Reasons why COVID-19 survivors should follow dietary World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) recommendations: from hyper-inflammation to cardiac dysfunctions

The World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) advise cancer survivors to follow their lifestyle recommendations for cancer prevention. Recent research indicates that a proper diet could exerts beneficial metabolic and immune effects in humans through the involvement of several, not yet properly known, metabolic pathways. Here, we argue that following WCRF/AICR recommendations could be a strategy to prevent cardiovascular outcomes [fulminant myocarditis, heart failure, venous thromboembolism (VTE)] and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients during follow-up post COVID-19 infection. We discuss the metabolic effects of a WCRF/AICR based diet, highlighting on the involved cardio-metabolic pathways related on NLRP3 inflammasome-cytokines axis aimed to improve prognosis of COVID-19, especially in patients with cancer.

Automated summary

Following lifestyle recommendations from the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research may help prevent cardiovascular outcomes and acute respiratory distress syndrome in survivors post COVID-19 infection. The diet based on these recommendations could have beneficial metabolic effects through influencing pathways related to NLRP3 inflammasome-cytokine axis to improve prognosis, especially in cancer patients.