Ronan Lordan and
Ioannis Zabetakis (University of
Limerick, Limerick, Ireland) write:
Since December 2019
and the beginning of 2020, the world is facing a mega crisis that has two
dimensions: one health crisis against COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) and a
subsequent financial crisis with huge implications for employment, commerce,
travel, and manufacture.
On 23rd March, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) issued guidelines on the link between COVID-19
and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (Fig 1).
Figure 1: The
link between non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and COVID-19
One risk major
risk factor for developing NCDs is obesity. Worryingly, almost two thirds of
patients who fell seriously ill from the coronavirus were obese and
nearly 40 per cent were under the age of 60, an NHS audit has revealed in Great
Britain [1]. This data viewed in tandem with the WHO guidelines as shown
above highlights the fact that people with NCDs have a weaker immune system. As
obesity is a major risk factor for developing NCDs, obesity in itself might be a
risk factor for developing severe illness for individuals who becomes infected
with COVID-19.
However, it’s not
all bad news. In light of the message that we need to take from these
guidelines is a message that we have communicated in our previous articles: Our
best defence against NCDs and the optimum way to maintain a strong immune
system is through following a healthy lifestyle. We can maintain a healthy
lifestyle by exercising and adhering to a healthy diet.
In the days of home
isolation for many millions of people all around the world, exercise needs to
take the form of jogging, cycling (if we can still cycle where we live),
walking or anything that can be achieved given your circumstances. However, what
can we do about our diet?
Diet is the key
Now, that, we spend
most of our time at home, it’s a great opportunity to re-evaluate our diet and
re-think how we can improve it. Our diet can certainly impact our health and
our immune system. Therefore, it’s time to revisit the Mediterranean diet
pyramid (Fig 2) to try enrich our diet with foods from the bottom three shelves,
two of these foods are cheese and yoghurt.
Figure 2: The
Mediterranean diet pyramid
Yoghurt: A food
with strong anti-inflammatory activities
Yoghurt is a
nutrient dense fermented dairy product with many health benefits.
During milk’s fermentation,
a myriad of bioactive molecules that act against inflammation are formed, these
molecules are called polar lipids [2,3]. In our research, we have assessed the
anti-inflammatory properties of these polar lipids in sheep yoghurts and goat
cheeses. We have found that they can reduce the aggregation of platelets and potentially
decrease inflammation associated with NCDs [2,3].
Yoghurt is
associated with a host of other benefits including lower levels of obesity in
yoghurt consumers [4]. Yoghurt can also boost the immune system due to its
probiotic capacity and its high vitamin content [5]. From a nutritional point
of view, any yoghurt that is low in sugar will provide health benefits to the
consumer. However, a sheep yoghurt (Fig 3) is an excellent source of protein,
healthy polar lipids, low in sugar, and high in live probiotic cultures.
Coupled with exercise and a healthy diet, yoghurt might help keep our immune
systems in good health and give us something nutritious and tasty to look
forward to.
On the other
hand, cheese is an excellent source of nutrients (calcium, protein, vitamin A, vitamin K, phosphorus, niacin and thiamin, proteins and lipids, polar lipids included). They are a main part of the Med diet (Fig 2).
The cardioprotective
and anti-inflammatory properties of dairy products as part of a balanced diet
are discussed extensively in our book [6].
Figure 3. A label
of a sheep’s yogurt made in Ireland
Our diet and the
local economies
Two final words:
during this crisis, the small and family run businesses are going to suffer
most. The impact that this financial crisis will have on the food chain is going
to be huge. As consumers, we can do two things: first, we need to re-assess our
diet and enrich it with foods with strong anti-inflammatory activities (e.g.
yoghurt and we especially love sheep yoghurt). Secondly, we can support our
local food producers by ordering their products on-line. By buying local food,
we support our communities; this is vital during this crisis. For Ireland, an
excellent list of local producers of quality foods and drinks is available [7].
References
