Covid Patient Diet Chart: We are all aware of the importance of a well-balanced diet to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The current covid-19 pandemic situation has put our lives at great risk. According to WHO (World Health Organisation) maintaining our physical well-being should be a priority in these trying times. Proper nutrition and hydration are two crucial things to maintain the healthy overall well-being of a person. They say that people who eat a well-balanced diet tend to have a stronger immune system. This also reduces the risks of chronic illnesses and other infectious diseases.
WHO has advised people to eat fresh vegetables, mostly the unprocessed ones to get an adequate amount of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibres, protein, and anti-oxidants. With that, it is also very important to keep a check on our mental well-being. The deaths and despair all around can start acting upon our minds and make us fall prey to various other mental illnesses and make the situation worse for people already dealing with serious disorders.
Diet If Recovering from COVID-19
Here are a few food-related DOs and DON'Ts recommended by WHO in our fight against COVID
What to DO to Fight Against COVID:
At this pandemic moment, everyone should follow given below food or fruit-diet to make you healthy...
1. Eat at least two cups of 2 cups of fruit (4 servings), 2.5 cups of vegetables (5 servings), 180 g of grains, and 160 g of meat and beans (red meat can be eaten 1−2 times per week, and poultry 2−3 times per week).
2. Drink 8–10 cups of water every day. Eating fruits (watermelon) and vegetables (different types of gourds) that contain water, lemon juice (diluted in water and unsweetened) would also help.
3. For snacks, opt for fruits, vegetables, nuts and raisins, or dark chocolate of home-made cakes, cookies, sweets, or namkeens. But these have to be light on the tummy and easily digestible while you are down with COVID or recovering
4. Eat dark chocolate as it is mood uplifting. While in isolation, depression is normal and common
5. Opt for unsaturated fats which are found in fish, avocados, nuts (almonds, walnuts) olive oil, sunflower, corn oil, mustard oil
6. Stick to home cooked fresh food. Eat a lot of vegetables, dal, soya lobia, chicken, eggs and fish, nuts, whole grains (oats, brown rice, potato, yam), freshly made cottage cheese (paneer), rajma (kidney beans) should be part of your diet
7. Eat hot, freshly cooked food and beverages
8. Take only iodized salt and limit daily salt intake to less than 5 grams, which is one teaspoon daily.
Don't Take If Fighting Against COVID:
The following are the food, diet which everyone should avoid...
1. Say NO to outside food. Though dine-ins have been prohibited, home deliveries through online orders are still allowed. Stay away from outside food.
2. Avoid cookies, cakes, and chocolates. Carbonated drinks, processed fruit juices, and other sweet and flavoured drinks contain large amounts of sugar which are extremely harmful to the body.
3. Avoid processed meat or any food item, frozen meat, sausages or any other frozen food
4. Trans fat found in industrially produced food items (frozen pizza, fried food, pies, cookies, etc) is also to be avoided.
5. Do Not eat leftover food or food left in the fridge. Eating fresh, easily digestible food it important and key to fighting COVID virus
While taking of your body, do not forget to take care of your mental health. Seeking help for your mental well-being is never a shame or ever will be. Times like these are very challenging and directly or indirectly affect our mental health. Proper nutrition and hydration are not just enough to lead a healthy life. People dealing with mental health problems and disorders will need assistance if tested positive or after recovering from COVID. One should seek medical help from trained health care professionals if they face difficulty dealing with things happening around them.