MARIA: WE ARE JUST DAYS AWAY FROM SPENDING ANOTHER HOLIDAY WITH THE OMICRON VARIANT OF COVID-19. HERE WITH SOME ADVICE IS DR. TODD ELLERIN, CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT SOUTH SHORE HEALTH. GOOD TO SEE YOU. ED: GREAT TO SEE YOU. SITTING AT A TABLE WITH US WILL BE THE OMICRON VARIANT. IT IS NOT NEW, BUT MANY OF ITS MUTATIONS ARE. DO YOU EXPECT THANKSGIVING TO TRIGGER ANOTHER BIG WAVE OF INFECTIONS? DR. ELLERIN: HERE IS THE SET UP. BQ ONE AND 1.1 HAVE REALLY FORCED BA.5 TO FADE INTO THE BACKGROUND. IT SEEMS LIKE A SCARY THING, A NEW VARIANT WITH WINTER COMING BUT HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS AND THERE REALLY IS VERY GOOD NEWS FOR THIS THANKSGIVING. BQ 1.1 HAS ALREADY GONE THROUGH SURGES IN MANY DIFERENT COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND IT HAS NOT LED TO INCREASED HOSPITALIZATIONS, IT HAS NOT LED TO INCREASED DEATH AND IN SOME COUNTRIES IT HAS NOT LED TO A SURGE IN THE NUMBER OF CASES. COUNTING CASES IS TRICKY AS WE ARE DOING SO MUCH RAPID TESTING BUT I THINK THAT WE ARE IN BETTER SHAPE THAN WE HAVE BEEN BEFORE. MARIA: WE LIKE TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS INTERVIEW WITH YOU FOR HOW MANY YEARS NOW? DR. ELLERIN: SOMETIME. MARIA: AND WE WILL KEEP DOING IT UNTIL WE GET THROUGH THIS. WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH SO MANY SURGES SO MANY SHOTS. , BASED ON WHAT YOU’RE SEEING, IS THERE ANYBODY LEFT WHO DOES NOT HAVE SOME KIND OF IMMUNITY FROM COVID? DR. ELLERIN: NOT MANY PEOPLE AT ALL. WE HAVE ZERO PREVALENCE THAT ANTIBODY STUDIES FROM THIS COUNTRY AND IT SHOWS THAT BY THE END OF FEBRUARY THIS PAST YEAR, 60% OF US WERE IN FACT ALREADY. THINK ABOUT IT, EIGHT MONTHS LATER WE HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF VARIANTS THAT ARE EVEN MORE CONTAGIOUS SO THE LIKELIHOOD IS THAT PROBABLY OVER 90% OF US HAVE BEEN INFECTED, SOME OF US ASYMPTOMATIC SO WE DO NOT KNOW IT SO WHEN YOU THINK OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN VACCINATED, THERE ARE PROBABLY VERY FEW PEOPLE WHO EITHER HAVE NOT BEEN VACCINATED OR HAVE NOT BEEN INFECTED. ED: YOU HINTED AT THIS NEXT ONE IN OUR CONVERSATION TODAY BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PATIENT THAT YOU ARE SEEING RIGHT NOW? HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO LAST YEAR AND WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE NUMBERS ESPECIALLY IN THE ICU? DR. ELLERIN: IT IS A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. THE BOTTOM LINE IS I AM NOT GETTING CONSULTED ON THAT MANY SICK PATIENTS IN THE HOSPITAL. THERE ARE TWO PATIENTS IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT. THERE ARE 20 PATIENTS IN THE HOSPITAL WITH COVID. ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF THEM HAVE COME IN FOR COVID. A FEW OF THEM ARE ASYMPTOMATIC AND WE DETECTED THEM ON ADMISSION. THE PATIENTS IN THE UNIT ARE VERY SICK BUT EVEN THEY ARE DOING BETTER NOW. THE PATIENT THAT I SEEING NOW IS IMMUNOCOMPROMISED AND ELDERLY, GOT THE PRIMARY SERIES, WAS BOOSTED BUT HAD NOT BEEN BOOSTED IN OVER HERE. WE STILL WANT TO REINFORCE THAT EVERYONE, VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE COMPROMISED, HAVE COMORBIDITIES OR IF YOU ARE ELDERLY. MARIA: IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN A YEAR SINCE WE’VE SEEN A NEW VARIANT. DO YOU THINK IT’S BECOMING MORE LIKELY THAT OMICRON COULD BE THE LAST? DR. ELLERIN: I THINK WE HAVE TO BE PRETTY OPTIMISTIC TO THINK THAT OMICRON AND COVID-19 HAS REALLY SHOWN US THE LAST OF ITS MAGIC TRICKS. I THINK THERE ARE MORE OUT THERE. THIS IS AN ARE IN A VIRUS. IT MUTATES FOR A LIVING. AS MY ASSISTANT SAID EVEN IN THE UNITED STATES THERE IS A RAINBOW OF SUBVARIANTS SO TO THINK THAT THIS IS THE LAST ONE, I DON’T THINK SO. MARIA: GOOD THAT YOU ARE FEELING OK ABOUT THANKSGIVING. AT LEAST THAT IS SOMETHING POSITIVE. DR. ELLERIN: LET ME END IT BY THIS, 11-18-2020 TWO YEARS AGO, THERE WERE 9000 DEATHS THAT DAY. ONE YEAR AGO, THAT IS STILL TOO MANY. THAT IS GLOBALLY. THINK ABOUT WE ARE DOING SO MUCH BETTER THAN WE DID BEFORE. EACH YEAR WE ARE DOING BETTER. I AM FEELING VERY GOOD ABOUT THIS THANKSGIVING. ED: GREAT TO SEE YOU AND IF WE DO NOT SEE YOU, HAPPY MARIA: BE WELL, DR.. IF YOU HAVE ANY COVID-RELATED
Here’s what doctors say to eat when you have COVID-19
Updated: 10:41 PM CST Nov 21, 2022
