COVID is an eye-opener for the world. Everyone is talking about the building a healthy immune system & following a proper nutrition plan, but how much are we sticking to this plan? Let’s face a fact, since the last 20 to 30 years, humans have been dealing (rather poorly) with another pandemic – obesity. Our lifestyles have resulted in a large part of society dealing with overweight issues and subsequent health issues.
COVID has locked people in their home. Everyone has to either work from home or not work at all. People have started experimenting with their culinary skill and binge-watching on Netflix/Xyz. The problem begins when we start falling in the trap of eating unhealthy food – let it be unhealthy snacking in front of the TV or cooking unhealthy food like cakes, cheese-loaded or oily dishes. The objective of following a balanced and healthy nutrition plan is … BOOOM .. out of the window.
What is happening around us now, people are overeating and not moving much. Sales of ready to eat food and packaged snack have gone up. Calorie expenditure has gone down, and calorie consumption has gone up, an equation that results in Weight Gain. We are going to suffer more than before COVID started. Once the lockdown is over, everyone is going to get back to their busy routines, where quick and easy food, packaged food and eating out are typical, and stress eating further adds misery to our increasing weight problem. Weight gained during this lockdown is not going to quickly disappear post lockdown and is and will lead to all kind of health problems. Are we ready to fight this?
What can I do to take control of my health?
Don’t get trapped in the downward spiral of weight gain. Take steps – however small – right away. Make changes in your daily routine and eating habits. Changes demand discipline and consistency. Here is a list of things you should follow to take control of your health during COVID and continue it for life.
A) Eat as per your calorie expenditure. We are locked inside our house and are not moving much. Our body energy expenditure has gone down. Hence, feed your body as per the energy requirement. Take control over your food quantity and quality.
B) Take control of your nutrition. This is the perfect time to start a clean eating habit, avoid refined sugar and refined carbs.
C) Add more protein in your diet. There is more protein in our body than any other substance except water. From all the other function, protein helps form antibodies, the necessary components of your immune system, which is very important to protect us from COVID. Protein deficiency can result in low resistance to infection because of the impaired immune system. Add protein in every meal.
D) Stay hydrated. Water plays many vital roles in our body, strengthing our immune system is one of them. Water facilitates the production of lymph. It maintains moisture around eyes, skin and mouth on mucus membrane. This moisture helps to prevent any infectious bacteria from entering our body. The general rule is to drink about 3 litres of water. Consumption depends on the weather and your physical activity. If your activity level is high, you should consume more water. Avoid drinking too much water just before exercise.
E) Add probiotics: The kind of food we have been consuming in today’s world is not gut-friendly. I highly recommend probiotics. We need healthy bacteria for our gut health. Add yoghurt to your meal or take probiotics as powder or capsule form.
F) Add Antioxidant: Vitamin and mineral play a vital role in our body. Antioxidant our bodies fighting agents. A balanced diet is supposed to provide us with all the vitamins and minerals we need. Most of the time, such balance is not possible, therefore it is recommended to consume the most essential vitamins trough powder or capsule to meet the daily requirement. The daily requirement will also change depending on physical activity. In this article, I will limit myself to the most important vitamins – vitamin C 500-1000mg per day, Vitamin D 2000-3000 I.U per day and Vitamin E 400-600 I.U per day (kindly consult your Doctor before taking them).
G) Listen to our grandparents’ wisdom. It is very common in India that when we fall sick or are under any kind of physical stress, our grandparents always have a kitchen remedy/cure for it and it always helps us. I would still recommend to follow them daily. Like ginger honey tea. My favourite concoction is cumin seed, cinnamon, pepper and lime as a shot in the morning to build my immunity.
H) Add exercise to your daily routine. Due to lockdown, we have more time on our hands, even it is is only the time we used to use to get to work. Replace this time with any type of training (remember calorie expenditure) – walking, running, bodyweight exercise, yoga, pilates or dancing. For bodyweight exercise, please make sure you are under someone’s supervision. If you can exercise twice a day, it’s excellent. Example: a morning walk and evening bodyweight exercise/yoga or any other form of exercise. Plan your meals according to your activity level.
I) Manage your sleep and stress: …
To sum up, a robust immune system and good health require a combination of aspects to be taken care of. Addressing only one element – let’s say exercise – does not yield the desired results in the absence of the other elements. In fact, exercising can negatively affect your health if not complemented by, e.g. sufficient hydration and enough sleep. Make sure you address all issues:
Have a balanced diet with protein-rich food.
Ensure 2-3 servings of vegetable and fruits per day.
Exercise Daily.
Stay Hydrated.
Add probiotics to your meal.
Take your vitamins.
Improve your sleep quality.
Work on managing your stress better.
OUR immune system only functions to its best when all the above are in place. If we practise making this our lifestyle, we will always stay healthy, keeping obesity at bay and are ready to better deal with any pandemic.
Disclaimer: all the images have been taken from internet, I hold no rights over them.
HARISH SHETTY 