Determination of Chestnut Honey Consumption Characteristics as a Traditional Treatment Method and Its Effect on Protection from COVID-19

Background: Chestnut honey plays a positive role in strengthening the immune system as it contains vitamins, mineral, and antioxidant. It moreover has both antibacterial and antiviral properties as well. Objectives: This study aimed to examine how people consume chestnut honey as a form of traditional medicine, and how it might protect them from COVID-19.Methods: This study was carried out on 177 people (who had been snowball sampled) from a province in Turkey where chestnut honey is widely produced. The data was collected using a twenty open/closed-question online questionnaire form that asked the participants about their socio-demographic details, about how they consume chestnut honey consumption, and about COVID-19. Results: Forty one point eight (41.8%) per-cent of the participants reported that they used chestnut honey to protect themselves against COVID-19, 40.7% of them believed that chestnut honey helped make them immune towards COVID-19, and 37.3% of them felt that chestnut honey could treat COVID-19. However, there was no significant relationship between the participants consuming chestnut honey and their either being tested for COVID-19 (p> 0.05, χ²: 1.080) or testing positive for COVID-19 (p> 0.05, χ²: 0.793).Conclusions: This study revealed that chestnut honey is a widely used remedy in Turkey for treating different health problems and for maintaining health. In contrast, it also demonstrated that consuming chestnut honey has no effect on protecting the participants from COVID-19.