There’s a lot of guidance out there on what you should do if you test positive for COVID-19, and odds are you know the drill pretty well by now. You should isolate for at least five days, wear a mask when you need to be around others, and avoid sharing personal household items as much as possible, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Related video above: Doctor on whether Thanksgiving will trigger COVID-19 surgeOne major thing that’s not covered in all the extensive guidance out there? What to eat when you have COVID-19. After all, COVID-19 can come with a host of uncomfortable symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and sore throat — is there anything you can eat to help? While experts say there’s no need to dramatically alter your diet when you have COVID-19, there are a few tweaks that can help you to get through the illness as comfortably as possible. Here’s the deal. How likely is what you eat to influence your illness?It’s important to get this out of the way up front: What you eat is unlikely to speed up the course of your illness or what kind of symptoms you experience. “Right now, there’s no data that show that eating special types of food or taking certain vitamins for COVID-19 like vitamin D, zinc, or vitamin C are going to influence the course of your COVID,” says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) notes that there have been several studies that suggest people with low vitamin D levels are at an increased risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19 than others, the NIH says that “clear evidence that vitamin D supplementation provides protection against infection or improves outcomes in patients with COVID-19 is still lacking.” The NIH notes that there is “insufficient evidence” to suggest that you should or shouldn’t use vitamin D to try to speed up the course of illness when you have COVID-19.The NIH also says that there is “insufficient evidence” to recommend for or against zinc supplementation to treat COVID-19 and recommends against having more than the recommended daily allowance of 11 milligrams daily for men and 8 milligrams daily for women. As for vitamin C, it’s more of the same: The NIH says there is “insufficient evidence” to recommend for or against the use of vitamin C to treat or speed up the course of COVID-19. You may have also heard that fermented foods can boost your immune system. And, while research has found that people who eat fermented foods have a more diverse gut microbiome, which can impact your immune response, it’s also unlikely to help once you’re actually sick, says Richard Watkins, M.D., an infectious disease physician in Akron, Ohio, and a professor of internal medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University.What should you eat when you have COVID-19?It really depends on your symptoms. At baseline, “it is important to eat a normal diet and keep well-hydrated during your illness as fever can be dehydrating,” says Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. It’s not that being well hydrated will help speed up the course of your illness, per se, Russo says, but rather that it will allow your body to function well to fight the illness (and prevent you from dealing with uncomfortable dehydration side effects like dry mouth, fatigue, and dizziness in the process). “COVID-19 inflammation increases metabolism and water loss (especially if fever is present), so keeping well hydrated keeps one ahead of the process and will help prevent dehydration,” Adalja adds.You’ll want to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, along with lean proteins to make sure you’re meeting all of your nutritional needs and keeping your body in good working order, Russo says. Beyond that, though, it really depends on your symptoms. If you’re struggling with gastrointestinal issues, Russo says you could try the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) to see if it helps. But Adalja says that you really should just “eat whatever is tolerable.”Losing your sense of taste and smell can happen, but it’s not as common with the currently circulating strains of COVID-19 as it was in the past. Still, if you happen to lose your sense of taste and smell, Watkins recommends still trying to eat a nutritious diet, even though you may not feel like eating much. “It is important to maintain an adequate diet with enough calories,” he says. You can also throw scent training into the mix in an effort to recover your senses, Russo says. In case you’re not familiar with the practice, scent training involves smelling certain strong