The Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR), in a press note, has clearly stated that no Presently, NO conclusion cab be drawn based on the serological studies that a vegetarian diet & smoking can protect people from COVID19.

There were reports posted in the media that talked about vegetarians and smokers having better immunity levels against the Covid-19 virus as published in a CSIR report.

CSIR clearly stated that it was a fake report and no such conclusion was given by them.

It is hereby brought to attention CSIR has NOT ISSUED a Press Note titled “CSIR Study Reveals Smokers and Vegetarians are Less Vulnerable to Covid-19 Infection” (dated 24th April 2021).

Further, CSIR would like to highlight that as mentioned in the peer-reviewed publication "elifesciences.org/articles/66537“ that “It has been proposed that a fiber-rich diet may play an important role in COVID-19 through anti-inflammatory properties by modification of gut microbiota.

A recent review has highlighted the role of trace elements, nutraceuticals and probiotics in COVID-19.

The negative association with smoking has been reported elsewhere, but not shown to be causal.

Further exploration is necessary before reaching any conclusions, especially since seropositivity is an imperfect marker of infection risk and may equally well be explained by altered antibody response and dynamics”

In studies such as these, associations with any of the parameters should not be considered be causal until proven experimentally.

Hence, CSIR would like to state that NO conclusion can be drawn that the vegetarian diet and smoking may protect from Covid-19 based on these studies.

Also Read: Panic Is Leading To Irrational Investigations And Treatments – Facts People Should Know

Media reports claim that @CSIR_IND survey reveals smokers & vegetarians are less vulnerable to #COVID19 #PIBFactCheck: Presently, NO conclusion can be drawn based on the serological studies that vegetarian diet & smoking may protect from #COVID19

Read: https://t.co/RI3ZQA7ac6 pic.twitter.com/gQRVDvACfl
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) April 26, 2021