Covid Positive and Quarantined at Home: Here’s a Complete Diet Plan From A Nutritionist

Covid-19 positive and quarantined at home? You might be wondering what you should eat and avoid. Here is a breakdown of a nutrition therapy! Its simple, easy to prepare, easy to follow.

According to the Health Ministry's revised guidelines issued on April 29, asymptomatic COVID-19 patients and those with mild upper respiratory tract symptoms (and/or fever) without shortness of breath and having oxygen saturation at room air of more than 94% are eligible for home isolation. The Ministry advises such patients to "take rest and drink lot of fluids to maintain adequate hydration and follow respiratory etiquettes at all times." Wondering what you should eat and avoid while quarantining at home? Sports Nutritionist Manisha Mehta has a complete diet plan to help you recover from Covid-19 soon. Have a look -

Early Morning: Swallow a mildly crushed garlic clove with water (it will help you with body inflammation) + Herbal Tea - (Ginger + cinnamon + clove + cardamom + tulsi + mulethi) boiled in water, strain off, and add a few drops of lemon and 1 teaspoon Hamdard joshina or honey. (Do not panic if you don't have all the ingredients, if you miss 1 or 2 it would still be a good drink to soothe your throat and calm your cough).

Breakfast: Vegetable Poha / Vegetable Upma / Besan Halwa (thin consistency) / Besan vegetable cheela ) + homemade Dhaniya Pudina Amla Chutney. This is what I suggest, soft, easy to digest healthy food), If you are a non-vegetarian, feel free to add eggs along with given options in your breakfast.

Mid Morning: Fruits or blend up some fruits with amla & mint leaves in a blender. (Suit your energy level, do not beat yourself up if you don't have the energy to make fancy smoothies at this time, plain fruits will also help you recover. JUST EAT!) If you have access to coconut water, please drink it. If you don't.. Don't worry, you will still get fine if you keep eating healthy overall.

Lunch: Roti / Boiled Rice + Daal + Sabji + Chutney + Dahi / Vegetable Khichdi or Daliya + Dahi. Chutney is there to add the taste AND MICRONUTRIENTS, Curd is there to keep your digestion in check.

Evening Snacks: Repeat the morning herbal tea & have some nuts along. (Bored??? Eat some makhane instead of popcorn.) Feel like having Nachos? Have papad with dhaniya chutney.

Dinner: Roti / Boiled Rice + Daal + Sabji + Chutney + / Vegetable Khichdi or Daliya (have an extra bowl of vegetable, trust me those green things will fix you in no time. Your primary caretaker might be just as tired as you are, repeating the same as lunch is OK.

Bed time: Take a sip of lukewarm water, add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and a pinch of black pepper to it and take a shot.

Guidelines:

• Covid 19 is an inflammatory disorder, that's why you have body pain. Know that it will be over soon. I PROMISE!
• Avoid Meat & milk at this time it will make your digestion difficult.
• Avoid food coming out of a packet as much as you can. No, tea & biscuits is not what a sick person should eat.
• Do something in the day. ANYTHING, this will help you not turn into an owl in the night. It's important to get night sleep (more than you think TRUST ME.)
• Fancy food can wait... rely on homemade chutneys for taste right now.
• Fruits will give you much better-quality sugar than the processed sugar ever will.

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Get well soon!

Manisha Mehta has numerous publications on national and International platforms. She is also an International Speaker and has presented India as the only Nutritionist on the speaker panel at a Toxicology Conference in 2018, Singapore.