A nutritionist has suggested that regular intake of 100 percent fruit juice could boost one’s immunity in fighting off the coronavirus disease.
Publicity Secretary of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Olusola Malomo, who advised Nigerians to indulge in regular intake of fruit juice made his observation at the CHI Limited-sponsored monthly healthy living dialogue at the weekend.
While noting that Covid-19 is a respiratory infection which causes fever, tiredness, sore throat and in severe cases, shortness of breath and respiratory difficulty, he said that the World Health Organization (WHO) and other global public institutions have confirmed that the severity of the Covid-19 infection is linked with the overall state of the body’s immune system.
Citing the Harvard Medical School in its Harvard Health Publishing, Malomo revealed that deficiency in Zinc, Iron, Copper, Folic Acid, Vitamins A, B6, C (which is contained in large quantities in fruit juice) and E have negative impacts on immune responses. He noted that there has been a spike in demand for fruit juice in the market
He said: “CNN reported that the United States retail sales of orange juice jumped about 38 percent in the four weeks ending on March 28, 2020, when compared to the same period last year. Also, the Florida Department of Citrus disclosed that there was a spike in demand for 100% orange juice within the same period.”
“During the five weeks the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun were on lockdown, shops and supermarkets had run out of orange fruit juice stock in the first two or three weeks of the restriction.”
