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Low dietary sodium potentially mediates COVID-19 prevention associated with whole food plant-based diets.

Compared to an omnivorous Western diet, plant-based diets containing mostly fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, with restricted amounts of foods of animal origin, are associated with reduced risk and severity of COVID-19. Additionally, inflammatory immune responses and severe acute respiratory symptoms of COVID-19, including pulmonary edema, shortness of breath, fever, and nasopharyngeal infections, are associated with sodium toxicity from excessive dietary sodium. High dietary sodium is also associated with increased risks of diseases and conditions that are comorbid with COVID-19, including chronic kidney disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, and obesity. This article presents evidence that low dietary sodium potentially mediates the association of plant-based diets with COVID-19 prevention. Processed meats and poultry injected with sodium chloride contribute considerable amounts of dietary sodium in the Western diet, and the avoidance or reduction of these and other processed foods in whole food plant-based diets could help lower overall dietary sodium intake. Moreover, high amounts of potassium in plant-based diets increase urinary sodium excretion, and preagricultural diets high in plant-based foods were estimated to contain much lower ratios of dietary sodium to potassium compared to modern diets. Further research should investigate low sodium in whole food plant-based diets for protection against COVID-19 and comorbid conditions.