COVID-19: is there a role for immunonutrition, particularly in the over 65s?

We hope you are keeping safe and well.

While many public health strategies have evolved during the last few months in relation to the COVID 19 pandemic, there has been little focus on the immune system and how this could be strengthened to help protect against viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2.

The attached paper evaluates the current evidence base relating to immunonutrition, with a particular focus on respiratory viruses.
Within the nutrition sector a promising body of evidence studying inter-relationships between certain nutrients and immune competence already exists.
This could potentially be an important factor in helping the body to deal with the coronavirus, especially among the over 65’s.

Evidence for vitamins C, D and zinc and their roles in preventing pneumonia and respiratory infections (vitamins C and D) and reinforcing immunity (zinc) appears to look particularly promising.

We hope you find this article of interest and of clinical use in your practice.