(HealthDay News) — Routine periodic fasting is associated with a lower risk for hospitalization or mortality in patients with COVID-19, according to a study published online July 1 in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health.
Benjamin D. Horne, Ph.D., from Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, and colleagues evaluated associations between periodic fasting and COVID-19 severity, as well as initial infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The analysis included 205 individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during March 2020 to February 2021 and 1,524 with any SARS-CoV-2 test result.
The researchers found that 35.6% of participants engaged in periodic fasting prior to COVID-19 diagnosis. The composite outcome (COVID-19 hospitalization or mortality) occurred in 11% of periodic fasters and 28.8% of nonfasters. Predictors of hospitalization and mortality were age, Hispanic ethnicity, prior myocardial infarction, prior transient ischemic attack,and renal failure. There was no significant association between fasting and COVID-19 diagnosis (14.3% in fasters and 13% in nonfasters).
“Fasting may be a complementary therapy to vaccination that could provide immune support and hyperinflammation control during and beyond the pandemic,” the authors write.
