29/05/2020
One in 20 people with Covid-19 seem to go onto a chronic phase of illness with fatigue and many other symptoms. I have some possible suggestions from Integrative medicine that may be helpful. I’ll try to make this make sense to medical professionals as well, so it may be long.
Firstly, nutrition. Many people are going into the illness already deficient in zinc. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3000993/?from_term=Dreosti+I&from_page=5&from_pos=7 White blood cells need plenty of zinc to make new protein and phagocytose (gobble up) rubbish eg virus particles or other dead cells, so viral illnesses deplete zinc.
Similarly for vitamin C – also needed in extra amounts in viral illnesses and we are often deficient as 96% (of Australians) are not eating enough vegetables (5 serves a day) https://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/CDA852A349B4CEE6CA257F150009FC53/$File/national%20health%20survey%20first%20results,%202014-15.pdf page 36
and 76% of people being admitted to hospital are deficient in vitamin C https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29968401/?from_term=Sharma+Vitamin+C&from_pos=1
Vitamins A and D are also shown to be important for preventing and reducing infections.
It makes sense to supplement all 4 of these nutrients to enable the immune system to get control of viruses. They all work better as a team, although the research is usually done on single nutrients. This recent international review discusses ‘Optimal Nutritional Status for a Well-Functioning Immune System Is an Important Factor to Protect Against Viral Infections’ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32340216/
However, once there are persistent continuing symptoms, with multi organ involvement, it is possible that this will not be enough. Although the virus may persist in many organs, the liver can be quite damaged by the virus and be unable to perform its many cleansing functions or even to maintain an even blood sugar level. This could be contributing to the post viral fatigue and malaise. There are herbs, for example, St Mary’s Thistle (Silybum marianum) that have been shown to have antiviral effects in illnesses such as dengue fever, hepatitis B and C, HIV, influenza. It also has hepatoprotective anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory actions, meaning that it would help restore liver cell function. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31010179/?from_term=silymarin+and+hepatitis&from_pos=3
For the liver to do its job detoxifying the blood, it needs certain nutrients to make the insoluble molecules, soluble so they can be excreted in the urine. These include sulphur-containing amino acids eg taurine and methionine and a very important antioxidant called glutathione. Good nutritional manufacturers will have a liver formula that has many of these nutrients combined. You may need a nutritional doctor or naturopath to help you get hold of a good one.
The other thing you can do to maximise recovery is to eat a rainbow every day! This means the plant anti-oxidants, which are the brightly coloured substances in vegetables and fruit. Red (in apple skin, strawberries, tomatoes and capsicums) and greens, but also orange (in oranges, rockmelon (cantelope), and carrots), and purple (in berries and beetroot), and the ‘white-green’ in the onion family. So, a salad with grated beetroot and carrot and greens as well. But don’t buy one that has been in the shop for 3 days, as those molecules are fragile and are destroyed by sitting around or cooking. They need to be as fresh as possible. Not pasta ‘salads’ please.
We also need protein (meat, fish, chicken and especially eggs) to make enough white blood cells and these foods generally have more zinc, which is also needed for this. The sulphur containing amino acids are mainly in eggs, onions and garlic.
Assessment of the diets of 73 pre-menopausal women completing dietary frequency questionnaires suggests that 11 per cent consume a daily average of less than 7.5 mg of zinc. A further 26 per cent consume less than 10 mg of zinc daily, an amount considered to approximate the average daily requirement...
