It’s been a few days since Mr Philips got tested negative for coronavirus, but he is still experiencing excessive weakness, cough and bloating issues.
He was initially very happy to be out of isolation, to be able to get back to his regular routine and catch up with friends and family. But his happiness lasted for a very short time, as his issues were not resolving.
One day, in frustration and panic, he contacted his doctor and asked, “how to improve immunity after COVID recovery?”. The doctor told him that he was experiencing post-COVID symptoms. His doctor advised him to focus on boosting his immunity, for which a proper diet and rest is necessary.
After 1 month of rest, breathing exercises and a balanced diet, Mr Philips was back to his previous healthy and happy self. Mr Philip is just one case among the many people who have had to deal with the effects of the post-COVID syndrome.
Let us take a closer look at what post-COVID syndrome is and how having a strong immunity can help fight off its effects.
Post-COVID syndrome
As the COVID-19 virus infects our body (specially the lungs), the immune system begins to react to the presence of the virus. The alveolar cells in the lungs signal more immune cells to get activated and migrate in order to destroy the infected cells.
Thus, having a well functioning immune system and good immunity is very important to battle coronavirus and post-COVID-19 symptoms. Following an immunity boosting diet for a few more months post-COVID will also help in avoiding further complications.
Recovering from COVID is only half of the battle. The next phase is dealing with post-COVID syndrome. In India, 70% of patients experience persistent symptoms even after being recovered from COVID-19 infection. This is called “Post-COVID Syndrome” or “Long COVID’’ and is due to a “prolonged inflammatory response”.
Did you know?
Research suggests that the COVID-19 vaccine could help improve symptoms of post-COVID syndrome. To know more about the COVID-19 vaccine read, “The effectiveness of coronavirus vaccine”.
To get a personalized treatment on “how to improve immunity after COVID recovery” and to get easy home remedies to increase immunity from a team of medical experts, download the Zyla app and to know more, visit our website- Zyla.in.
Post-COVID symptoms
People usually recover from COVID-19 from 7–14 days, but often people experience symptoms even after recovery from the active infection.
Some common symptoms people face post COVID are:
- Post-COVID weakness
- Cough
- Body pain
- Anxiety, stress and disturbed sleep
- Gastric issues
- Post-COVID fever
- Loss of taste and/or smell
Now that we have some idea of what post-COVID symptoms include, let us look at some complications that post-COVID syndrome can lead to!
Post-COVID complications
1. Diabetes and elevated blood sugar levels
After active COVID-19 infection, some diabetic patients report elevated blood sugar levels.
Furthermore, there are reports of previously non-diabetic individuals reporting elevated blood sugar levels due to side effects of steroids which is one of the key medicines for COVID-19 treatment.
Read more about the relationship between diabetes and COVID-19 in our blog, “Coronavirus and diabetes”.
2. Heart problems
Heart problems like hypertension (high blood pressure), hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol levels), chest pain/ discomfort can worsen post-COVID-19.
3. Respiratory problems
As COVID-19 primarily affects the lungs, breathing difficulties, pneumonia and lung infections can persist in some cases. How to improve immunity after COVID recovery is a question but in such cases, consult your doctor as a chest CT scan may be required.
4. Liver dysfunction
After recovering from COVID-19 people having comorbidities like liver dysfunction can have elevated levels of liver enzymes like high ALT, AST, ALP, bilirubin, albumin. In such patients, liver function tests (LFT’s) help monitor progression.
5. Compromised kidney health
People with comorbidities like chronic disease can have increased creatinine, blood urea nitrogen levels, uric acid level, even people without prior kidney problems can have increased creatinine and low eGFR.
6. Brain health
Multiple lines of evidence suggest that Covid-19 infection could increase the risk of depression, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in people who have had the viral illness. Covid- 19 infection can lead to an increase in blood clots which can result in stroke.
Learn more about post-COVID complications and necessary health steps that must be taken during post-COVID care in our blog, “Why post-COVID care is important?”.
If you’re seeking help during this COVID-19 infection spread, feel free to download the Zyla app or visit our website Zyla.in. Zyla can be your partner and help you go through this tough time.
