Best "Diet" to Fight COVID / Viruses

I was asked this question at our Tuesday evening webinar.

Dr. Mercola, who has a staff of 180 people that scour the literature for interesting health information posted an article on this very topic.

The title of the Mercola article is:

Fermented Foods May Lower Your Risk of COVID-19 Death

Here is his summary and link: https://bit.ly/3id96pB

Countries that consume higher amounts of traditionally fermented foods have lower COVID-19 mortality rates. According to German researchers, significant changes in the microbiome caused by modern life and low fermented food consumption may have increased the spread or severity of the disease
For each gram-per-day increase in the average national consumption of fermented vegetables, the mortality risk for COVID-19 decreased by 35.4%
A review of seven small clinical trials found probiotics and/or prebiotics may be helpful for those struggling with depression and anxiety
Two types of gut bacteria in particular, Coprococcus and Dialister bacteria, have been shown to be “consistently depleted” in individuals diagnosed with clinical depression
Gut bacteria associated with good mental health synthesize the dopamine metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, while those associated with depression produce γ-aminobutyric acid

The article goes a bit tangential, starting with COVID and ending with depression. However, in many ways this provides a lesson on the connectedness of disease. I believe infection plays a key role in every disease. Our paper on the cytokine storm and pre-cytokine storm shows the strong relationship between infection and the major chronic diseases.

Anyone who doesn't understand this chart should write to me to discuss and it will be a topic of our Chronic Disease Support program in the future.

Getting Back to Diet and COVID

The researchers obtained data from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database and compared consumption levels with COVID-19 mortality statistics (deaths per capita) for each country, obtained from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

For each g/day increase in the average national consumption of fermented vegetables, the mortality risk for COVID-19 decreased by 35.4%.

The EFSA database includes statistics on countries’ consumption of fermented vegetables, pickled or marinated vegetables, fermented milk, yogurt and fermented sour milk specifically.

The bottom line

The foods you eat are important. More important is what your body, particularly your digestive tract, is able to do with these raw materials.

Your gut breaks down foods into absorbable and usable component. This is very important - as you are what you absorb. However that is only Part 1.
Part 2 is the conversion of these raw materials into beneficial new substances like antimicrobial peptides, for example, that fight infection.

Your gut bacterial play a major role in Part 1, which is necessary for Part 2 to be optimized.

Next Chronic Disease Support seminar will discuss how our body uses nutrition to rebuild our tissue.