Ideal Diet for Healing Long Covid

For your body to heal properly requires that it has the proper healthy nutrition and a diet focused on anti-inflammatory foods. I also did some Intermittent Fasting at various times during my Long Covid illness, but I was too inconsistent with it to notice if it helped or not. 

The ideal diet can vary a lot depending on your body and blood type. As someone with type “A” blood, a Mediterranean-based diet feels best for me. I also know several people with type “O” blood who gravitate to a red meat diet to feel their best. Trust your body and what it tells you.

While having Long Covid, I found that I was even more sensitive to what I drank and ate and how that made me feel. I kept a journal with a list of foods and beverages that felt okay to consume and ones that aggravated my symptoms. Remember, this may be very different for you.

What improved things:

• Protein shakes with a half-cup of mixed berries and a half-frozen banana
• Leafy green salads with tomatoes, scallions, radishes, avocado,      olive oil and apple cider vinegar
• Salmon, chicken, turkey, other seafood
• Fruits such as apples, raspberries, blackberries, bananas
• Cauliflower, broccoli, and most vegetables

What worsened things:

• Anything with added sugar (sodas, pastries, donuts, etc.) increased      my inflammation and aggravated the Long Covid symptoms
• High carbs, such as breads and pastries
• Any alcohol (wine, beer, mixed cocktails) gave me massive headaches
• Fried foods made me feel worse

A low histamine diet has helped lots of people with Long Covid feel better.
I personally noticed no difference being on a low histamine diet, though I believe that was due to being on the “Deactivate Hyper-Immune Response” part of the protocol, which reduces Mast Cell Activation, thereby lowering or eliminating the histamine and cytokine levels anyway.

Without being on the “Deactivate Hyper-Immune Response” part of the protocol, there are foods that can raise levels of histamine in the body, aggravating Long Covid symptoms for some people. 

However, some of these foods below are beneficial for rebuilding the gut microbiome, which is critical for healing from Long Covid. I strongly recommend that you lower your MCAS symptoms using the protocol so you can resume consuming yogurt, kefir, and kombucha. The foods that can raise levels of histamine are:

• vinegar
• tomato ketchup
• tomatoes
• eggplant
• spinach
• frozen, salted, or canned fish, such as sardines and tuna
• fermented dairy products, such as cheese (especially aged), yogurt,      sour cream, buttermilk, and kefir
• fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut and kimchi
• pickles or pickled veggies
• kombucha
• cured or fermented meats, such as sausages, salami, and fermented      ham
• wine, beer, alcohol, and champagne
• fermented soy products such as tempeh, miso, soy sauce
• fermented grains, such as sourdough bread

While on the protocol and after, I was also taking additional supplements. Here’s what I took.

A special supplement I was taking while on the protocol:

Wolverine (BPC-157 and TB-500) – 3 sprays per day. 

I used Wolverine by Gorilla Healing which is a nasal spray that includes BPC-157 and TB-500, two peptides known to speedup organ healing. I took it for two months in hopes that it would help accelerate the healing of my Covid-related injuries. These can also be bought in pill form at much higher concentrations than Wolverine.
I did not include Wolverine in the protocol because I had no evidence or experience that it actually worked. But it might have helped my organs heal faster.

• BPC-157 (activated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)) science: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8575535/
• TB-500 (thymosin β₄) science:
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8081638/

My everyday supplements I was also taking while on the protocol:
I also use the following supplements and powders on a daily basis:

• Fish Oil capsules (2 capsules per day)
• DHEA (50 mg per day)
• Creatine powder (1 scoop per day)
• Maca Powder (1 tablespoon per day)
• Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides (1 scoop per day)
• Living Silica Collagen Booster (1 tablespoon per day)
• Acetyl-L Carnitine (500 mg per day) https://geni.us/eAJBA
• Boron (3 mg per day) https://geni.us/Qn3Nc
• Amazing Grass Greens Blend Superfood, a single scoop that I add to my daily shake. This Green powder is nutritious but its best to have in addition to living greens, such as romaine, spinach, spring mix, microgreens, raw celery, etc. 

Post Protocol Regimen.
Since I finished the protocol, in addition to the daily supplements, I’ve also been taking the following because I believe that these are possibly helping my body further heal from the injuries caused by Covid:

• Nattokinase, which can also prevents further clotting and protects the heart.
• French Maritime Pine Bark Extract 
• Myovite multi vitamin/multimineral
• NMN (to keep NAD+ levels healthy)
• Pterostilbene (to keep NAD+ levels healthy)
• Alpha-Lipoic Acid, to keep my heart healthy
• Maca Powder
• CoQ10, to help maintain lower oxidation levels

Note: Beta Blockers and antihistamines such as Zyrtec and Pepcid AC are being prescribed by doctors for relieving Long Covid symptoms. While these may help relieve symptoms temporarily, I believe they may worsen Long Covid in the long run by hindering the healing of the gut microbiome.

Also, all antibiotics should be avoided unless it’s a life-threatening infection. Overuse of antibiotics is probably the primary cause of damaged gut microbiomes. In addition, avoid any meat that has been raised or treated with antibiotics as these can affect you as well.

Also, I recommend avoiding drinking tap water from the faucet. Although most tap water that comes out of your faucet has low enough amounts of chlorine and fluoride that it won't seriously affect your gut microbiome, some tap water with higher concentrations of these chemicals that have a noticeable strong smell and/or taste, can damage the gut microbiome resulting in a compromised immune system, which in turn can affect your mental health via gut-brain axis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4367209/