MANILA— A study of the Department of Science and Technology has found that virgin coconut oil (VCO) and lagundi can help with patients with mild cases of COVID-19.

Community trials for VCO conducted on 57 adults with suspect and probable COVID-19 cases found that it can be used as “adjunct supplement” to “suspect and probable cases due to its immunomodulatory properties.”

“Because of its preventive effect that we have found in our study, wherein it really had diminished the signs and symptoms as early as two days for those patients given VCO, as compared to those without the VCO,” said Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa, director of the DOST Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

The participants took VCO based on body weight, 0.6 ml/kg of VCO daily for the first 3 days, and 1.2 ml/kg of VCO daily for the next 4 to 28 days.

The DOST also conducted VCO hospital trials on 77 adult patients with COVID-19, regardless of the severity of their diseases with 15 ml of VCO 3 times a day for 14 days.

There was “no established benefit yet for hospitalized patients as trial results (are) still ongoing,” the DOST said.

“Further study at the molecular level is needed to determine actual effects using VCO among hospitalized patients,” it added.

The DOST also found “promising results” on the effects of lagundi in “decreasing the symptoms during mild COVID disease, especially for anosmia,” or loss of sense of smell patients usually complain about.

“Napatunayan na overall ang mga sintomas na mas mabilis na mas maganda ang nangyari sa mga binigyan ng lagundi kumpara doon sa mga di binigyan ng lagundi,” said Dr. Jaime Montoya, executive director of the DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.

(Overall, we have proven that symptoms go away faster among those given lagundi versus those who did not receive it.)

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv