What can you eat during covid? The doctor spoke about nutrition during the period of viral diseases

Now is the time to think about strengthening the immune system not only with the help of vitamins, but also with “antiviral” products. Experts suggest what exactly is the time to enter the menu. Cook your favorite dishes! Food can stimulate the immune system and increase the protective functions of the body, emphasizes the hygienist of the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Leninsky District of MINSK, Natalia Chernyavskaya, and therefore recommends forgetting about diets and food restrictions during the illness.
“Even priests dismiss the sick from fasting!” she notes.
The DOCTOR recommends that those who catch a cold cook their favorite dishes - this cheers up. And, of course, follow some simple nutritional rules: portions should be small, food intake should be fractional, and it should be well chopped.
- Vegetable purees, mucous porridges, soups and kissels are considered ideal food for an organism that is occupied by viruses. But it is advisable to exclude spicy, salty and fried foods from the diet. These products irritate the already inflamed mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract. This intensifies swelling. In addition, patients should pay special attention to the nutritional value of products. They should be rich in vitamins and minerals. Replace citrus fruits with rose hips Not every fruit will improve the condition of a person with a cold. For example, citrus fruits, although they contain a lot of vitamin C, which is useful in viral diseases, irritate the mucous membranes. That is why oranges, lemons and grapefruits should not be abused.
- It is better to replace them with kiwi. One such fruit contains a daily dose of vitamin C, almost all the elements of the periodic table and a huge amount of pectin. Bananas should be treated with caution: their pulp almost entirely consists of complex carbohydrates that are difficult to digest. It is undesirable to overload an organism that fights a disease. I temporarily recommend giving up grapes: there is a lot of glucose in its juicy berries, which settles on the walls of the nasopharynx, envelops its mucous membrane. And bacteria are very fond of a sweet environment and multiply rapidly in such conditions. In addition, grapes increase intestinal motility, which is also undesirable.
For those who have been successfully fighting viruses so far, it will not be superfluous to adjust their menu now. The doctor recommends including in it products containing antioxidants: vitamin C - ascorbic acid, vitamins E, D, A, B, trace elements - zinc, selenium, calcium.
- Most of the vitamin C is not at all in citrus fruits, as many people think, but in dried rose hips (1500 mg per 100 g), red bell pepper (250 mg per 100 g), black currant (250 mg per 100 g), cauliflower ( 75 mg per 100 g). Vitamins E and D are found in high-calorie foods such as MEAT, liver, chicken eggs, cow's MILK ., unrefined vegetable oil, seafood, fatty varieties of sea fish, nuts, cereals, mushrooms. There are a lot of B vitamins in the liver, egg yolk, butter, legumes, cereals, nuts, bran bread, the physician lists useful foods. – Sources of zinc: pumpkin and sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, beef liver and beef, eggs, nuts, especially cashews, seafood, spinach. Selenium contains eggs, liver (beef, lamb), kidneys, beef, lard, as well as garlic, sunflower seeds, coconut, pistachios, Brazil nuts, bran. Defrost summer stocks Don't discount summer stocks now. Frozen vegetables and berries almost do not lose their nutritional value, and there are approximately the same amount of useful substances in them as in fresh ones.
- Those who buy such “freezes” need to pay attention to several details. Check by touch that there is no snow or ice in the package, which is formed during the second freezing. If there is, do not take this product. Do not buy frozen vegetables that have stuck together in a single lump. This indicates a violation of the rules for the storage and sale of products, the physician notes.
She reminds: frozen vegetables should be thrown into boiling water and cooked one and a half to two times less time than fresh ones. Approximately 5 - 10 minutes. Otherwise, the vitamins will not reach the body: they will be destroyed or washed out with hot water. Drink more. And yes, temperature matters. In viral infections, it is recommended to consume as much liquid as possible. It moisturizes the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract. In addition, water and fortified drinks wash away the remnants of cells destroyed by the virus and toxic substances that are secreted by viruses and other microorganisms from the mucous membranes and internal organs.
- You need to drink at least 2-2.5 liters per day. Moreover, the temperature of water and drinks should be different depending on what kind of symptoms a person has. If only fever and runny nose, then hot liquids should be preferred. When a cold is complicated by sore throat and sore throat, the temperature of the drink should be lowered. The hot liquid acts like emery on the inflamed throat, removing the superficial layers of the inflamed mucosa.
In addition, with a sore throat, you need to pay attention to the acidity of drinks. They should be alkaline or pH neutral. This is plain water, tea, cocoa, decoctions of medicinal plants or berry nectars. But concentrated cranberry juice and citrus juices are better not to drink yet. In addition, at the time of illness, carbonated drinks should be abandoned. Even the doctor advises the mineral to drink without gas. Add onion and garlic, but put aside fast food - If you have a cold, I advise you to include onion and garlic in the menu. They contain a lot of volatile, which have antibacterial properties. You can also do inhalation of onions and garlic: finely chop them and inhale the vapors. And even better - stir with honey, this will reduce irritation of the mucous membranes. By the way, honey itself is an effective remedy for colds.
Natalia Chernyavskaya advises, at the very first symptoms of viral diseases, to reconsider the diet, to abandon high-carbohydrate foods: sweets, baked goods made from premium FLOUR, fast foods. Now every day the menu should contain fermented milk products without fruit additives and sugar: kefir, fermented baked milk, yogurt. On hot it is better to cook the most dietary. For example, for the second - lean meats or steamed fish, boiled, stewed or baked vegetables.

| Material. | Photo from open Internet sources.

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