Nutrition Tips For The Stay-Home And Lockdown Period
As more and more people around the world are being forced to stay at home, we are coming to terms with the reality of the Coronavirus and are looking for means to fortify ourselves mentally, physically and career wise. Part of this fortification are exploring good nutrition and dieting, taking courses to up skills and professionalism, connecting and communicating more with family and friends and taking other aspects of our lives that work have put aside more seriously.
Today, we shall be looking at 6 nutrition tips out KOKOFoodies can employ as we go about the day-to-day activities of preparing food and eating. This has become more important because, one certain thing happens when one is home always – one eats more! So, as we will be cooking, baking, frying, grill and what have we, it will be a great idea using the lockdown moment as a chance to effect some changes and explore our nutrition.
Most importantly, good nutrition is crucial for health, particularly in times like this when the immune system need to be up and doing in fighting diseases off. Limited access to fresh foods may compromise opportunities to continue eating a healthy and varied diet and can lead to an increased consumption of highly processed foods but nonetheless, even with few and limited ingredients, one can continue eating a diet that supports good health.
1. Take only what you need: Formerly, when everyone goes out, they many times, take whatever they want and most times don’t need. But for lockdown sake, you have to assess what you have at home and plan your intake. You might feel the need to purchase large amounts of foods, but make sure to consider and utilize what is already in your kitchen, as well as foods with shorter shelf life. This way you can avoid food waste and allow others to access the food they need.
2. Priortize freshness: roads might be locked down but food markets are not, just to ensure that we get the basic necessities things as we need them. So, seize this opportunity to treat yourself and your family to freshness- fresh food. Use fresh ingredients and those that have a shorter life first. In case you may not be able to get fresh ingredients all the time, do well to preserve the ones you have well.
3. Explore: you have the whole time in the world, so explore cooking! Many individuals often do not have the time to prepare home-cooked meals, this is the time… For those who did, this is the time to try out other ways and recipes to cook your favourite delicacy. Take advantage of the wealth of freely available information, and experiment with the ingredients you can access. Treat yourself to home made fruit juices and many more, but remember to keep in mind the principles for healthy eating and food management.
4. Practice safe cooking: although it will forever be required that one practise healthy and hygienic cooking, it has become more prerequisite at this critical Coronavirus time. When preparing food for yourself and family, it is important to follow good food hygiene practices to avoid food contamination and food-borne diseases. Keep your hands, kitchen and utensils clean, separate raw and cooked food, especially raw meat and fresh produce, cook your food thoroughly, keep your food at safe temperatures, either below 5 °C or above 60 °C, use safe water and raw materials. Particularly. at this time, beware of your droplets (when you are coughing, sneezing or having a runny nose) as you cook, you know what that is about.
5. Mind what you make and take: at this time, the most important nutrients your body needs are those which will boost your immune, followed by those that will get you the desired shape, size and specifications you want. So, basically, ensure you take foods that have nutritional values they will add to you. Avoid foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt (heavily processed foods), they are not considered part of a healthy diet as they do not provide any nutritional benefit. See our recommendation on foods that boost the immune system.
Read also: Recipes For Preparing Cotton Seed Soup, The Ondo State Liquid Dish
6. Stay Hydrated: Good hydration is crucial for optimal at this time too. Drinking water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages is a simple way to limit your intake of sugar and excess calories. To enhance its taste, fresh or frozen fruits like berries or slices of citrus fruits may be added, as well as cucumber or herbs such as mint, lavender or rosemary.
