Cautious conclusion: cheese might help against corona
Researchers found a vitamin K deficiency in patients who ended up in intensive care with Covid-19. This is the vitamin found, among other things, in cheese and spinach. Could a different diet help against the coronavirus? This is now being investigated.
The study focuses on patients from Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital in Nijmegen, writes The Guardian. They see a connection between the vitamin K deficiency and the patients who were severely affected by the coronavirus. Symptoms of Covid-19 include abnormal blood clotting and problems with the elasticity of the lungs. Vitamin K plays a role in producing proteins that regulate blood clotting and protect against lung diseases.
Spinach against corona
Could eating extra spinach, eggs and blue cheese, all foods rich in vitamin K, help prevent coronavirus infections? The research team cannot promise that yet. While awaiting funding for their follow-up study, the team leader, Dr Rob Jansen, says that for healthy people, at least, it cannot hurt to take the recommended daily amount of vitamin K. “My advice: take vitamin K supplements. If they don’t help against Covid-19, they are at least good for your blood vessels, bones and probably your lungs too.’
Cheeseboard as medicine
There are two types of vitamin K, K1 and K2. Vitamin K1 is found in spinach, broccoli, green vegetables, blueberries and other types of fruit and vegetables, while K2 is found in hard cheeses and mould-ripened cheeses. Dr Jansen explains that the vitamin in cheese is better absorbed by the body. A preventive cheeseboard? Sounds like a healthy plan.
Healthy living helps, vitamins alone do not
Nutritionist Martijn Katan takes a critical view of claims linking food and viruses. In his column in NRC, he explained why: no study has shown any connection. He refers to a study in Wageningen in which older people were given extra vitamins for a year. Did they get the flu less often? No connection was found. ‘Healthy eating reduces the risk of all kinds of diseases,’ he writes. ‘Those who have eaten and drunk healthily for years have strengthened their fitness and indirectly improved their chances of surviving a coronavirus infection. But don’t think that from now on filling your supermarket trolley with healthy food can prevent infectious diseases such as corona.’
