Self Quarantine Tips For Dealing With The COVID-19

As this disease spreads, certain stronger measures are being taken to ensure that the spread can be contained. Self-quarantine along with closing of businesses have made it essential for people to finally pay special attention to their own health to make it through this time as healthy individuals. 

Good nutrition is a crucial part of good health especially when you want your immune system to be in the best possible shape. There is a certain unavailability of certain products in the market which may lead people to go down the path of junk food which is definitely not on the list of encouraged behavior. 

So, what can you do to ensure you remain your healthiest version when you are in self-quarantine.

Do Not Horde 

This is an important one that is a problem across the country. Over purchasing. Panic buying is always poised to end with negative consequences. The end result can be increased food prices, overconsumption of food and unequal food distribution across the country. Try and buy only what you need and consider others around you as well. 

Assess what you already know and plan your intake accordingly. You might feel like you want to buy a lot of things but stockpiling does not help anyone as it might end up being spoilt. 

Try Your Hand At Cooking 

During regular life, most individuals do not have the time to prepare and eat home-cooked meals. When it comes to the quarantine, you will end up having a lot of time on your hands. Try to make healthy recipes that you should be able to easily find online. You can even experiment to see what you really enjoy. If you really have to order in, try and get them from local stores around you as they are one of the hardest-hit sectors in the market right now.

Practise Food Handling Practices 

Food safety is essential for a healthy diet and food security.  It is important to maintain hygiene especially if you’re preparing food as that is one of the easiest ways to fall sick. Right now is the worst time to fall sick and I’m sure you will agree with me. 

The key principles you should take care of are :

Keep your kitchen, utensils, and hands clean.
Keep the raw and cooked food separately. Especially fresh produce and raw meat. 

Ensure that you cook your food all the way through 

Keep the food you have at safe temperatures, preferably at either below 5° c or above 60° c 

Clean vegetables thoroughly before using them

Limit Your Salt

Fresh foods might become a little tough to come by and in that light one might need to rely more on processed or canned foods. Those foods contain salt as a preservative thus spiking the salt levels to abysmal levels. Prioritize foods that have reduced or low salt if you can. You can even rinse certain canned foods like beans and vegetables to bring the salt and sodium levels down.

Take Care Of Your Sugar Intake 

If you crave something sweet, go for fresh fruit first and then see if you still need something else. You can even try frozen fruits, dried fruits or canned fruit in juice, all of them have a lot less sugar but you still should try and keep the portions small.  IF you still want some dessert try ones that have less sugar. Limiting this amount is important as sugar is as it is not healthy for the system. WHO actually places the ideal amount of sugar intake less than 5% of the total energy intake of the day.

For optimal health, you also need to remain physically active. Also, try and remain indoors as much as possible. If you really need to go for a medical checkup then first try and see a doctor online.