Are You Still Self-Isolating? Must Avoid Sugar, Salt And Excess Oil In Food, Including Meatballs

Illustration (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Clinical nutrition specialist, Maria Ingrid Budiman, sp.GK said that COVID-19 patients, especially those who are self-isolating at home, must avoid foods containing sugar, salt, and oil.

This content has the potential to cause inflammation in the body.

"Everything that contains sugar, either from sweet foods or drinks. It makes the risk of inflammation worse. It is shredded or beef jerky cooked with sugar, the use of sweet soy sauce is also high in sugar", said Dr. Ingrid as quoted by Antara, Jakarta, Friday, July 9.

In addition, patients are required to avoid excessive oil intake obtained from fried foods, soups, meatballs, and even vegetables cooked with the stir-fry process.

"There are soups that have a lot of oil, meatballs are also sometimes added with beef fat, it exacerbates inflammation, fried or fried foods are very high in fat content", said the doctor who graduated from Hasanuddin University Medical Education Program Specialist in Clinical Nutrition.

When people don't have an appetite, they tend to choose dishes with a savory taste. In fact, according to Dr. Ingrid, in a day people should only consume one teaspoon of salt.

"What we have to avoid is actually the sodium content. We can find the salt content in canned fruit because the preservative uses sodium. Baking soda is also high in sodium, even though it's a sweet cake", she said.

During self-isolation, most patients order fast food through delivery services. Not only that, but the patient's colleagues also tend to send food and drinks that can increase appetite.

However, what is often forgotten by patients and also those closest to them is the importance of balanced nutritional needs that must be met. Therefore, COVID-19 patients should cook their own food as much as possible.

"If you order grilled chicken rice, there is less variety. If you buy ready-made vegetables, at least one or two vegetables. Vegetables, fruit, protein must be sufficient", said Ingrid.