The Effect of Whole Pomegranate Juice (Punica Granatum) on Nutritional and Immunological Status of Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients

Background: Pomegranate juice may favorably affect nutritional and immunological status. This study set out to explore the nutritionalimmunological effects of pomegranate juice on hospitalized COVID-19 patients.Methods: We conducted this study as an exploratory randomized clinical trial recruiting 48 COVID-19 patients. Subjects were randomly allocated to intervention and placebo groups. Intervention participants received 500 mL of whole pomegranate juice as a complementary therapy, and control patients received the same amount of placebo for 2 weeks. Controlling nutritional status (CONUT), prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and albumin to globulin ratio (AGR) scores were measured at baseline and the end of the trial.Results: Forty three patients completed the study. Cholesterol level significantly decreased (p<0.0001), and albumin (p<0.0001), total protein (p=0.03) and lymphocytes (p=0.04) levels significantly increased in the pomegranate juice group. However, the result remained insignificant regarding CONUT, PNI and AGR.Conclusion: Our intervention showed that pomegranate juice had no significant effect on nutritional-immunological indicators, including CONUT, PNI and AGR scores. However, it did significantly reduced cholesterol level and increased albumin, total protein and lymphocyte levels. Further studies are needed to determine the long-term effects of pomegranate juice consumption on nutritional-immunological indicators and overall health outcomes.