At Your Path to Health aim to help you understand how conditions such as long COVID can effects your health. If you have been diagnosed with long COVID or suspect you may be effected our team of health professionals are here to support you through your recovery journey so you can continue to get the most out of life and your body . So how can Long COVID effect your nutritional health, and what dietary action can you take to best help yourself on your recovery pathway.
Long COVID- What is it?
Long COVID is a disorder that can impact multiple systems in our body. It can effect the functioning of our cardiovascular system, our nervous system, our digestion and the way we metabolise ( use and store) food, as well as impacting our immune function, and the capacity and function of our muscles. For people experiencing long COVID this potential multisystem attack can be extremely debilitating with symptoms such as brain fog, insomnia, anxiety and depressed mood, gastrointestinal issues, changes in taste and appetite, swallowing difficulties, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent headaches, fatigue and muscle weakness.
What symptoms most impact our nutritional intake and how do they most affect us?
Symptoms that most impact nutritional intake are numerous and can greatly impact our capacity to choose a balanced diet. Gastrointestinal disturbances (nausea, diarrhoea/constipation, bloating and sense of fullness) often change our desire to eat, our food choices and meal pattern, and our capacity to eat adequately. Changes in taste and smell can greatly impact our relationship with food, and even our motivation to eat. Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), cough, sore throat and shortness of breath can make the actual act of eating challenging which often leads to poorer food choices as we search for easy to eat options, a reduction in variety of foods consumed, and an inadequate intake. Brain fog and fatigue can impact our ability to keep track of food (when and how much food was eaten) and drive us to choose foods to provide fast release energy all of which can manifest as under or overeating, poorer food choices, and changes in meal pattern. Anxiety and changes in mood can lead to coping or comfort eating, or a disconnect and disinterest in food, the joy of eating can be muted. Insomnia impacts the hormones that balance our hunger and satiety cues, and that finely manage our blood glucose levels, so poor sleep can result in our body pushing us toward a decline in dietary habits. With Long COVID eating can become a much more complicated affair at a time when good nutrition is critical for maintaining your general health and aiding recovery.
What are key dietary actions that help maintain health in and aid recovery from Long COVID
Try to maintain a regular eating pattern with at least 3 meals (or touch bases with food) spread across your day. Eat smaller meals every 2-3 hours if you are struggling to get food in, or eat 3 meals and 3 planned healthy snacks with no less than 2 hrs and no greater than 5 hrs between eating if you are finding overeating to be an issue. Think of your fluid intake in this pattern to maintain your hydration especially if respiratory or gastrointestinal issues are a part of your experience.
Push better food options onto your plate as a way of getting the quick release, high energy, low quality options out of the picture. Make sure you have some chicken, fish, lean meat, a meat alternative or diary in each meal (and snack) to give your body a source of quality protein to protect your body’s muscles and bones from being impacted by the effects of long COVID. Then balance this out with quality carbohydrate choices that release their energy slowly (low glycaemic load) to help your body stabilise its energy response and combat fatigue.
Once you have these basics in place focus on VARIETY; a combination of 5 fruits and vegetables each day, a serve or two of natural nuts, and quality oils from nut based and olive oil, avocado, and a couple of serves oily fish per week such as salmon, sardines, tuna and mackerel. This will add valuable fibre as well as food for growth of healthy gut bacteria, both of which are very important for short and long term management of gastrointestinal symptoms, and systemic inflammation.
In regards to supplements, some can be helpful if you have low or borderline levels due to a low or poor intake. Large doses of any one vitamin, mineral or supplement is not supported by research as a treatment for long COVID and may poorly impact your bodies capacity to absorb and balance necessary micronutrients. For more individualised information discuss this with your doctor or dietitian.
And finally if you have been diagnosed with Long COVID, or suspect this to be the case keep in mind:
Long COVID is a stressor for your body so adding further stressors in the form of dieting to lose weight, or attempting to adhere to prescriptive or restrictive eating plans is not recommended. At Your Path to Health we acknowledge that dietary change can be very challenging so our final word is keep things simple, be as consistent as you can with the little things, and seek input from your GP or a dietitian if you have particular concerns.
Written by:
Klara Suessenbach – Dietitian, APD, CEDC