INTRODUCTION:

The beneficial role of the Mediterranean Diet (DietMed) has been recognized in the impact of diseases capable of predisposing to greater severity of COVID-19 symptoms, as well as in the treatment and improvement of symptoms.

OBJECTIVES:

To investigate the association between the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and adherence to DietMed.

METHODOLOGY:

Observational and cross-sectional study, applied to542 unvaccinated adults (18-64 years old) recovered from the disease andresidents of Funchal. Data on sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, health status and COVID-19 symptoms were collected. To obtain the degree of adherence to DietMed, the MEDAS questionnaire (Mediterranean Diet Adherence Score) was applied. Logistic regression models were used to study the association between the degree of adherence to DietMed and the presence of severe COVID-19 symptoms.

RESULTS:

Of the participants, 60.0% were women and 53.9% were between 40-59 years of age. During SARSCov-2 infection, 73% were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms and about 27% developed severe symptoms. In this study, adherence to DietMed was considered weak for 24%, moderate for 62% and strong for 15% of the adults surveyed. In the model adjusted for all variables under study, and compared to a low degree of adherence to DietMed, the OR of developing severe symptoms was 0.519 (95% CI: 0.280-0.914) and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.252 -0.918) for moderate and strong adherence, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

In this study, adults with strong adherence to DietMed were less likely to develop severe symptoms of COVID-19 disease. Therefore, the recommendation of a high consumption of vegetables, fruit, legumes, unrefined cereals, olive oil, nuts and oilseeds, as well as the precaution in the intake of red meat and industrialized products should be considered in the reduction of the severity of COVID-19 disease.

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