The popularity of the dietary supplements and functional foods in the coronavirus pandemic: a perspective from google trends

Abstract

Coronavirus pandemic is the global concern due to reach to alarming level of infected patients in worldwide. Maintenance of social isolation and hygiene are the main ways for protection against infections. However, some researchers, media and internet have encouraged to additional measures in supporting the wellfunctioning immune system. In this context, herbs, functional foods, vitamins, minerals and other supplements can be the subject in google search engines during the outbreak. Therefore, this retrospective infodemiological study focus on the relative search volume (RSV) of dietary supplements and functional foods (n= 24) which have the highest RSV score in the pandemic and may be related to coronavirus. To evaluate and compare the actual search trends of functional foods and dietary supplements in certain countries and make a prediction about the search trends for future periods are aimed in the study.