The rapid spread of the newly emerged omicron variant has made people more concerned about the covid-19 pandemic. The rising cases around the country and over the globe have become a matter of great concern. Getting affected by the virus can hamper a person’s health to a great extent and hence necessary precautions need to be taken. Not all covid cases are as severe that might require hospitalization and assistive treatment. Doctors often recommend that people with mild symptoms can be treated well by the means of homecare. Providing adequate care to these patients by taking care of their eating habits, liquid intake, medications and exercise can be quite tricky. A genuine concern that people have is that what is the correct way in which they can take care of themselves and their loved ones at home in case of coronavirus.
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To help you out and answer all your covid related concerns, here is a covid-19 home care guide as suggested by Dr. Siddhant Bhagava, Director, jgs fitness centre.
#1. What To Take In Food?
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The food we eat and nutrients we consume have a large impact on our overall health. Covid-19 patients are the ones who need to take some extra care about their nutritional intake. Underating or not providing proper nutrition to your body will delay the process of recovery in the patients. If you are someone who is experiencing a reduced appetite then try consuming 5 small meals throughout the day instead of 3 big ones. Apart from this to keep the nutrition in your body balanced for faster recovery by following these tips-
- Protein- As proteins are the building blocks of the body, a proper protein intake helps a person to recover faster. Make sure that you are at least consuming 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight. As protein deficiency is one of the most common causes of an impaired immune system, taking care of your protein consumption will help you to promote the process of cell regeneration.
- Healthy Fats- Fats are not always bad and are actually important nutrients that our body requires for proper functioning and recovery. Consumption of healthy fats are known to be helpful in better recovery of covid-19 patients as they are rich in anti-inflammatory properties and helps you to heal faster by reducing inflammation in the body
- Antioxidant- Consumption of antioxidant food is known for better recovery of a covid-19 patients. As antioxidants are also known as the free radical scavengers, they help to boost up a person’s immune system by preventing and slowing down the free radical damage. One can consume fruits such as apple, pomegranate, mango, oranges, papaya, musk melon and kiwi.
- Avoid excessive sugar- We understand that you have a sweet tooth and completely avoiding sugar is not a feasible option but cutting it down can be helpful. Consumption of excessive sugar leads to increasing the glucose levels in the blood. This increased blood glucose results in an increased chance of getting affected with bacterial superinfection.
#2. What To Take In Liquids?
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Water is the essence of life and hence maintaining adequate amounts of hydration in the body is important for the proper functioning of various body systems. Hydration is known to be the key to recovery where dehydration tends to lower a person’s recovery rate. One must ensure that they are consuming about 2.5 litres to 4.5 liters of water in a day depending upon their body weight. When it comes to liquids and fluids, it is not just water but other substances as well that a person can consume or avoid for a better recovery-
- Kadha- Homemade kadha is an ancient recipe that has gained a lot of popularity in recent times due to its immunity boosting properties. You can prepare a simple kadha by mixing ingredients such as ginger, lemon, turmeric, clove, cinnamon and fennel seeds with a glass of warm water. Consuming this drink twice a day can help a person to supplement the ongoing treatment.
- Coconut water- A fresh, hydrating and delicious drink that is often recommended to covid patients.Drinking coconut water once in a day can help you to supplement your body with natural electrolytes due to the presence of sodium, manganese and potassium in it.
- Avoid fruit juices- This advice might sound a bit weird but one must always opt for whole fruits instead of fruit juices. The logic behind it is that when you juice out your fruits, you throw away it’s pulp and skin. These parts are highly nutritious and consist of vitamin and fiber content that is good for your health and overall recovery.
- Avoid caffeine- It might be a bit difficult to spend days without your favourite tea or coffee but is important for your recovery from the deadly covid-19 virus. Caffeine rich drinks tend to dehydrate your body very quickly and hence slows down your recovery.
#3. Is Exercising Safe?
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Exercise is an important lifestyle habit that keeps you going and helps to lead you to an active lifestyle. As your body becomes weak due to illness caused by the covid-19 virus and it might not be very feasible to perform heavy exercises. Avoiding heavy workouts and cardios and turning towards some simple and light exercises can actually help you in faster recovery-
- Pranayam- A yoga exercise that focuses all your attention towards your breathing, practicing pranayama such as anulom-vilom is helpful in removing toxins from the body and improving the oxygen supply. Practicing this exercise in the first week for about 10 minutes twice or thrice a day is known to be very helpful.
- Lie on your stomach- A simple way of increasing your oxygen saturation level is to lie on your stomach instead of the back. Doing this from time to time will help you to breathe better and stay healthy.
- Walk- As one is locked up in a room due to the contagious virus infection, taking a walk inside the same room for about 10 minutes, twice a day is helpful.
#4. What Medication To Follow?
A very important part of treatment and recovery, medication is something that one needs to take utmost care about. The above mentioned tips just work as a supplementation to your regular treatment and medication. Avoiding medication or going overboard with it can harm your health and lead to several complications. Here is some of the homecare medication advise as suggested by Dr. Siddhant Bhargava-
- One can take paracetamol, crocin or dolo in case the fever is above 100 degrees. Make sure that you are not consuming them more than 4 times a day.
- Do a betadine gargle with warm water 4 to 5 times a day to cure sore throat.
- Practice steam inhalation twice a day.
- People who are experiencing loose motions can have electral ORS as many times as needed.
#5. Monitoring Is A Must
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Just treating yourself with medication and supplements is not enough. One must keep a proper tab of their health and overall wellness. This can be done through proper monitoring of their body temperature, pulse, oxygen saturation levels and respiratory rate.
- Oxygen saturation- One needs to check their oxygen saturation levels thrice a day and ensure that they are above 95. If this oxygen saturation drops below 93 then one needs to consult a doctor immediately and take proper medical care.
- Temperature and pulse- the pulse rate and temperature of a covid patient also need to be checked thrice a day. This regular tracking can help with any irregularity or change. In case the temperature goes above 102 degrees and pulse rate increases more than 103, one needs to contact the doctor immediately.
- Respiratory rate- To track the respiratory rate, one needs to count the number of times they are breathing in a minute. If this number goes above 24 then it could be a sign of moderate lung involvement that requires immediate medical assistance.
#6. Mental Health
Mental hea;th is something that often tends to get ignored. In case of covid where a patient has to win the battle alone without any physical contact of his/her loved ones, mental health surely gets hampered. In order to protect your mental health and stay positive during these difficult times, one can-
- A person can indulge into meditation with the help of youtube videos or meditation apps.
- Talk to family and friends via calls or by means of social media.
One needs to stop obsessing over a speedy recovery and give your body some time to heal. The best way to recover from this deadly virus is by keeping yourself isolated and taking your medications from time to time by keeping a proper tab of your health.
(This article is based upon a post by Dr. Siddhant Bhagava, Director, jgs fitness centre on his instagram handle)