Much of the population is still locked up at home as part of the state of alarm, doing little exercise and neglecting healthy eating.
This sedentary lifestyle poses a high risk to your physical and mental health, and it is necessary to modify these habits from this precise moment.
If you consider that this should not be one of your main concerns, we point out that many diseases, such as diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer or being overweight and obesity, among many others, are caused by poor nutrition. Therefore, we recommend paying special attention to the following tips.
Benefits of eating a good diet
To change your current habits for healthier ones, you need to have in mind, or even written down, the goals you want to achieve. Therefore, keep in mind the benefits of following a proper diet:
- It considerably reduces the chances of suffering from diseases related to a poor diet, also protecting vital organs such as the heart. These are much more common than you might think.
- Noticeable increase in energy for your day to day.
- Some foods improve your brain functions. For example, nuts reduce memory impairment.
- Reduce the blood pressure and stress.
- Fortress here immune system and your bones.
- Improve your digestive system.
These are some of the many benefits resulting from following a diet based on real food, complementing this with physical exercise (within current possibilities), and even activities for the mind such as meditation.
Tips for a healthy diet
Now, these are the main tips you can follow to achieve a healthy diet during this quarantine.
Given the “recommendation” to make the purchase in longer periods of time, you need to plan correctly what foods to buy for your pantry.
Sometimes they have to be acquired ultra-processed considering that they last longer, thus spreading more food in the pantry. However, this is an erroneous statement, and the acquisition of these types of products limits both your diet and its richness.
Choose satisfying foods
Some foods like legumes or nuts they have the ability to satiate, while being healthy.
Another example is oatmeal, foods that you can prepare in the morning for breakfast, since now time is not a problem.
The importance of fruits and vegetables
Daily it is necessary to eat fruits and vegetables, which constitute a high percentage of the foods on which to base our diet.
Non-climacteric fruits such as apples or oranges, and vegetables such as cauliflower, red cabbage, or carrots last longer, so we recommend purchasing these.
Avoid the following foods (ultra-processed)
Although it may seem like a long list of products to avoid, the list of healthy foods that are recommended is much broader, so do not fall into the trap of buying:
- Soft Drinks
- Pastries
- White bread (if you choose whole wheat, do not abuse the quantities)
- Cookies
- Energy drinks
- Sugary dairy
- Refined cereals and bars (pay attention to the “healthy” or “healthy” bars, in many or most cases they are not)
- Commercial pizzas
- Pre-cooked
- Packaged juices (the juice will never be the same as the fruit, since when squeezing it, the food matrix or structure is lost)
- Chips
- Ketchup, mayonnaise, ali oli, or other commercial sauces
- Dietary product
Beware of pecking
Avoid frequently eating meals between meals during quarantine, since your physical activity is reduced, so so do your food needs.
Meat and fish
Buy its frozen or canned forms, which are very perishable. In this way, you avoid going to the purchase frequently during this quarantine.
Plan your pantry
It is a simple task that also will not take you long, although now this is not the main problem. Write down all the foods you need to buy in your next purchase, and remember to write down food such as legumes or others mentioned, little perishable.
Drinking water
Last, and as they say, not least, remember to drink enough water, even if your physical activity is less.
Supplement with physical activity
All these guidelines are fundamental, but so is physical activity and health, and, consequently, mental health. For it you can follow any of the following tips:
- Remember not to sit for more than an hour.
- You can use platforms such as YouTube or social networks to know specific exercises to exercise at home, and without material.
- I change some habits for quarantine, like reading standing up or walking around the house while talking on the phone.
- Cleaning the house or similar tasks help us both to distract ourselves and to increase physical activity.
Follow all the recommendations you consider and remember to stay active, both physically and mentally, during this quarantine, which will soon come to an end.