EATING HEALTHILY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

At unsettling times like this Coronavirus pandemic where routines have been thrown into disarray with our health being most paramount and the future being far from certain, there are still a lot of things we can do to protect our health and well-being aside from social distancing and washing our hands with soap and water. One of this is eating healthily. Eating healthily is essential not only for our physical health but also for our psychological well-being as a healthy diet has been shown to not only boost our immunity or reduce the risk of chronic illness such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity etc but also anxiety and depression.

Eating healthily is not about strict limitations, depriving yourself of the food you love or staying unrealistically thin but rather about feeling great, having more energy, improving your health and boosting your immune system. It doesn’t have to be so complicated though there are many conflicting nutrition and dietary advice out there. While some specific food or nutrients might be shown to have some beneficial or detrimental side-effects, what matters most is your overall dietary pattern.
The main idea about a healthy diet is replacing processed food with organic food as much as possible. By using these simple tips, you can cut through the confusion and learn how to create and stick to a tasty, varied, and nutritious diet that is as good for your mind as it is for your body during this lockdown and beyond:

•Balanced Diets: We all need need a balance of protein, carbohydrates, fibers, vitamins and minerals to sustain a healthy body. You don’t need to eliminate a certain class of food but rather select the healthiest sources of that food nutrient. For instance rather than completing eliminating fatty foods you can substitute dangerous trans fats with healthy fats

•Prepare most of your meals yourself: this lockdown gives us little or no choice in this area as most fast food restaurant and are also on break. Instead of grieving about your favourite restaurants being closed down why not embrace your stay at home as a good way of being able to monitor effectively what goes into your food and ultimately your body.

•Read the label: reading the list of ingredients on your food packs helps you to be aware of the amounts of sugars or unhealthy fats present in most processed foods even when the manufacturers claim they are healthy. This would help you to make better food choices when next you go grocery shopping.
• Control emotional eating: We don’t always eat just to satisfy hunger. Many of us turn to food to relieve stress or cope with unpleasant emotions such as sadness, loneliness, or boredom which is typical of social distancing and self isolation. But by engaging in more effective ways to escape boredom, you can limit binge eating and junk foods to the barest minimum.
•Drink plenty of water: it is common to mistake thirst for hunger especially since you are basically at home all day. Hence staying well hydrated might help you to make better food choices. Also water is very essential to the body as it is an essential component of many metabolic reactions.
•Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet: fruits and veggies are low in calories and packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibers. They also help to boost your immunity.
•Plan your food weekly or even monthly: this would help you to better vary your foods and make it balanced.

Now would be a great time to start eating right as the effects of a healthy diet just as that of a reckless diet can last a lifetime. See you next time.

Somi