scents, like cinnamon and citrus, and imagining what they smell like while you inhale. Studies have found it can help people recover their sense of smell and taste somewhat, but research is ongoing.Should you avoid any foods when you have COVID-19?Again, it’s unlikely that any particular foods will influence the course of your illness, but eating certain foods could make you feel less-than-optimal while your body is fighting off the infection. Fast foods, fried foods, and things that are high in added sugar may simply make you feel crummy on top of already feeling bad from having COVID-19, Russo says. They may even increase inflammation in your body, although the occasional fried food or treat is unlikely to do that in the context of an otherwise healthy diet, says Jessica Cording, R.D., C.D.N., a dietitian and health coach, and author of “The Little Book of Game-Changers.”You’ve probably heard that it’s a good idea to avoid dairy when you have a runny nose and phlegm, but the research on that advice has been mixed. Some older studies have found that dairy doesn’t impact how much mucus volume you create, while more recent research found that going dairy-free may reduce the amount of mucus you produce. That study assigned 108 people who were sick to eat a diet that included or avoided dairy for six days and found that those who went dairy-free reported lower levels of congestion than the other group. It is a good idea, though, to steer clear of alcohol, Russo says, to prevent you from getting dehydrated and contributing to more bodily inflammation. You also don’t want to run the risk of overdoing it and feeling even worse the next day, he says. And, there’s also this to consider, according to Russo: Doctors can’t rule out the possibility that alcohol could impact your body’s ability to fight infection. In fact, the NIH says that alcohol tends to impair your body’s immediate immune response to a virus, “making it easier for an infection to develop.” Ultimately, it’s “better to be safe and give your body every edge to help clear the infection,” Russo said.This article is accurate as of press time. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly evolves and the scientific community’s understanding of the novel coronavirus develops, some of the information may have changed since it was last updated. While we aim to keep all of our stories up to date, please visit online resources provided by the CDC, WHO, and your local public health department to stay informed on the latest news. Always talk to your doctor for professional medical advice.
There’s a lot of guidance out there on what you should do if you test positive for COVID-19, and odds are you know the drill pretty well by now. You should isolate for at least five days, wear a mask when you need to be around others, and avoid sharing personal household items as much as possible, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Related video above: Doctor on whether Thanksgiving will trigger COVID-19 surge
One major thing that’s not covered in all the extensive guidance out there? What to eat when you have COVID-19.
After all, COVID-19 can come with a host of uncomfortable symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and sore throat — is there anything you can eat to help? While experts say there’s no need to dramatically alter your diet when you have COVID-19, there are a few tweaks that can help you to get through the illness as comfortably as possible. Here’s the deal.
How likely is what you eat to influence your illness?
It’s important to get this out of the way up front: What you eat is unlikely to speed up the course of your illness or what kind of symptoms you experience.
“Right now, there’s no data that show that eating special types of food or taking certain vitamins for COVID-19 like vitamin D, zinc, or vitamin C are going to influence the course of your COVID,” says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) notes that there have been several studies that suggest people with low vitamin D levels are at an increased risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19 than others, the NIH says that “clear evidence that vitamin D supplementation provides protection against infection or improves outcomes in patients with COVID-19 is still lacking.” The NIH notes that there is “insufficient evidence” to suggest that you should or shouldn’t use vitamin D to try to speed up the course of illness when you have COVID-19.
