There is an important relationship between your nutritional status, immune health, risk of infection, and ability to recover from illness. Poor nutrition is associated with inflammation and oxidative stress, which compromise immune health. Both inflammation and oxidative stress increase when you have COVID-19, so here are some foods for covid-19.
COVID-19 and nutritional status
COVID-19 negatively affects nutritional status by decreasing appetite and may limit your access to nutritious food during lockdown. But at the same time, the body’s need for nutrients, such as vitamin D, increases.
Diet and nutrition can help support your immune health if you have COVID-19. Especially if you consume foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Therefore, to reduce the effects of this disease, a balanced diet should be taken, according to the requirements of each person. It is important to take into account variables such as age, sex, height, weight, physical activity, as well as whether the person has any pathological history.
No group of nutrients should be left out
No group of nutrients should be left out, for which the necessary foods are sources of protein such as chicken, fish, meat, eggs; carbohydrate sources in which we have potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, noodles; and sources of lipids, also known as fats, among which are olive oil, avocado, etc.
Another important consideration is strengthening the immune system. For that, you should not forget to include fruits and vegetables, with at least five servings a day. The more variety of color, the greater benefit we will obtain.
It is important to note that this is an emerging area of research. These foods will not prevent you from getting COVID-19 or cure the disease, but they have been shown to support immune health.
Here are some of them:
VITAMIN D
On average, people make about 80% of their vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight (ultraviolet light), and get the remaining 20% from their diet. Therefore, taking vitamin D daily may be a good idea if you are in lockdown due to COVID-19 and have little exposure to sunlight.
Here are some foods rich in vitamin D, along with how much of the vitamin (VD) each contains that you can consume:
- Cod liver oil: 170% of the Daily Value (DV) per 1 tablespoon (13.6 grams)
- Herring: 27% of the DV per 100 grams
- Egg yolk: 27% of the DV per 100 grams
- Sardine: 24% of the DV per 100 grams
- Canned light tuna: 34% of the DV per 100 grams
- Salmon, wild-caught or farmed: 66% of the DV per 100 grams
- Fortified orange juice: 25% of the DV per 100 grams
CAROTENOIDS AND VITAMIN A
Carotenoids are antioxidants and pigments (red, green, yellow and orange). They are found in nature in some colorful algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, fruits and vegetables, some of which you can include in your diet.
Here are eight foods rich in vitamin A, along with the % DV per 100 grams of each that you can eat.
- Beef liver: 552% of the DV
- Chicken liver: 327% of the DV
- Giant mackerel: 24% of the DV
- Goat cheese: 54% of the DV
- Sweet potato, cooked: 87% of the DV
- Kale: 28% of the DV
- Carrots, raw: 93% of the DV
ZINC
Zinc deficiency has been associated with a higher risk of infections and worse outcomes in people with COVID-19.
Here are seven zinc-rich foods, along with the % DV per 100 grams of each you can consume:
- Ground beef: 41% of the DV
- Dark chocolate (70–85% cocoa): 30% of the DV
- Shellfish oyster, canned: 73% of the DV
- Cashews: 53% of the DV
- Hemp seeds: 90% of the DV
- Pumpkin seeds: 71% of the DV
- Lentils, sprouted, raw: 14% of the DV
As you can see, the COVID-19 negatively affects nutritional status, and a healthy and functioning immune system is critical to reducing the risk of infection and supporting recovery.
Related Notes:
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prolonged COVID; less common in fully vaccinated
For this reason we need booster doses against COVID-19