Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?

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PapadopoulosOliver Pfaar, Boleslaw Samolinski, Arunas Valiulis, Arzu Yorgancioglu, Torsten Zuberbier, Amir Hamzah Abdul Latiff, Baharudin Abdullah, Werner Aberer, Nancy Abusada, Ian Adcock, Alejandro Afani, Ioana Agache, Xenofon Aggelidis, Jenifer Agustin, Cezmi Akdis, M. beccel Akdis, Mona Al-Ahmad, Abou Al-Zahab Bassam, Oscar Aldrey-Palacios, Emilio Alvarez Cuesta, Ashraf Alzaabi, Salma Amad, Gene Ambrocio, Isabella Annesi-Maesano, Ignacio Ansotegui, Josep Anto, Hasan Arshad, Maria Cristina Artesani, Estrella Asayag, Francesca Avolio, Khuzama Azhari, Ilaria Baiardini, Nissera Bajrović, Petros Bakakos, Sergio Bakeyala Mongono, Christine Balotro-Torres, Sergio Barba, Cristina Barbara, Elsa Barbosa, Bruno Barreto, Joan Bartra, Eric D. 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Walter Canonica, Arnaldo Capriles-Hulett, Luis Caraballo, Vicky Cardona, Kai-Hakon Carlsen, Jorge Caro, Warner Carr, Fredelita Carreon-Asuncion, Ana Maria Carriazo, Thomas Casale, Mary Ann Castor, Elizabeth Castro, Lorenzo Cecchi, Alfonso Cepeda Sarabia, Ramanathan Chandrasekharan, Yoon-Suk Chang, Victoria Chato-Andeza, Lida Chatzi, Christina Chatzidaki, Niels H. Chavannes, Yuzhi Chen, Lei Cheng, Tomas Chivato, Ekaterine Chkhartishvili, George Christoff, Henry Chrystyn, Derek K. Chu, Antonio Chua, Alexander Chuchalin, Kian Fan Chung, Alberto Cicerán, Cemal Cingi, Giorgio Ciprandi, Ieva Cirule, Ana Carla Coelho, Jannis Constantinidis, Jaime Correia de Sousa, Elisio Costa, David Costa, María Del Carmen Costa Domínguez, André Coste, Linda Cox, Alvaro A. Cruz, John Cullen, Adnan Custovic, Biljana Cvetkovski, Wienczyslawa Czarlewski, Gennaro D'Amato, Jane da Silva, Ronald Dahl, Sven-Erik Dahlen, Vasilis Daniilidis, Louei Darjazini Nahhas, Ulf Darsow, Frédéric de Blay, Eloisa de Guia, Chato de Los Santos, Esteban de Manuel Keenoy, Govert de Vries, Diana Deleanu, Pascal Demoly, Judah Denburg, Philippe Devillier, Alain Didier, Maria Dimou, Anh Tuan Dinh-Xuan, Ratko Djukanovic, Dejan Dokic, Margarita Gabriela Domínguez Silva, Habib Douagui, Nikolaos Douladiris, Maria Doulaptsi, G. rard Dray, Ruta Dubakiene, Stephen Durham, Mark Dykewicz, Didier Ebo, Natalija Edelbaher, Patrik Eklund, Yehia el-Gamal, Zeinab A. el-Sayed, Shereen S. el-Sayed, Magda el-Seify, Regina Emuzyte, Lourdes Enecilla, Heidilita Espinoza, Jesús Guillermo Espinoza Contreras, John Farrell, Lenora Fernandez, Antje Fink Wagner, Alessandro Fiocchi, Wytske J. 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Abstract

Reported COVID-19 deaths in Germany are relatively low as compared to many European countries. Among the several explanations proposed, an early and large testing of the population was put forward. Most current debates on COVID-19 focus on the differences among countries, but little attention has been given to regional differences and diet. The low-death rate European countries (e.g. Austria, Baltic States, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia) have used different quarantine and/or confinement times and methods and none have performed as many early tests as Germany. Among other factors that may be significant are the dietary habits. It seems that some foods largely used in these countries may reduce angiotensin-converting enzyme activity or are anti-oxidants. Among the many possible areas of research, it might be important to understand diet and angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) levels in populations with different COVID-19 death rates since dietary interventions may be of great benefit.
Original languageEnglish
Article number16
JournalClinical and Translational Allergy
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 May 2020

Keywords

  • Angiotensin-converting enzyme
  • Antioxidant
  • Coronavirus
  • Diet
  • Food

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