The 7 evidence-based tips to help keep your immune system healthy with diet during the Corona Virus Pandemic

Are there any foods that I can eat to boost my immune system during this COVID19 Pandemic? What can I do to help keep myself well during the next few weeks of corona virus disruption? And are there any supplements that I should take during this time?

In today’s post I am looking at 7 evidence-based ways how we can use our diet and nutrition can help us keep our immune functioning at it’s best. I’ll also look at some important ways to look after our health if we do fall ill with a cold, flu or the corona virus. And stay around for my top 6 foodie hacks to keep ourselves entertained during this time of social distancing and possible self-isolation

The 7 evidence-based tips to help keep your immune system healthy with diet during the Corona Virus Pandemic

Are there any foods that can help me boost my immune system?

Here are the top 7 tips for keeping our immune system working at its best during the COVID19 pandemic.

Of course, as usual with my posts, if you have been advised personally by a doctor or dietitian to eat a certain way, then continue to follow the advice from your own trusted healthcare professional!

Diet and Corona virus Tip 1: There is no clear diet, food or nutrient that is shown to help prevent or treat the corona virus!

This virus has not been around long enough for us to be able to study how our nutrition can affect this bug. Please get your nutrition information from reputable sources. Anyone claiming to have the one-stop-shop answer is unlikely getting their nutrition information from an evidence-based source! However, this does not mean that you cannot try to strengthen our immune system through the next few tips that we know do play a role in keeping our bodies functioning at their best!

Diet and Corona virus Tip 2: Get plenty of variety into your diet.

Your immune system uses not just one, but a whole host of nutrients to keep your immune system running. These nutrients include Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Zinc, Folate, Iron, Copper and selenium. The best way to help your body to get enough of these is to eat a varied and balanced diet. So this is not the time for you to cut out food groups, or even significantly cut calories to lose weight. You need enough of all the food groups to help you get the full spectrum of all these nutrients. Get plenty of fruits, veg and wholegrain carbs in right now. Get moderate amounts of dairy, meat or plant-based alternatives and eggs. And you should be including a small amount of healthy oils such as olive oil and rapeseed oil. You can trust your balanced diet to provide you with what it needs right now!

Diet and Corona virus Tip 3: Include plenty of fruits and veggies.

More now than ever, it is important to include at least 5, but preferably up to 10, portions of your fruits and vegetables. They truly are nutrient powerhouses, providing us with the majority of those nutrients we discussed earlier! They also give you a whole host of phytonutrients, which are known to benefit your health, but close to impossible to squeeze into supplement. Fibre is also an important nutrient in maintaining a healthy gut. Did you know that large proportion of our immune system starts in our gut? Aim for as many colours and types of fruits and veggies as you can to get the most benefit. And remember, frozen veg and fruit are just as nutritious, and keep well for longer. So it’s a useful staple to have just in case you are unable to leave your home for a while.

Diet and Corona virus Tip 4: You should include enough protein foods in your diet.

While most people easily exceed their protein requirements on a normal day, we find that older adults may struggle to get enough protein at times (1). Protein can be found in many foods, including meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy foods, nuts, beans, lentils and more. It is used to build tissues and cells, including our much-needed immune cells. And so while many of us easily meet our daily protein needs, it is important that you aware that your protein needs increase slightly when you have a bad infection. This means that you may need to pay more close attention to including enough protein if your appetite is poor, or you are in an older age group. The meal that tends to be lowest in protein in Ireland is usually breakfast. So this may be where you can try to increase your protein first. Think about including some dairy (maybe a Greek yoghurt) or eggs or beans at this time!

Diet and Corona virus Tip 5: Stay well hydrated!

Aim to drink enough fluids during this time to keep your body well hydrated. I know our fluid intakes can go down when we are out of our usual routine. Maybe you’re now working from home, or you’re busy minding the kids full-time, or you’re a healthcare worker taking on extra shifts in our hospitals. Keep track of how much fluid you’re drinking. Aim for at least 2-3 liters a day. We usually advise to drink 35mls per kg body weight for those under 65, and 30mls/kg body weight for those over 65years old. But be aware, you will need to drink a little more if you have a fever or high temperature.

Diet and Corona virus Tip 6: Keep up good food safety practices!

The last thing our immune system needs right now is a hit from a tummy bug. Keep up good food safety practices to keep our tummies safe. This includes the all-important hand washing. Also keep a close eye on cross contamination between cooked and uncooked foods. And check dates on items in the fridge and cupboards before using them. I know desperate times call for desperate measures, but don’t risk it with that fluffy opened pot of sauce stored in the back of the fridge for a few weeks… Safefood has some excellent resources on food safety aswell which you can fine here (2). Another thing to remember if you live with other people, including family or housemates – wash all your dishes with hot soapy water to help avoid the spread of the virus from your dishes (3).

Diet and Corona virus Tip 7: Are we recommended to take any nutrition supplements during this time?

For most of us, our diet can provide us with pretty much everything our body needs. However, Vitamin C, Zinc, probiotics and Vitamin D supplements may have a role to play for some people.

Vitamin C

Our daily requirements for Vitamin C are about 40mg a day. If you were eating your 5 fruits and veggies a day, its likely that you will easily get up to 200mg a day already! And its not just citrus fruits like oranges that give us vitamin C! Red peppers for example are some of the best sources of vitamin C. Only ½ a cup of chopped red pepper provides us with almost 100mg of vitamin C (4)! That’s more than double your requirements already!

