Since the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that caused the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), in December 2019, the infection has spread around the globe. Some of the risk factors include social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing with soap, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, cardiovascular disease, and dysbiosis. Evidence has shown the incidence of total infection and death rates to be lower in sub-Saharan Africa when compared with North Africa, Europe and North America and many other parts of the world. The higher the metabolic syndrome rate, the higher the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Africa has a lower rate of metabolic syndrome risk than many other continents. This paradox has puzzled several in the biomedical and scientific communities. Published results of research have demonstrated the exciting correlation that the combination of young age of the population coupled with their native plant-based diet has lowered their risk factors. The plant-based diet include whole grains (millet, sorghum), legumes (black-eye peas, dry beans, soybean), vegetables, potato, sweet potato, yams, squash, banana, pumpkin seeds, and moringa leaves, and lower consumption of meat. The plant-based diet results in a different gut microbiota than of most of the rest of the world. This has a significant impact on the survival rate of other populations. The “plant-based diet” results in lower rates of obesity, diabetes and dysbiosis, which could contribute to lower and less severe infections. However, these hypotheses need to be supported by more clinical and biostatistics data.

自 2019 年 12 月导致冠状病毒病 19 (COVID-19) 的严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 爆发以来，感染已在全球蔓延。一些风险因素包括社交距离、戴口罩、用肥皂洗手、肥胖、糖尿病、高血压、哮喘、心血管疾病和生态失调。有证据表明，与北非、欧洲和北美以及世界许多其他地区相比，撒哈拉以南非洲的总感染率和死亡率较低。代谢综合征率越高，感染 SARS-CoV-2 的风险就越高。与许多其他大陆相比，非洲的代谢综合征风险较低。这个悖论使生物医学和科学界的一些人感到困惑。已发表的研究结果证明了令人兴奋的相关性，即年轻的人口与其原生植物性饮食相结合，降低了他们的风险因素。植物性饮食包括全谷类（小米、高粱）、豆类（黑眼豆、干豆、大豆）、蔬菜、马铃薯、红薯、山药、南瓜、香蕉、南瓜子和辣木叶，食用量较低肉。以植物为基础的饮食产生的肠道微生物群与世界其他大部分地区不同。这对其他人群的存活率有重大影响。“植物性饮食”导致肥胖、糖尿病和生态失调的发生率降低，这可能有助于降低和减轻严重感染。然而，这些假设需要更多的临床和生物统计学数据来支持。