Long Covid is sadly a prospect for the many people who have been ill with the virus.
Everybody will experience coronavirus differently, but the NHS says most people will recover in four weeks.
Long Covid is when symptoms of the virus continue or develop weeks after getting infected.
Symptoms of long Covid are wide-ranging, but the main ones include fatigue and the cognitive impairment called brain fog, which means the loss of concentration or memory issues, according to the NHS.
Researcher and leader of the ZOE COVID Study Tim Spector shared easy ways to boost your immunity that may even help to avoid long Covid, The Express reported.
The professor appeared on This Morning on ITV to talk about the role diet plays in coronavirus.
Prof Spector said: "If we can focus on our gut health…gut microbiome is really crucial.
"We know from Covid now that your gut health is crucial for your immune system," he said to presenters Phillip Schofield and Rochelle Humes.
He explained that to improve our immunity, we need to improve our gut health and that is done through a 'high-quality diet'.
"Feeding it the right things and avoiding feeding it bad things, that's what made the difference to getting a long Covid," the professor added.
Eat fermented foods
One thing you can do to improve your gut health is to regularly eat fermented food, according to Prof Spector.
Many might opt for dairy alternatives like yoghurt and cheese, but the expert recommended something else.
He noted: "The other fermented foods that many people don't know about are what I call the four Ks."
These include:
- Kefir (fermented milk)
- Kombucha (fermented tea)
- Kimchi (Korean spicy cabbage)
- Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage)
Prof Spector said: "If you add them, just small shots every day, that really is a powerful enhancer of your microbes.
"And all of these things are going to be cheaper, actually, than taking multivitamins every day of your life."
Vitamins are shown 'not to work'
On the topic of supplements, the professor stressed that getting vitamins and nutrients from food is more important than taking pills.
He explained: "99 per cent were proven not to work…get rid of that, out of the bathroom cabinet, you'll clear a lot of space.
"50 per cent of the British population take these regularly but the vast majority are shown not to work or to be placebos.
"We did a study on this on Covid and we found only tiny effects on women, no effects on men, on a million people.
"People are much better off getting all their vitamins and nutrients by having a diverse diet."
That's where diet and its importance for the gut and immunity steps in.
Eat more plants - and different kinds
Apart from fermented foods, the professor also recommended increasing the amount of various plants in your diet.
"Most things are plants, we think oh gosh, [but] it’s not just kale. It's nuts and seeds, [they] are plants, herbs are plants.
"If you have 30 a week that gives your microbes the optimal health."
He explained that plants are sometimes hidden so you can get creative with it, for example, buying bread with grains or sprinkling some nuts over your yoghurt in the morning.
Prof Spector also warned that ultra-processed foods are linked to suffering from long Covid.
He concluded that a healthy diet may not protect you from catching the virus altogether, but it could have an impact on the severity and whether you develop long Covid.
