Nutrition for recovery after COVID-19 treatment

People with COVID-19 get tired easily, lose their appetite, and even have difficulty eating when they have fever, infection, or respiratory failure. Therefore, after treatment, the patient's health condition deteriorates, the respiratory and digestive organs are weakened, and there is a risk of malnutrition at different levels. Malnutrition reduces muscle mass and function, negatively affects adipose tissue and bone mass, causing the patient's body to become depleted. At the same time, malnutrition also affects resistance, immune response, and susceptibility to infections.

Nutrition for people after COVID-19 treatment is very important. Proper nutrition will quickly help improve nutritional status, improve body functions, including respiratory function with a diet rich in nutrients such as: Lots of energy, protein and micronutrients in the diet.

Nutrition to restore health

Energy in the diet will be provided by foods in the diet belonging to 3 groups: Foods rich in carbohydrates (rice, cereals, potatoes, tubers); Protein-rich food group (animal meat, poultry, fish and seafood, beans and legumes); Fat-rich food groups (animal fats, butter, vegetable oils, oily nuts).

Normally, a reasonable diet needs to provide enough quantity and ensure a reasonable ratio of 3 energy-generating substances: protein (protein) from 13-20%, fat (lipid) from 20-25% and carbohydrate (glucid) from 55-65%. For example, a person who needs a total energy intake of 2000 kcal/day with an energy ratio from P:L:G of 15:20:55 will need to be provided with 300 kcal from 75g of protein, 400 kcal from 45g of fat and 1100 kcal from 275g of carbohydrates.

 

Eat a variety of foods, combining 15-20 types of foods and regularly change foods throughout the day. The daily diet should have a balanced ratio between animal and vegetable protein sources (meat, fish, eggs, milk, shrimp, crab, seafood... beans, peas...). In addition, you should eat both vegetable oil and animal fat in balanced proportions in your diet.

However, people recovering from illness should choose proteins with high biological value and providing essential amino acids. Amino acids play a role in maintaining the body's functional activities, participating in protective barriers, and in the movement and absorption of nutrients. You should not eat foods high in cholesterol such as animal organs and brains. You should eat at least 3 fish meals/week, 3 eggs/week and drink 1-2 cups of milk/day.

Regarding fat, you should eat both vegetable oil and animal fat, the ratio of animal fat/total fat is below 60%. However, you should use fats derived from fish and vegetable oils, and limit fats derived from poultry (chickens, ducks...), mammals (pigs, cows...).

People after COVID-19 treatment are often tired and lose their appetite, so they need to eat many times a day, about 5 meals/day, to avoid overeating which can cause difficulty breathing. Dishes are prepared in soft form, chopped into small pieces, and stewed thoroughly for easy digestion and absorption. You should eat boiled, steamed, or cooked foods instead of fried, fried, or grilled foods because they are difficult to digest; Change dishes regularly, avoid monotony to make meals more delicious. Increase supplementation of milk and milk products 2 cups/day, because milk has enough nutritional ingredients in balanced proportions, is easy to digest and absorb, suitable for people just recovering from illness. Especially with high-energy milk, the patient's body recovers quickly.

 

Normally, when we are hungry, we want to eat and have an appetite. For people who are hungry (lacking) micronutrients and have a weak digestive tract, the opposite is true, they often lose their hunger and appetite. Therefore, to support the digestive tract, patients should supplement probiotics twice a day, and at the same time supplement multivitamin-mineral tablets for adults, or multivitamin-mineral syrups or granules for children to help patients feel hungry, crave food, eat better, and help the body recover faster.

Some notes

 

Antioxidant vitamins and minerals that have good effects on people after treatment are vitamins A, C, D, E and minerals such as iron, zinc,... which play a role in anti-inflammatory and anti-infection. Vegetables are a source of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Vitamins and minerals play a very important role in helping to improve resistance and immunity against disease-causing viruses and bacteria. Eat dark green vegetables and red or yellow fruits that contain lots of vitamins A, C, E. In addition, vegetables also help improve digestion, limit cholesterol absorption, and limit constipation. The need for green vegetables and fruits is from 400 - 600 g/person/day.

Increase water intake

People with COVID-19 often lose water and some electrolytes such as sodium and potassium due to fever, pneumonia and infection, so increasing water intake to compensate for lost water helps the body recover quickly. Choosing drinking water to add vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, water is prepared very simply from green vegetables, fruits and many other types depending on each person's preferences. Fruit smoothies, in addition to providing water, also provide necessary vitamins and minerals such as lemon juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, mango juice, pennywort, etc. to provide the amount of vitamin C and A necessary for the body.

 

 

Do not eat salty foods and foods high in salt such as sausages, sausages, canned foods, seafood, dried foods, pickled foods, etc. Limit foods and drinks with a lot of gas. Do not drink water before or during meals.