While the idea of dealing with the effects of the post-COVID syndrome might seem discouraging, we have included a few simple home remedies and lifestyle changes to help boost the immune system and fight the lingering illness.
How to improve immunity after COVID recovery?
To build and boost the immune system and get speedy recovery from post-COVID complications, nutrition and some other factors play a very important role.
Here are some tips and easy home remedies to increase immunity which you need to be consistent with until all your symptoms resolve:
1. Hydration
Fever, diarrhoea, and cough lead to loss of fluid from the body, making it important to maintain hydration. Enough water in the body will help in detoxification, easing digestion, improving brain functioning, body temperature and electrolyte balance.
Therefore, drink 10–12 glasses of water i.e. 2.5–3 litres of water throughout the day to prevent dehydration and other complications.
You can improve hydration through additional fluids intakes like lemon water, coconut water, buttermilk, bael sharbat, sattu sharbat, milk, vegetable or dal soup, soymilk, and ORS.
2. Nutri pills
Nuts and seeds are nutri pills, loaded with immunity-boosting nutrients like zinc, magnesium, iron, selenium, vitamin E, protein, fibre, and omega fatty acids.
Nuts and seeds are also rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties which improve the body’s ability to fight infection and thus, they are one of the best immunity booster foods for kids and adults. They also tend to keep you full for a longer period of time thus, it’s an easy option in case of loss of appetite.
Grab 6–8 almonds (badam), 2–3 walnuts (akhrot), 4–5 raisins (kishmish), 4–5 cashews (kaju), handful peanuts (moongphali), 4–5 pistachios (pista) and 1 tbsp of flax seeds (alsi ke beej), chia seeds, pumpkin seeds (kaddu ke beej), and sunflower seeds (surajmukhi ke beej) each every day to get energy and restore nutrients.
3. Vitamin C dose
Everyone knows that vitamin C is one of the most important vitamins during and post-COVID as it reduces inflammation and boosts activity of immune cells.
It tends to cure a common cold along with improving post-COVID complications like hypertension, other heart diseases, high uric acid levels and reduced memory and thinking skills.
In order to get all these benefits, try to have 2–3 fruits in a day like a watermelon, papaya, lemon, apple, guava, mousami, orange, kiwi, strawberries etc. Also, have 1 amla in any form every day.
4. Soft and easily digestible foods
Due to the COVID-19 infection, our body is weak with weakened digestion so believe it or not but having soft and easily digestible food for breakfast, lunch and dinner is the answer to “how to improve immunity after COVID recovery?”.
Opt for a medium bowl of dal-rice, vegetable daliya, khichdi, vegetable oats, jowar khichdi, vegetable poha, vegetable upma, curd rice, 2 dosas, or 2–3 idli etc.
These meals will provide adequate complex carbohydrates to keep up your energy levels and normal bodily functions.
5. Protein punch
Post-COVID every other person suffers from extreme weakness, weight loss (muscle loss) and body pains. To get protection against these effects and maintain metabolic functions, you need to have a protein-rich diet.
Include milk, buttermilk, curd, paneer, nutri nuggets, tofu, omelette, in your breakfast, lunch and dinner.
In mid meals, have homemade dal soup, kale chane ka pani, paneer ka pani, sattu sharbat, boiled egg whites, soy milk etc
6. Spicy potion
Herbs and spices are rich in antioxidants, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties which makes them immunity booster foods for kids and adults. They help in fighting against respiratory infections, heart diseases and other health problems.
So it is very important to take a potion (kadha) prepared of herbs and spices to boost your immunity and reduce the risk of infections during and after COVID-19.
Boil 4–5 basil (tulsi) leaves, 1-inch ginger (adrak), 1 black peppercorn (kali mirch), 1-inch cinnamon (dalchini) stick, and 1-inch licorice (mulethi) in 1 glass of water for 2–3 minutes, strain and drink 2–3 times a day.
7. Sleep
We often tend to sacrifice our sleep over something else. COVID-19 or not, sleep is and will always remain as important as your 8–9 hours job. The only difference is that one gives you wealth and another gives you health.
