COVID-19 AND THE "FAT" PARADOX MERITS OF THE KETOGENIC DIET IN A COVID-19-STRICKEN WORLD By
Jack Osborn Helen Wei
Introduction Ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet used primarily as a quick weight loss regimen. By restricting carbohydrate intake, the body switches its primary fuel source from glucose to ketones, organic molecules synthesized by the liver to deliver clean, long-lasting, and abundant energy. While there is still much to be uncovered about the effect of the diet transiently on the body, there are many significant and well-understood long-term implications, including the lowering of inflammatory markers associated with diseases such cancer, diabetes, and obesity. The ketogenic diet can be therefore viewed as a preventative measure to reduce chronic inflammation associated with a host of inflammatory diseases. SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), an inflammatory respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, is responsible for hijacking its host genome and inducing a cytokine storm in the body. SARS-CoV-2, for example, has been shown to prevent gene activation of interferons, proteins released by
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infected cells that signal to nearby cells to activate their own genes to slow further viral replication. Without interferon activation, viruses such as coronavirus are capable of unchecked replication and runaway inflammation that impedes the immune system, promoting a dangerous inflammatory response. Within a matter of days, COVID-19 swept up society into a state of paranoia and fear, igniting concerns surrounding the short term and long-term implications on our health. As more information emerged regarding its mechanism of transmission, who is most at risk, and who presents the biggest risk of transmission, scientists developed a key understanding of why at-risk individuals are hit the hardest, and how we can best respond to COVID-19 positive individuals through treatment.
Key Demographics and Risk Factors for COVID-19 While it is currently well-understood that COVID-19 has detrimental short-term conse-
quences on the body, there is still much to be uncovered regarding its long-term deleterious implications, from cognitive impairment to cardiovascular disease, to exacerbation of existing socioeconomic inequalities. We observed a common theme amongst hospital admission trends: people of color and those of a low socioeconomic status seemed to be hit the hardest, highlighting social inequity associated with disease and access to healthcare. Initial studies suggested that younger individuals were generally less prone to developing severe symptoms potentiated by high levels of inflammation, with the majority of severe cases belonging to immunocompromised people, such as the elderly population and those with preexisting conditions. So, while it is easy to think of young people as being relatively immune to the disease, they represent the most dangerous demographic, potentially unknowingly transmitting the disease to the most immunocompromised and susceptible individuals. In addition to understanding how COVID-19 acutely affects
