Should people with Covid-19 abstain from drinking coffee?

I have had Covid-19 for 4 days. Before, I had a habit of drinking coffee every morning in the morning. Can I drink coffee while I have Covid-19?

Readers Le Hung (Hanoi)

Many Vietnamese people have the habit of drinking coffee every day to maintain alertness. Caffeine is a stimulant, bitter, naturally occurring in more than 60 plants, including coffee beans, tea leaves, and cocoa pods (used to make chocolate). They work by stimulating the brain and central nervous system, keeping people awake and preventing fatigue.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers caffeine to be both a food additive and a drug. There have been many studies showing that drinking coffee has many good effects on health such as diuretic, antioxidant, reducing inflammation, preventing chronic diseases, including obesity.

Photo: Eatthis

For a long time, many Vietnamese people have the habit of drinking coffee every day, especially with a strong taste (high caffeine content). On average, a cup of coffee contains about 95mg of caffeine. However, if you drink more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, coffee can cause some adverse health effects such as difficulty sleeping, insomnia, intestinal alcohol, nervousness, anxiety, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, etc.

So should Covid-19 patients drink coffee? According to the Ministry of Health’s Guidelines for caring for people infected with Covid-19 at home, a good diet combined with treatment helps prevent, support and overcome the infection, contributing to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. -19, while contributing to saving costs and resources for the health care system as well as for individuals and patients’ families.

People with Covid-19 often lose water and some electrolytes such as sodium and potassium due to fever, pneumonia and infection, so increasing water intake to compensate for lost water helps the body recover very quickly. necessary, needs. It is necessary to drink a lot of water with the amount of 40-45ml/kg body weight/day, for example a 50kg person needs to drink about 2.5 liters of water a day. Because coffee is a diuretic, it increases water excretion, so Covid-19 patients should not drink it. Should drink warm water and several times a day, avoid drinking only when you feel thirsty. Patients can drink filtered water or fruit juice.

In addition, when infected with Covid-19, the general psychology of most patients is very anxious, stressed with symptoms of fatigue, difficulty sleeping, insomnia… Drinking caffeine-containing beverages causes nerve stimulation such as: Coffee is not good for health. In addition, coffee also causes an increase in heart rate, which is not good for patients with underlying diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.

In particular, in case people with Covid-19 have symptoms of high fever, diarrhea, nausea, etc., they should not drink coffee to prevent dehydration. The best way to strengthen your body is to eat nutritious food, drink warm water, if you have a fever, you should drink a lot of water and drink oresol solution to rehydrate and electrolytes.

BS. Dang Xuan Thang (University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Duy Tan University of Danang)