Proper sleep of 7–8 hours a day will help fight post-COVID symptoms like diabetes, heart diseases, anxiety and depression, impaired immunity, memory and thinking, muscle loss and fatigue etc.
8. Meditation
You already know that meditation helps in improving your mood and concentration. If you haven’t tried meditation yet, I suggest you start doing it now.
Meditation will help you deal with stress and reduce negative thoughts. It’ll make you have more emotional balance, tolerance and patience thus boosting your memory, focus and creativity.
Meditate daily for at least 15–20 minutes to uplift your mood.
9. Breathing exercises
When you had COVID-19, then you must have heard of/ suggested breathing exercises. You know that it improves lung’s functioning but you need to know it’s other benefits as well like:
- Improves oxygen uptake and lung capacity
- Improves diaphragm’s functioning
- Reduces mucus buildup
- Helps you relax and reduce stress or anxiety
You can perform the following breathing exercises as guided by your physiotherapist:
A. Deep breathing
- Sit or stand in a comfortable position.
- Inhale deeply through the nose, hold for a few seconds and then exhale through your mouth. Repeat this exercise 5 times.
- It will help keep your mind calm and improve lung function.
B. Pursed lip breathing
- Sit or stand in a comfortable position.
- Inhale deeply through the nose, hold for a few seconds and then exhale through your mouth. Repeat this procedure 5 times.
- During this breathing keep your lip in a pursed position.
- It will calm and slow down breathing and relief from shortness of breath.
C. Diaphragmatic breathing
- Lie down on your back with your knees bent.
- Put a pillow under your knees.
- Place one hand on the belly below the rib cage.
- Inhale deeply through a count of three.
- Tighten your stomach and exhale slowly with a count of six through slightly puckered lips.
- It will help to strengthen the diaphragm and improve lung capacity and breathing pattern.
D. Thoracic expansion exercise
- Sit in an upright position on a chair.
- Interlock your hands and move them straight up then take a deep breath. Maintain this position for a few seconds.
- Repeat the exercise for 5 minutes.
- It will improve gaseous exchange and lung capacity.
E. Spirometer
- Place your mouth around the mouthpiece of the spirometer.
- Now inhale thoroughly to lift the balls at top.
- Inhale for as long as you can do it comfortably, do not exert.
- Now remove the mouthpiece and exhale properly.
- Repeat this exercise 3 times.
- It will improve lung function and reduce mucus buildup.
10. Workout
During COVID-19 infection, our body fights off the infection which causes weakness, muscle loss and reduced stamina. Post-COVID-19, this tends to remain the same or have a minor improvement.
Thus, it is suggested that you gradually start with 10–15 minutes of a brisk walk, then after 7–10 days increase the time to 20–30 minutes.
As your body recovers, you can start doing other physical exercises that you like which is just another answer to your question, “how to improve immunity after COVID recovery?”
Proper nutrition can help you to recover fast from COVID-19 and post-COVID complications which will gradually uplift your energy levels and mood. Try to follow the immunity-boosting tips mentioned above during this situation.
Make sure to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day and have a balanced diet containing more protein, iron, zinc, magnesium and vitamin C. Gradually with proper diet, sleep and exercise you will win this battle.
If you know someone battling COVID-19 infection then “How to recover from COVID-19 at home” will be helpful for them and if you’re healthy then stay at home to stay safe and read, “9 Ways to stay healthy at home during Coronavirus pandemic”.
Be regular and consistent with this journey with patience and positivity to win this COVID-19 and post-COVID battle. If you’re dealing with COVID-19 or post-COVID 19 symptoms, do not worry! Zyla can give you the personalized care and treatment that you require.
Zyla has a team of doctors, nutritionists, physiotherapists and psychologists who can help you have a smooth recovery. You can enrol in our COVID home recovery plan or Post COVID healthy recovery plan by visiting our website- Zyla.in or downloading the Zyla app now.
Stay strong! Stay healthy!
Source: https://blog.zyla.in/how-to-improve-immunity-after-covid-recovery-zyla-health-c2fa5e7ebbd6.
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