The NIH also says that there is “insufficient evidence” to recommend for or against zinc supplementation to treat COVID-19 and recommends against having more than the recommended daily allowance of 11 milligrams daily for men and 8 milligrams daily for women.
As for vitamin C, it’s more of the same: The NIH says there is “insufficient evidence” to recommend for or against the use of vitamin C to treat or speed up the course of COVID-19.
You may have also heard that fermented foods can boost your immune system. And, while research has found that people who eat fermented foods have a more diverse gut microbiome, which can impact your immune response, it’s also unlikely to help once you’re actually sick, says Richard Watkins, M.D., an infectious disease physician in Akron, Ohio, and a professor of internal medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University.
What should you eat when you have COVID-19?
It really depends on your symptoms. At baseline, “it is important to eat a normal diet and keep well-hydrated during your illness as fever can be dehydrating,” says Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
It’s not that being well hydrated will help speed up the course of your illness, per se, Russo says, but rather that it will allow your body to function well to fight the illness (and prevent you from dealing with uncomfortable dehydration side effects like dry mouth, fatigue, and dizziness in the process).
“COVID-19 inflammation increases metabolism and water loss (especially if fever is present), so keeping well hydrated keeps one ahead of the process and will help prevent dehydration,” Adalja adds.
You’ll want to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, along with lean proteins to make sure you’re meeting all of your nutritional needs and keeping your body in good working order, Russo says.
Beyond that, though, it really depends on your symptoms. If you’re struggling with gastrointestinal issues, Russo says you could try the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) to see if it helps. But Adalja says that you really should just “eat whatever is tolerable.”
Losing your sense of taste and smell can happen, but it’s not as common with the currently circulating strains of COVID-19 as it was in the past. Still, if you happen to lose your sense of taste and smell, Watkins recommends still trying to eat a nutritious diet, even though you may not feel like eating much. “It is important to maintain an adequate diet with enough calories,” he says.
You can also throw scent training into the mix in an effort to recover your senses, Russo says. In case you’re not familiar with the practice, scent training involves smelling certain strong scents, like cinnamon and citrus, and imagining what they smell like while you inhale. Studies have found it can help people recover their sense of smell and taste somewhat, but research is ongoing.
Should you avoid any foods when you have COVID-19?
Again, it’s unlikely that any particular foods will influence the course of your illness, but eating certain foods could make you feel less-than-optimal while your body is fighting off the infection.
Fast foods, fried foods, and things that are high in added sugar may simply make you feel crummy on top of already feeling bad from having COVID-19, Russo says. They may even increase inflammation in your body, although the occasional fried food or treat is unlikely to do that in the context of an otherwise healthy diet, says Jessica Cording, R.D., C.D.N., a dietitian and health coach, and author of “The Little Book of Game-Changers.”
You’ve probably heard that it’s a good idea to avoid dairy when you have a runny nose and phlegm, but the research on that advice has been mixed. Some older studies have found that dairy doesn’t impact how much mucus volume you create, while more recent research found that going dairy-free may reduce the amount of mucus you produce. That study assigned 108 people who were sick to eat a diet that included or avoided dairy for six days and found that those who went dairy-free reported lower levels of congestion than the other group.
It is a good idea, though, to steer clear of alcohol, Russo says, to prevent you from getting dehydrated and contributing to more bodily inflammation. You also don’t want to run the risk of overdoing it and feeling even worse the next day, he says.
And, there’s also this to consider, according to Russo: Doctors can’t rule out the possibility that alcohol could impact your body’s ability to fight infection. In fact, the NIH says that alcohol tends to impair your body’s immediate immune response to a virus, “making it easier for an infection to develop.” Ultimately, it’s “better to be safe and give your body every edge to help clear the infection,” Russo said.
This article is accurate as of press time. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly evolves and the scientific community’s understanding of the novel coronavirus develops, some of the information may have changed since it was last updated. While we aim to keep all of our stories up to date, please visit online resources provided by the CDC, WHO, and your local public health department to stay informed on the latest news. Always talk to your doctor for professional medical advice.
