How can nutrition help to prevent and cope with coronavirus disease?

How can nutrition help to prevent and cope with coronavirus disease?
haniehbaghnavi@gmail.com,^1,* sarafana@varastegan.ac.ir,²
Introduction: At the time of this writing, COVID-19 infection has taken the lives of more than 876,000 individuals worldwide. This pathogenic virus causes an acute respiratory syndrome that spreads rapidly around the world. No vaccine has been discovered for it so far, and the control ways include case isolation, identification, and follow-up of contacts, environmental disinfection, use of personal protective equipment, and amplification of the immune system. A well-function immune system needs several vitamins and essential nutrients. A proper diet can make sure that the body can resist the virus.
Methods: we conduct a comprehensive search in Google Scholar, Pub Med databases for meta-analysis, RCT, review articles.
Results: All the articles check out the role of vitamins and minerals in augmenting immunity. Vitamin A has an essential role in gene expression and immune cell maturation. Adequate intake of vitamin A can improve the symptoms of acute pneumonia. Vitamin B group deficiency, especially B12, B6, and B9, decrease phagocyte action and T, B lymphocyte cells. Vitamin C can improve antibody production and natural killer cells in lymphocyte activity. Vitamins C and E are antioxidants too. Vitamins D and E deficiency increase in susceptibility respiratory tract infection. Adequate zinc levels reduced mortality during severe pneumonia because zinc deficiency decreased natural killer cell activity and lymphocyte proliferation. Copper plays an important role in immunity development against respiratory viruses. The body needs iron for maturation and proliferation of lymphocytes. Selenium battle against oxidative stress in viral infection.
Conclusion: The immune system protects our body from pathogens. A rich diet that includes vegetables and fruits can help us to achieve a healthy life without illness. However, the definitive's effect of vitamins and minerals has been not proven in COVID-19, but they are necessary for the immune system.
Keywords: COVID-19, immune system, vitamin, mineral