SARS-CoV-2 | Impressions

In December 2019, a highly transmissible and pathogenic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2), emerged and caused a pandemic of acute respiratory disease named ‘coronavirus disease 2019’ (COVID-19), which threatens human health and public safety.

COVID-19 was first identified in a flare-up in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and attempts to contain it there failed. The virus then spread to other areas of Asia, and in January 2020, it became a worldwide pandemic of acute respiratory disease. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) pronounced the pandemic a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

During the present coronavirus pandemic, many people searching for useful health information have started believing many things that are not true. Widely circulated social media posts falsely suggest that the pH of COVID-19 ranges from 5.5 to 8.5 and advise readers to eat alkaline foods (specifically fruits and vegetables) with a pH of more than 8.5 to prevent COVID-19. According to many health experts, this claim about consuming alkaline foods to increase the body’s pH level and create an environment that is deadly to the virus is untrue. Eating more acidic or alkaline foods is not related to an increased or decreased risk of COVID-19 infection. There is neither evidence nor enough data to prove or support this claim.

Back then, I saw a message on WhatsApp claiming novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) could be treated by eating alkaline fruits. Similar messages appeared on Facebook and Twitter. The following message I saw on WhatsApp happens to be a fake.

“This is to inform you that the pH for coronavirus varies from 5.5 to 8.5.

*RESEARCH: JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY & ANTIVIRAL RESEARCH,*

All we need to do, to beat coronavirus, we need to take more of alkaline foods that are above the above pH level of the Virus.

Some of which are:

Lemon – 9.9pH
Lime – 8.2pH
Avocado – 15.6pH
Garlic – 13.2pH
Mango – 8.7pH
Tangerine – 8.5pH
Pineapple – 12.7pH
Dandelion – 22.7p H
Orange – 9.2pH

Increase your intake of the above to help boost your immune system. Do not keep this information to yourself only. Pass it to all your family and friends.”

Scientists have denied the claim that coronavirus has a pH level between 5.5 and 8. Viruses themselves do not have pH levels, because they are not water-based solutions.

According to this WhatsApp message, avocado has a pH of “15.6”, but the pH scale measures from zero to 14. Nothing has a pH above 14.

The message also mentioned the wrong pH values of various fruits, which are acidic and not alkaline.

Here are the original pH levels of the fruits mentioned in the fake message:

Lemon 2.2 – 2.4
Lime 1.8 – 2.0
Avocado 6.3 – 6.6
Garlic 5.8
Mango 5.8 – 6.0
Tangerine 3.9
Pineapple 3.20–4.00
Orange 3.0 – 4.0

Is this claim to eat alkaline foods (specifically fruits and vegetables) with a pH of more than 8.5 to prevent COVID-19 true? The answer is “No!”

The study quoted in the fake WhatsApp message dates back to 1991. The abstract of the study mentions that it is about coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus type 4 (MHV4). It reads: “Infection of susceptible murine cells with the coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus type 4 (MHV4) results in extensive cell-cell fusion at pHs from 5.5 to 8.5.” But COVID-19 is a new strain of virus that was unknown in the 1990s.

Our body regulates pH levels. Our diet can change only the pH level of our waste products, such as our urine and saliva, but not the pH levels in our blood cells or tissues.

Yet, there is no treatment or cure for the coronavirus. So, eating alkaline foods cannot cure or prevent coronaviruses. Yet, a healthy and balanced diet can help boost our immunity, which in turn can help us fight the deadly virus.

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