How to Take Care of Gut Health During Pandemic

Did you know there have been multiple cases of over-purchasing in the European region as observed by WHO during this pandemic? Panic buying behavior is common and with the pandemic in the scene, there has been a lot of it. It has a direct negative consequence, such as an increase in food prices, overconsumption of food and on a wider aspect, unequal distribution of products. This is why it is extremely important to consider the needs very precisely. The intake is important to assess as most of the time we are staying inside the home.

Digestive issues are very common in today's life. Be it from wrong kind of food intake or from the constant stress and strain that's coming on everyone this pandemic, it is necessary to plan the intake. Individuals who already have helicobacter pylori disease must be even more conscious about what they should eat and what not to avoid further complications that can arise from this sedentary lifestyle.

Carefully choose the ingredients - prioritize fresh products

That many people are cooking because there's no option of eating out, it is important to understand which ingredients to use. Start with the ones that have a shorter shelf life. Fresh products such as fruits, vegetables and the various dairy products must be consumed first as they can perish faster. Frozen fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, can be conveniently used over longer periods of time.

Prepare home-cooked meals

Earlier to Covid-19, many of us did not have the time to prepare food regularly. But now that we have a lot of time even after work, there's more possibility to make recipes which you previously only watched. There are many social media channels that offer healthy and delicious recipes. Take advantage of the online wealth and make your cooking skills a bit edgier. The essentials are available in the market so you can choose the needed ingredients and experiment with the recipe. Apart from revisiting your culinary skills, this also helps to maintain the gut health. People who take supplements such as pylopass regularly should also maintain a balanced and healthy diet, otherwise the gastrointenstinal issues might not get eliminated completely.

Food delivery options

Although home-cooked meals are the first preference, there are options of advanced delivery systems for ingredients and ready meals in many places even during this pandemic. Solutions include “contact-less” options where even the self-quarantine and isolation centers can have food delivered without any human interaction. You can order from such reliable businesses that abide by the strict food hygiene requirements. For food delivery and transportation, the service men are checked of their temperature and sanitized.

Portion sizes

During these times when most of the work are getting done 'sitting' at home, make sure you take care of the food portion. Many gut complications arise because of too much or too less food intake. For instance, even if you are taking junk food in a controlled amount, the risk of helicobacter pylori disease is less compared to those who have too much of it. Limited physical exhaustion with too much food intake is an overwhelming combination and can invite too many risks.

Follow the right food handling practices
 
Food safety is imperative. Any safe food is healthy food. When preparing food, make sure to follow the good food hygiene practices that can help avoid the contamination and food borne diseases. Always keep your hands, utensils and kitchen clean. Make sure to keep the raw and cooked food separately, more so when you there is raw meat and fresh produce. It is better to cook your food thoroughly rather than consuming the half cooked.

Limit your salt and sugar intake

 During this pandemic, there was a crunch in availability of fresh foods. This might continue every now and then which is why it is necessary to rely more on canned, frozen or processed foods. This can lead to the consumption of high levels of salt, more than 5 g of salt per day as recommended by WHO. To avoid such complications, prioritize foods with reduced or no added salt.

Similarly, WHO recommends ideally less than 5% of total energy intake for adults must come from free sugars (which is ideally about 6 teaspoons). So when you have cravings for something sweet, turn to fresh fruits instead of frozen fruits, canned fruits or processed juice. This, by extension also limits total fat intake. Ideally, you should not have more than 10% of the energy source from saturated fat. Moreover, make sure to avoid trans fat as much as possible.

Taking of care of health is of utmost priority these days and should not be ignored in any case. There have been a number of researches that shows how gut health is directly linked with the stress and strain in daily lives. While it might take some time to cure the pandemic, you can start by keeping yourself healthy. Take care of your gut health, and keep up the regular exercise to maintain a healthy physique.