How to improve our nutritional strategies and enhance our capacity of defense or fight against or during the infection?
Nutrition and nutritional status are the ones of the most important conditional factors to respond to any infection and ensure the well succeed treatment.
The immune system cannot be changed in one day. It depends on several conditions on how someone will respond to an infection and develop an acute disease.
Several factors, unfortunately, have been in decades putting all of us in great risk since we were born, compromising our immune competence, our gut microbiome and lead also to several chronic diseases, like the presence of pollutants, BPAS, plastics, toxic metals and toxins everywhere, pesticides in food and water, synthetic additives and a lot of sugar and salt in several ultra-processed foods.
However, we can always find a way to improve our nutrition, metabolism and gut microbiota in order to keep our immune system in good shape, in “stand by”, offering all nutrients and bioactive molecules necessary to any “war” demand.
Let’s see while we are “fight against” this new coronavirus:
Besides the all public health rules already learned which we must be following daily, like “stay home,” keep high hygiene, wash always your hands, avoid touching your face, eyes and nose, clean regularly the surfaces, clean your shoes or keep them outside, move and wash your clothes after go outside, and keep social distance, we need to reinforce the importance of Nutrition and Lifestyle right now.
Remember to keep it forever in your life from now on.
If you are at home please:
EAT HEALTHIER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE NOW. AS YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT BECAUSE IT DEPENDS... as usual!
We have several Countries, Official Societies Nutritional Guidelines world wide to be followed. I can share them with professionals afterward and I can “translate” for the population as well.
Meanwhile, let’s see very quick nutritional reminders. Later I can explain further the role of each food and others more. And why we should avoid some during acute infection and chronic inflammatory disease.
#1 TRY TO AVOID RIGHT NOW:
refined sugar food ( attention to those products with high corn syrup)
candies
salty junky products
fried foods
food with pesticides
unhealthy high-fat food and preparations
ultra-processed food especially those with trans fat
alcoholic beverages
sugary drinks ( avoid also ready sugary nectar or even industrialized 100% fruit juices - too rich infructose and refined sugar and it is better the homemade fruit juice)
#2 Read the label
#3 Plan your meals for the day, or for the week. Prepare your recipes. You can save time, space, money.
#4 Don’t waste food!
#5 Cook your meals together this moment of “lockdown”
#6 Try new receipts with your families
#7 Eat a “rainbow” plate. Colorful.
#8 Eat always at least vegetables 5/ day
#9 Often for instance carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic, brócolis, cauliflower, kale, tomatoes, aspargel, etc...
#10 Grains and pulses ( every day). Give preference to whole food.
#11 Eat fruits at least 5 portions per day, especially those yellow or red with Vit C ( citric) and never forget daily like apples, banana, lemon juice.
#12 Fresh juices homemade with pulp/ fiber are allowed
#13 Your plate should be most colored as possible. Every time. Especially (not only) those with red and yellow color.
#14 Organic, fresh Food but wash them properly before use(Wash with detergent those with hard skin
#15 Attention always: hygiene ( food safety) must be observed while manipulating food.
#16 Green Salad daily: make a colored salad every day and adding for instance: seeds, herbs, cheese-like cottage or feta, mozzarella or our swiss cheese, pieces of fruits, several vegetables, nuts, raisins, seeds of a pomegranate,
#17 Olive oil and good vinegar must be used instead of fatty or industrialized sauces.
#18 Eat more Omega 3 Fat food sources (fish)
#19 Take always the old and good Chicken Soup - very important during cold and flu periods, It can be eaten at least 2- 3 times /week or more. Actually, as you know, all kind of diverse and veggie soup is always nutritive, and healthy.
#20 Sauerkraut and other fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, Kimchi
#21 Fungi (champignons) and take advantage of diversity.
#22 Eggs can eat 1 at least every day
#23 Other proteins like milk, cheese, fish, poultry, etc..every day
#24 Marine Salt ( should have contained Iodine) instead of refined salt
#25 Whole foods instead of refined ones like bread and pasta.
#26 Always yogurt or kefir drink, milk products with probiotics, cheese
#27 Müsli, bio cereals, especially oat ( every day)
#28 Honey
#29 Dark Chocolat
#30 Nuts ( all kinds), cashews
#31 Berries
#32 Teas ( all of them but Mint, Camomile, green tea, ready mix herbs tea to respiratory diseases. It should be the trunk and better if you use the organic dry leaves /flowers.
#33 Drink a lot of water all day long 1,5 to 2 liters of liquids minimum
#34 More:
Don’t smoke.
Don’t vape.
No drugs.
Unfortunately, we cannot change an immune system in a week, but we could try to start RIGHT NOW and minimize the risk of a strong immune-inflammatory response to this infection in a few days.
As soon as you can, try to start, to follow a better lifestyle and eating healthy properly. Remember all people can get infected and develop afterward a COVID19 disease in several stages, to, unfortunately, the critical one.
The presence of co-morbidities and “no communicable diseases” ( NCD) like obesity, diabetes, high sugar blood, high blood pressure, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, immunocompromised disturbances, organs failure, “invisible diseases”, cancer, sarcopenia, inflammatory bowel disease, the old age.. make it more complicated.
These people need more care, attention and need to be isolated right now to self- protection. It’s a save life question.
Our immune response always:
Depends on our inherited and acquired immune system
It depends on our good daily nutrition.
Depends on our lifestyle: regular exercise, low stress, good sleep patterns, no addiction of unhealthy substances
Depends on social-cultural -economic factors
It depends at least of the environment in which we can be exposed.
Our gut microbiome and gut mucosa barrier integrity take part in it too.
Intake some probiotics supplements ( example: a ready mix high in Lactobacilli, Bifidus, Saccharomyces booulardi or cerevisiae ) and fermented food.
Vit D supplements and also Vit C, Zink, Vit A, Selenium, Omega 3 and other nutrients supplements and nutraceuticals could be used to support nutrition if the diet doesn’t reach the personal or clinical situation requirements.
However, right now it’s difficult to be precisely accurate: which ones and how much of these nutrients we should need complement or supplement due to the impossible circumstances to research. But we can use some tools and follow some “clues” accordingly our dietary consumption to know if they must be incorporated in our diet.
Anyway, as much as possible give always preference for nutrient-dense food sources. Respect strictly yourself, your body. If you have some food sensibility or allergy. Avoid all food and products you already know or have been suspecting to bring some discomfort or symptoms: like lactose, gluten, egg white, peanuts, nuts...
If you are totally sure about it, please avoid it.
Reserve all the rest of the food preparation after a meal, to reinvent another new recipe later. Please: don’t waste food.
To end, I would like to aware: some individuals can present during the infection also some gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, lack of appetite, decreasing or absence of smell/taste perception, and diarrhea. In the presence of these signals and symptoms and more the others knew, another nutritional approach should be taken. But first, the sanitary and medical authorities must be contacted and tests must be made to confirm the infection.
We keep talking. Dr. Suzana Mantovani Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism *Clinical Dietitian - Swiss Public Health *Member of GESKES - Gesellschaft für Klinisch Ernährung in der Schweiz *Member of ESPEN - European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism *Member of SWAN - Swiss Academic Nutritionists *Member of SGE - Schweiz Gesellschaft für Ernährung *Member of NS - Nutrition Society - UK