Is Nutrition the Answer to Long-COVID? A Clinical Trial will Explore the Impacts of the Medical Food, KetoCitra® together with a Low-Carbohydrate Diet. 

Santa Barbara Nutrients, Inc, is pleased to announce that our medical food product, KetoCitra®, will be utilized in a pilot clinical trial for patients with long COVID. 

In the past few years, a new term has been added to the global lexicon: long COVID, also referred to as “post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC)”. While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating global impact, the phenomenon of long COVID remains a mounting concern. This condition, which includes a range of symptoms persisting weeks or even months after the initial infection, has become a massive hurdle for countless individuals.

A recent publication in The Lancet Infectious Disease Journal elucidates the gravity of the issue: “Although estimates vary…1 in 10 people experiences long COVID after infection. Lasting symptoms range from mild to disabling… These individual tragedies have wide-ranging repercussions, leading to lost earnings, a shrinking workforce, and increased healthcare and social care costs.”

In this pressing scenario, there lies a glaring gap. Currently, there are no approved pharmaceutical interventions available for the suffering patients, rendering physicians powerless and devoid of necessary tools. This absence of solutions exacerbates the plight of over four million Americans who struggle daily with the mystifying and often crippling symptoms of long-COVID. Notably, the recurring hyper-inflammatory response, mirroring the acute phases of COVID-19, remains an intriguing and worrying aspect of this condition.

However, in the midst of this disheartening scenario, we are thrilled to introduce a beacon of hope. Santa Barbara Nutrients, Inc., in collaboration with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), has embarked on a pioneering clinical trial. This endeavor aims to shed light on the possible connection between dietary measures and the prolonged impacts of the virus.

This clinical trial, titled “Long COVID-19 Syndrome Lifestyle Intervention Study” will explore the impacts of the Medical Food, KetoCitra® together with a Low-Carbohydrate Diet. It is spearheaded by the renowned experts Nuria Pastor-Soler,, MD, PhD; Kenneth Hallows MD, PhD; and Adupa Purush Rao, MD from Keck Medicine of USC’s COVID Recovery Clinic.

The innovative aspect of this trial is its dual approach. It will harness the power of a low-carb diet combined with KetoCitra® to introduce exogenous Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) into the body. This combination seeks to lower blood glucose levels while increasing blood ketone levels, addressing the metabolic imbalances often seen in long-COVID patients.

The expert study team plans to involve up to 50 long-COVID warriors in this study, where half will undergo a 30-day dietary transformation, while the remainder will continue with their existing care routines. The primary objective is to evaluate the efficiency, safety, and acceptability of the diet while meticulously tracking alterations in metabolic health, kidney functionality, inflammatory indicators, and a spectrum of long-COVID symptoms.

In summary, while long-COVID poses a formidable challenge to the global medical community and its patients, initiatives like this clinical trial kindle hope. We remain optimistic about uncovering tangible solutions that can mitigate the effects of long COVID, offering relief to millions. For more information and updates on this groundbreaking trial, visit Keck Medicine’s COVID Recovery Clinic.