While President Donald Trump relied heavily on pharmaceuticals to help him combat COVID-19, First Lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive for the illness traveled a “more natural route” that included vitamins and healthy food,” Business Insider [1] reports.
Trump fueled up on pharmaceuticals, including remdesivir, [2] dexamethasone (a steroid), [3] and an experimental antibody cocktail from Regeneron. [4]
But in matters of health, Melania walks to the beat of a different drum and she said she believes relying on vitamins and a healthier diet helped her beat COVID-19. And she said so [5] in a letter from the White House. Focusing on family, friends, and work helped her keep a positive outlook. She also stressed mental health is also important to a person’s well-being.
It’s all well and good that she was able to do this, but millions of Americans are without proper insurance, including me, and since I have Type 2 diabetes, I have to rely on a proper diet while keeping a positive mental attitude while Melania’s husband has allowed the pandemic to grow out of control. So I’m glad she’s doing okay but I wish her husband had cared more about Americans who are dying from this by the hundreds-of-thousands and less about whoever attacks him on Twitter.
Melania also said her symptoms were mild and she only dealt with a cough, fatigue, and body aches. She didn’t say what foods she ate or what vitamins she took but she had words of encouragement for those dealing with COVID-19.
“I encourage everyone to continue to live the healthiest life they can,” she wrote. “A balanced diet, fresh air, and vitamins are really vitamins are vital to keep our bodies healthy.”
Yeah, well tell that to the single mother working a fast-food minimum wage job who’s trying to keep mind and body together while figuring out what to do since she can’t work while she recuperates. Tell that to the university student who’s $100,000 in debt and can’t work. Tell that to the political writer (me) when her blood sugar shot past 400 (which is very dangerous), who nearly wound up hospitalized while having no insurance. I’m not sure if I had COVID-19 because I caught it early in the game when tests weren’t available. But I sure did have the symptoms, truth to tell.
And here’s the other thing: While it’s important to eat a healthy diet if you can afford it, there’s no evidence [6] that food or vitamins are useful for treating COVID-19.
Proper nutrition does help bolster the immune system but diet alone doesn’t appear to prevent this nasty disease.
“If you’re in contact with coronavirus, it doesn’t matter how many oranges you eat — you’re going to get it,” Dr. Caroline Apovian, the director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Program at Boston Medical Center told [7] Business Insider in an earlier interview. “The only thing that a healthy diet and being in shape will do is make sure if and when you get sick it won’t be as severe.”
So it’s cool that maintaining a healthy diet has helped Melania, but if you suspect you’re sick, don’t rely on that alone. It could be a dangerous idea because this seems to be a disease that can go from mild to deadly in a matter of hours. I’m quite sure the 223,600+ Americans who have now died from this [8] under her husband’s watch would tell you this if they were able to.