Ketogenic diet and Covid-19, Pregliasco: “Beware of contraindications”

“The ketogenic diet has its contraindications, so it must be done under medical supervision, and it does not serve as a prevention”, Professor Fabrizio Pregliasco tells Gazzetta Active.

“The excess of sugars is not good, it is an element of risk, but the chetogenica diet however, it has its contraindications, so it must be done under medical supervision, and does not serve as a prevention of Covid-19“: Professor Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist of the University of Milan and medical director of the IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopedic Institute of Milan, comments on the results of the studio conducted at the San Martino Polyclinic Hospital in Genoa which highlights the benefits of one chetogenica diet in reducing the risk of mortality and ICU admission in moles COVID-19 patients.

“The San Martino Polyclinic study is a trial, therefore an element to be investigated and validated. Certainly the theoretical assumptions are there, because we know that the difference between a benevolent coronavirus trend and the sad trends that determine clinical disease, worsening and pneumonia is linked precisely to cytokine storm which typically occurs on the fifth-sixth day after the onset of the disease ”, Professor Pregliasco points out to Gazzetta Active.

So does it confirm the importance of the role of the cytokine storm?
“Cytokine storm occurs in some individuals. In asymptomatic positives no. The unfortunate have this cytokine storm passage which is the element that triggers the pneumonia. The latter, in fact, is an excessive reaction of the organism which, in the face of aggression by the virus, responds with an exaggerated inflammation which then makes life difficult by engulfing the lungs. The atypical interstitial pneumonia that occurs in Covid-19 patients is precisely pneumonia that increases the thickness of the alveoli and prevents the exchange of oxygen. So when pneumonia sets in, inflammation prevents the exchange of oxygen, and that’s the worst thing. Then the thromboembolism occurs, but the heaviest symptomatology in clinical cases is linked to this pulmonary involvement “.

Could reducing sugars help Covid-19 patients?
“Macrophages, inflammatory cells, have a glycolytic metabolism: they use sugar. So the concept that the ketogenic diet, by reducing sugar intake, deprives macrophages of energy has a solid foundation. But then we have to see the casuistry. Today on the coronavirus there is a need to speed up studies and there is a great pressure of communication and sometimes results are anticipated that perhaps are not confirmed. However, the ketogenic diet has its contraindications, so it must be done under medical supervision, and does not serve as a prevention. But I see interest in getting to confirm this. However, I would not give all patients the ketogenic diet, but in a controlled trial like at the Polyclinic why not? We have to see if the ketogenic diet acts in such a massive way: it is not a drug with an amazing action ”.

The fact that diabetologists also point out that the blood sugar is a risk factor can it support the thesis according to which a diet too rich in sugars can also be harmful in the case of Covid-19?
“In the case of diabetics we must consider that diabetes itself is a risk factor, the diabetic has a lower immune response. But certainly the excess of sugar is not good for you, it is an element of risk ”.

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05 September 2020 (modified on 05 September 2020 | 11:33)

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