Meals with VCO can Reduce Symptoms for Probable, Suspect Covid-19 Patients - DOST Study

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on Thursday, December 03, revealed that virgin coconut oil can be used as a food supplement to reduce the symptoms of probable and suspect COVID-19 cases.  The study, led by the DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), involved 57 probable and suspect COVID-19 patients in a quarantine hospital in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Half of them were given VCO in their food for 28 days and the other half served as a control group.

Of the volunteer participants, 29 patients were given standardized meals mixed with VCO, while the other 28 became the control group and received no VCO doses.  Meals were served free of charge and delivered in the quarantine facilities during the participants’ confinement and later at their respective homes after being discharged.  An initial dose of 0.6 milliliters of VCO per kilogram of body weight was mixed with the standard breakfast meals of the VCO group on the first three days of the trial.  The dose was increased to 1.2 ml of VCO per kg of body weight mixed with the standard breakfast and lunch of the VCO group from Day 4 to 28. 

In a virtual briefing on the results of the study, DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said, symptoms such as cough, cold, body ache, headache, loss of taste and smell, and fever “significantly declined” as early as the second day of the study in the group given VCO doses.  By Day 18, all patients at the VCO group experienced no more symptoms. No symptoms were observed among patients at the control group only at Day 23

The diminishing signs and symptoms of COVID-19 in the VCO group was supported by the decreasing levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) among the patients, according to Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa, chief science research specialist at FNRI and the leader of the VCO study. CRP is a quantitative marker used in monitoring inflammation or infections. CRP levels of less than 5 mg/L of blood indicate no infection or inflammation.  Those in the VCO group had normal CRP levels at 5 mg/L or less as early as Day 14. But those under the control group stayed at a “borderline of 5 mg/L from Day 14 until the end of intervention.”

“We consider the results of the study significant, meaning to say that the VCO group has better results compared with the control group in diminishing signs and symptoms of COVID-19,” Agdeppa said.  However, she cautioned the public that VCO is not a cure for COVID-19.  “It is an adjunct supplement to reduce the symptoms among probable and suspect COVID-19 cases, so they would not develop into severe cases. This is not a treatment [for COVID-19],” she said.