COVID-19 infection and quarantined at hospitals for 7 to 14 days. Data about frequency of consumption of vegetables, fruits, functional foods, animal protein and iron-containing foods, traditional foods, drinks, etc., prior to COVID-19 infection were collected. Patients were classified into three categories based on their habitual food consumption of selected food groups: (1) high (daily or more than three times/week), (2) moderate (3 times or less per week), and (3) low (3 times or less per month). The results revealed that the habitual food consumption pattern of studied patients is characterized by frequent high consumption of fresh and cooked vegetables, black tea, spices, and pickles; moderate consumption of fruits, fresh juices, onions, poultry, and eggs; low consumption of meats, organ meats, honeybee, processed meats, cow trotter, animals’ offal, cow head meats, salted fish, fast foods, hot pepper, nigella sativa, raw garlic, olive oil, carbonated beverages, ginger tea, and ketchup. Despite the study limitations, which include collecting data by cell phone and small sample size, it could be concluded that habitual low consumption of meats and antiviral foods, and high consumption of spices, pickles, black tea, fresh and cooked vegetables may contribute to the severe symptoms of COVID-19 infection among rural patients. |
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