Prolonged Intermittent Fasting As a Preventive Strategy Against COVID-19: A Case Report

Abstract

We are in midst of a global pandemic due to corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) that has extensively impacted health and well-being. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies have been extensively used by the general public in various forms to improve their immunity and stay resilient against the infection. Intermittent fasting (IF) is a popular form of CAM therapy reported to accelerate weight loss, alleviate inflammation, upregulate metabolism and reverse immune system dysfunction. This case report describes the impact of a 9-month long IF protocol (18?h water only phase followed by 6?h of feeding phase) in a 36-year-old male patient who was at high risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection owing to his elevated body mass index, fasting blood sugar, cholesterol, impaired lipid profile, and high level of anxiety. At baseline his antibody status against COVID-19 was 0.01 (OD ratio). Nine months of IF has shown to improve all his clinical parameters. The authors have observed the presence of antibody against COVID-19: 6.35 (OD ratio) during the 9th month follow-up and also 6.94 (OD ratio) during the refeeding phase at 12th month. However the patient exhibited no symptoms or complications during the entire 1 year of the study. The patient also reported considerable reduction in anxiety on the visual analog scale whose score was reduced to 1 compared with the baseline score of 9. The results suggest prolonged IF to be a safe and useful prophylactic measure against COVID-19 and its risk factors. However, large scale studies are warranted to substantiate the present findings.

Keywords

• intermittent fasting
• COVID-19
• immunity
• fasting
• nutrition
• case report