Madonna researcher overcomes COVID, aims to study nutrition in long COVID recovery

Following a year filled with strange symptoms and an endless loop of doctor visits, Virginia Chaidez, Ph.D., RD, finally received a diagnosis in January 2023: she had long COVID.

“I saw all sorts of specialists,” Chaidez, then a tenured Nutrition and Health Sciences Department professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, recalled. “I had to defer my sabbatical and use my medical leave so I could focus on getting better. I was in bad shape.”

Then, by chance, Chaidez bumped into a friend and former colleague who was conducting research at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals’ post-COVID clinic.

 “When she heard all my symptoms, she told me: ‘You are textbook long COVID. You need to come in for an assessment,’” Chaidez said. “I learned all about the post-COVID clinic, and I thought, ‘Hallelujah!’”

For six months, Chaidez met at least once a week with Madonna’s interdisciplinary team, learned various coping strategies, and slowly improved.

“It’s been a blessing to have access to health care, to get the diagnosis, and then being able to jump into the post-COVID clinic so I could recover,” she said. “And for the most part, I’m productive. I’m able to work again. I can get up every day, and I have the energy I need.”

Now, Chaidez is using that energy and her two decades of experience as a community-based researcher and registered dietitian to help other long COVID patients. As the new translational research director of nutrition sciences at Madonna’s Institute of Rehabilitation Science and Engineering, she’s one of the newest members of the multidisciplinary team involved in Madonna’s post-COVID rehabilitation program, where she aims to understand how nutrition can play a role in the recovery of long COVID survivors.

“Certainly, I think of this as a puzzle, and nutrition is one of those pieces that belongs there,” she said. “Nutrition gives you the components you need to heal. Even when you’re perfectly healthy, your body needs fuel—or the macronutrients and micronutrients found in food—to keep running. But if you have COVID or long COVID on top of that, then your body is really kicking it up a notch to respond appropriately with its immune system. But one of the theories is that your immune system isn’t working as it should with COVID.”

Case in point: many long COVID patients at Madonna’s clinic have reported gastrointestinal symptoms. Chaidez noted that recent research has shown COVID-19 can disrupt the gut microbiome, or the community of microbes that live in the gastrointestinal tract, which can negatively affect a person’s overall immune system.

 “There’s less of the good bacteria and more of the not-so-good bacteria,” Chaidez said. “That can lead to inflammation in your gut, which is another complication because this systemic inflammation can play a role in how the brain and other organs all talk to each other. It’s all connected.”

Fortunately, Chaidez says there are certain foods research suggests that you can eat to fight inflammation and boost your immune system.

“There are bioactive compounds in certain foods that work synergistically to give you the best bang for your buck,” Chaidez said. “As much as you can, eat plant-based foods. The closer it comes from the ground or the source, it’s going to be better for you.”

Along with more fruits and vegetables, Chaidez recommended eating whole grains, legumes, nuts and high-quality animal protein, such as fish, poultry and eggs, and using extra-virgin olive oil for fat whenever possible and not contraindicated. For example, for those with limited resources, choose budget-friendly options or buy foods in bulk; and for those with a food allergy or sensitivity, avoid those particular foods while incorporating or trying more plant-based foods that are safe for consumption.

 “Food is a sacred thing, and we need to honor and give thanks for it and all the things we consume,” Chaidez said.