Understanding gut health symptoms during your COVID-19 recovery

Discover nutritional information and resources to help understand and improve gut health symptoms related to COVID-19

Gut

Gut symptoms

  • Change in taste and smell (anosmia)
  • Reduced or increased appetite
  • Reduced food intake
  • Feeling full
  • Lack of enjoyment of food and eating
  • Dry mouth
  • Swallowing problems (dysphagia) – particularly after intubation in ICU
  • Diarrhoea or any new gastro intestinal symptoms
  • Increased need for specific nutrients and/or fluid when intake may be poor

Resources

The British Dietetic Association Critical Care Specialist groupprovides eating recommendations after critical illness – Nutrition at Home after Critical Illness [PDF], which may include some of the same symptoms.
Information includes:
  • eating a high protein diet
  • eating a balanced diet.
  • The same group also produce the Mindful Eating: Food Fact Sheet
The Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust's guide to Eating well with a small appetite [PDF] provide ideas for:
  • supporting people who have poor appetite
  • information on fortifying foods
  • fortifying meals, snacks and drinks.
The McMillan Community Dietetic Team's Managing taste changes [PDF] offers tips on:
  • managing change of taste
  • explaining why these happen
  • what patients can do
  • giving ideas to add flavour to foods.
The Swansea Bay University Health Board has a Covid and Long Covid recovery – therapy information pack which provides ideas for:
  • eating and drinking well
  • how to increase interest in food.

Contact us

This knowledge hub is constantly being reviewed and updated. We welcome your comments or feedback about it.

Please contact abigail.troncohernandez@plymouth.ac.uk and we will get back to you promptly.