With the rapid return of what many would consider ‘normal’ life, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the pandemic had well and truly passed. Thanks in part to the vaccination roll out, a seemingly milder dominant variant and a build-up of natural immunity we can now consider the prospect of living with the virus as we do with many other seasonal illness’ that sweep through the population each year. Still, many will argue that this approach could have been taken from the beginning, yet others stand firmly by the strict measures that were taken to curb the spread. Among many of the considerations that were taken when considering the best course of action throughout was the uncertainty of just how each person would be affected both during and after infection.

Coined ‘long Covid’ it’s estimated that 1 in 5 people who were infected carry some sort of symptom beyond a period of 4 weeks, with many still reporting to have some issue that wasn’t present before infection even years later.

As Covid-19 is a relatively new virus, research around its effects in the long term are still in their infancy, however thanks in part to its unfortunate spread to nearly every populated country in the world, there is a wide range of cases to study.

The vast majority of reported long Covid symptoms include fatigue, breathlessness, headaches, changes to taste and smell and a persisting cough or sore throat. There is also an emergence of evidence that some individuals post infection report a change to their mood and outlook with some describing symptoms that are often linked with depression.

Unfortunately there is no specific, agreed upon treatment for long Covid but fortunately many are reporting that they are able to alleviate their symptoms through a range of sources such as online help, peer support, complementary therapies and formal health care as well as by changing their diet and activity for the better. It may be that in taking a larger and more varied amount of nutrients, gives the body the resources it needs to help repair and recover from the illness at an increased rate. Additional to this exercise that serves to improve the cardiovascular system may be beneficial in aiding recovery and alleviating symptoms such as fatigue and breathlessness.



As with most things, prevention is often better than the cure. It should perhaps be better reported that obesity and metabolic syndrome (diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity), seem to be major multipliers in how severe a person’s symptoms of Covid will be. When we consider that there is growing evidence to suggest that the more severe a person’s symptoms are during infection, the higher the likelihood is that they will suffer with some form of long Covid, it stands to reason that improving our activity and nutritional habits to become a healthier and fitter version of ourselves is a great way to protect ourselves from the increased risk of long Covid.