However, there has been a lot of research into vitamin C supplements and their effect on the chances of catching a cold and the duration and severity of colds. Firstly, there is no clear benefit seen of taking vitamin C supplements every day to prevent a cold, except if you are doing “severe physical exercise” on a regular basis. However, there may be some benefit to taking a vitamin C supplement just when you are starting to have a cold. There is some evidence to say that it might then help to slightly reduce the duration and severity of your cold (5).

Zinc

Zinc supplements also have a large body of research done for them, and it was found that a zinc supplement may shorten the duration of the common cold, however they found that more research needs to be done to see if there are any risks associated with taking a supplement (6). I guess general recommendation again here is to only consider taking a zinc supplement when you have a cold, rather than taking it on a daily basis.

Probiotics

Another supplement group that has shown links to helping keep our immune system well are the probiotics. There is a small amount of evidence to show that taking a probiotic may reduce the incidence and during of respiratory tract infections (7). However, there is more research needed before we can make this a firmer recommendation. Again this highlights that our gut does play a large role in our immune system, and including a good variety and plenty of fruits and veg can also help to keep our gut in good shape.

Vitamin D

And lastly, if you have low vitamin D levels, then a vitamin D supplement may be useful to help keep your immune system healthy. Research shows that vitamin supplements may help protect against respiratory tract infections, especially for people who have very low vitamin D levels (8). As Vitamin D is difficult to find in our diet alone, we mostly rely on our summer sunshine to build up our vitamin D stores. It is possible that your vitamin d levels are lower after winter, so some people may indeed benefit from taking a small vitamin D supplement daily until they can get back into the summer sun!

And what can I do with my diet if I do fall ill with COVID-19, or a cold or flu?

If your appetite is reduced, I would recommend to continue trying to eat variety where possible. If you don’t have an appetite for your 3 big meals a day, consider having three smaller meals and three substantial snacks between your meals to catch up. We call this pattern “little and often”. For your snacks, try to include a bit of carbohydrate such as bread, pasta, rice, crackers, fruit or starchy veg and a portion of protein such as eggs, meat, poultry, dairy foods, beans or nuts. Ideas might be toast and peanut butter, crackers and cheese or pasta salad with eggs.

If your appetite is significantly reduced, then typical “healthy eating” recommendations may have to go on the back burner. You may then need to focus on getting in enough calories and protein to help you fuel your body through the infection using more “nutrient dense” foods. Consider including some high calorie foods more regularly, such as oils, fats and sugars if needed. You may not have an appetite for wholegrain rice and veggie salads, but you may feel more able to get your calories from a slice of apple pie and custard.

And of course, stay hydrated through it all! If you have a fever, you will need to increase your fluids to balance out the fluids you lose from sweating. People often find warmer drinks more comforting but do consider colder drinks also to refresh and cool you. Again, more nutrient-dense drinks may be useful if your appetite is poor, so consider soups, juice, milk, milk shakes and milky teas/coffees if this is the case!

Of course guys, there are plenty of non-food habits that can help keep us feeling well. Getting enough sleep and exercise, minding our mental health, washing our hands and keeping our social distance are all part of it. However, there are people with far more expertise in these areas out there, so do seek out the experts for more info on these.

Now as promised, lets consider some ways that we can help to keep our minds immune to the madness using food! I know there are countless foodies out there, so please do add to this list by commenting down below!

Here are my top foodie things to do while staying at home!

Foodie home fun tip 1: Get your bake on!

Those brown bananas in the back of the press are finally getting to shine in your banana bread! And dig out those cookie cutters at the back of the press for some shortbread shapes.

Foodie home fun tip 2: Bulk cook and freeze.

Why not spend a spare afternoon bulk cooking some meals and freezing them! They may come in handy for a time when you do not feel up for cooking!

Foodie home fun tip 3: Try out some new recipes.

Have a go at cooking a new recipe. Take out those cooking books, or check out one of the millions of recipe websites out there! Or get intuitive with a recipe you know and love. See if you can swap around ingredients, make a veggie version of it, or introduce a new flavor! You can see my recent post on “Intuitive cooking” here for some great ideas!

Foodie home fun tip 4: Prepare and serve a meal in a restaurant-worthy style.

This might be a fun one for the kids. Put them in charge with coming up with a menu (using ingredients in the cupboard), and get them involved in whichever steps of the prep/cooking/serving of the dishes you feel comfortable! If we cannot attend restaurants right now, bring the restaurant into your home!

Foodie home fun tip 5: Refresh your cupboards, fridge and freezer.

Mandatory time at home may be a perfect opportunity to clear our heads by clearing our food storage spaces. Those baking presses, back of fridge shelves and frozen-over freezers may be hiding some real gems, and possibly also some horrors! Fored spring cleaning is definitely on the cards here in my house!

Foodie home fun tip 6: Plant stalks/onions/sprouting potatoes.

Did you know that there are several food scraps that can be replanted or regrown! Most things that come with a root system (for example spring onions and heads of lettuce with roots) can be planted and regrow to an extent? I personally sit my batch of spring onions in a tall glass jar with some water, and rarely have to buy new stalks as they continue producing new fresh green shoots to eat. Another fun activity could be to plant a sprouting onion in a pot with soil – chances are that it may grow into a fresh onion plant, which can have gorgeous white flowers!

Please do comment below with some of your very own foodie fun ideas to do while staying home during this time!

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