Coronavirus: Can an alkaline diet help you fight the infection? We tell you the truth
Have you come across a message on WhatsApp where it is claimed that eating certain foods with a pH level above the pH level of coronavirus can cure and prevent this deadly infection? Do you wonder if this indeed holds true?
In the search for good news and hope, people believe a lot of things that are not true. This claim about having alkaline foods to prevent coronavirus is not true.
Health experts say that there is no evidence to support this claim. According to the World Health Organisation, there is no one cure for the COVID 19. There is no sufficient data to prove that alkaline diet, for one, can help fight the infection.
What is an alkaline diet?
An alkaline diet is based on the idea of replacing acid-forming foods with alkaline foods that can improve your health. Supporters of this diet also claim that it can also help in some serious illnesses like cancer.
The claim about the alkaline diet and coronavirus is that by eliminating foods that are high in acidity, it can help change the body's pH levels as well.
The misleading message alleged that the pH of the coronavirus varies from 5.5 to 8.5 and all we need to do to beat the coronavirus is to eat alkaline foods above the pH levels of the virus.
The pH of the coronavirus
The idea behind the benefits of the alkaline diet claim is that increasing the body's pH will create an environment that is deadly to the virus, which is untrue.
Truth
A virus itself does not have a pH. pH is something that applies to a water-based solution, which a virus is not. The body regulates the pH levels, which means no diet can change the pH levelsof the blood cells or tissues.
According to another analysis, dietary precautions can only change the pH factor of the saliva and urine as they are the waste products, but not the pH levels in your blood.
Verdict
Eating alkaline foods cannot cure or prevent coronavirus. In fact, there is yet no treatment or cure of the coronavirus.
Though yes, a healthy and balanced diet can help you boost your immunity, which in turn can help you fight the virus.