Higher intakes of calcium and dairy products were associated with increased odds of COVID-19 infection

[aliml]

Nutritional risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection: a prospective study within the NutriNet-Santé cohort​

Background​

Nutritional factors are essential for the functioning of the immune system and could therefore play a role in COVID-19 but evidence is needed. Our objective was to study the associations between diet and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a large population-based sample.

Methods​

Our analyses were conducted in the French prospective NutriNet-Santé cohort study (2009–2020). Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was assessed by ELISA on dried blood spots. Dietary intakes were derived from repeated 24 h dietary records (at least 6) in the two years preceding the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in France (February 2020). Multi-adjusted logistic regression models were computed.

Results​

A total of 7766 adults (70.3% women, mean age: 60.3 years) were included, among which 311 were positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Dietary intakes of vitamin C (OR for 1 SD=0.86 (0.75–0.98), P=0.02), vitamin B9 (OR=0.84 (0.72–0.98), P=0.02), vitamin K (OR=0.86 (0.74–0.99), P=0.04), fibers (OR=0.84 (0.72–0.98), P=0.02), and fruit and vegetables (OR=0.85 (0.74–0.97), P=0.02) were associated to a decreased probability of SARS-CoV-2 infection while dietary intakes of calcium (OR=1.16 (1.01–1.35), P=0.04) and dairy products (OR=1.19 (1.06–1.33), P=0.002) associated to increased odds. No association was detected with other food groups or nutrients or with the overall diet quality.

Conclusions​

Higher dietary intakes of fruit and vegetables and, consistently, of vitamin C, folate, vitamin K and fibers were associated with a lower susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Beyond its established role in the prevention of non-communicable diseases, diet could therefore also contribute to prevent some infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

Nutritional risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection: a prospective study within the NutriNet-Santé cohort - BMC Medicine

Background Nutritional factors are essential for the functioning of the immune system and could therefore play a role in COVID-19 but evidence is needed. Our objective was to study the associations between diet and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a large population-based sample. Methods Our...

bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com

Higher intakes of calcium and dairy products were associated with increased odds of COVID-19 infection. This association was especially observed for milk ith a similar trend for yogurt, but not for cheese or cottage cheese.

Vitamin E and added fat of plant origin were inversely associated with the risk of infection, and direct associations were observed with added fats of animal origin.

 

[EustaceBagge]

It might have to do with a deficiency in vitamin D and K, everyone is deficient in those and it is required to process calcium normally.

Just like saturated fats, they are extremely good for you but if your liver is sluggish and your completely laden with PUFA the initial switch might seem tough.

Things aren't black and white unfortunately, just my 2 cents.

 

[Caleb Miller]

Interesting, thanks for sharing the study! I’m not sure what to make of antibody testing as it relates to the bioenergetic paradigm. In theory, all this analysis finds, however, is that antibodies were more prevalent among the high calcium group. It doesn’t make any mention of severity of infection.

If that’s the case, you could extrapolate a few different ways in favor of dairy/high calcium: 1) high calcium diets lead to more long-lasting immunity after infection 2) high calcium diets lead to higher survival rates post-infection 3) those who eat high calcium diets are more likely to get infected (maybe due to taking fewer isolating precautionary measures). However, i think you’d need more data to justify any of that.

 

[tca300]

My twin children are high milk drinkers and statistically should have been sick ~ 50 times since birth, yet all they've had is a running nose for half a day at around 1 years old and an episode of diarrhea, vomiting, minor fever ( flu ) for also half a day a while back. I myself haven't gotten a single cold/flu in years correlating when I started drinking large amounts of milk. I use to get sick multiple times per year when I was eating lots of fruits and vegetables though.

 

[Beastmode]

My twin children are high milk drinkers and statistically should have been sick ~ 50 times since birth, yet all they've had is a running nose for half a day at around 1 years old and an episode of diarrhea, vomiting, minor fever ( flu ) for also half a day a while back. I myself haven't gotten a single cold/flu in years correlating when I started drinking large amounts of milk. I use to get sick multiple times per year when I was eating lots of fruits and vegetables though.

Agreed!

Minus some sniffles and a little cough, our 4 year old has never been sick. Only after eating some turkey day food a few days in a row.

I don't get sick either. I've been around plenty of people with the rona as I never fell for the mask bullying.

We drink copious amounts of milk daily as well.

 

[Kris]

milk give me residues on the tounge. milk is for babies. cheese is better in my opinion

 

[zwez]

milk give me residues on the tounge. milk is for babies. cheese is better in my opinion

That might make sense if you're drinking human milk. Cow's milk has ~4x the protein/calorie of human milk.

 

[Orome]

My twin children are high milk drinkers and statistically should have been sick ~ 50 times since birth, yet all they've had is a running nose for half a day at around 1 years old and an episode of diarrhea, vomiting, minor fever ( flu ) for also half a day a while back. I myself haven't gotten a single cold/flu in years correlating when I started drinking large amounts of milk. I use to get sick multiple times per year when I was eating lots of fruits and vegetables though.

100% my experience as well.

After minimizing starch intake and maximizing milk/dairy intake I haven't been sick once. Before I had at least 3-4 colds+flu between October and April and overall around 2 weeks of sick days at work. Now since ~2 years I haven't missed a single day.

 

[yerrag]

The premise of having higher antibodies and equating that to higher resistance to COVID is already wrong.

What if higher calcium intake improve both your innate immunity and your T-cell immune response to COVID that you don't really need to use the B-cell humor response to produce antibodies?

Wouldn't the absence of antibodies then be considered a good thing? And if you less of these antibodies, wouldnt you be less prone to allergies and to chronic inflammation from autoimmune responses from having these antibodies?

 

[lvysaur]

Couldn't all of this be explained by inflammatory A1 caseins? And in the animal fat case, the effect of inflammatory arachidonic acid? Animal fat is also correlated with lower carb consumption.

 

[Grapelander]

These are "associations" so other factors are also at play and not controlled for.
They say higher calcium is associated with SNIFFLES-19; and then note that this is out the window for cheese & cottage cheese.
This could be economic - the wine/cheese & fruit healthy class vs. the milk/beer proles.

 

[Kayaker]

These are "associations" so other factors are also at play and not controlled for.
They say higher calcium is associated with SNIFFLES-19; and then note that this is out the window for cheese & cottage cheese.
This could be economic - the wine/cheese & fruit healthy class vs. the milk/beer proles.

I like how the person above you has the sig "drink milk everyday" and your sig is "results may vary", which fits what you're saying completely.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

100% my experience as well.

After minimizing starch intake and maximizing milk/dairy intake I haven't been sick once. Before I had at least 3-4 colds+flu between October and April and overall around 2 weeks of sick days at work. Now since ~2 years I haven't missed a single day.

I use to get laryngitis every December and a bad 10 day flu every 5 years, and lose 10 pounds, but since "Peating", 5+ years now, I haven't had even a cold.