By ÌyanuOlúwa Fágbiyè T.
The pandemic corona virus 2019 (covid-19), is ravaging the world and as a result making families and individuals think of alternatives when it comes to feeding. Obviously, a change in dietary pattern will occur because basic necessities have become scarce in most malls and at the local grocers shop/ markets because of panic-buying. Essentially, vegetables like leafy green, pepper and tomatoes not excluding fruits and herbs are needed at this trying time. Health providers like NHS & NCDC advised that social distancing and personal hygiene (like regular handwashing with soap & water in absence of that alcohol based sanitizers) is the necessary measure to take at this time please, it’s essential you take this seriously not only for yourself but for other people who you come in contact with on a daily.
In no doubt, we all have to take responsibility at this time and adhere strictly to the precautionary measures. Boosting the immune system has been identified to help combat the spread of the virus. How do we boost the immune system? Firstly, by eating a balanced diet. There’s no two way around it, taking in food rich in coding and essential vitamins & minerals. Secondly, taking supplements is another great option to boosting your immune system. Tea can be made from herbs and spices like; ginger root, garlic cloves, cinnamon stick, lemon grass, orange, lime, pineapple skin, lemon, etc. are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants which help to boost the immune system. It’s important you cook food (most importantly animal protein – egg, meat etc.) to perfection at this time.
This comes in line with the food safety precautions of World Health Organization (WHO), which has already issued a precautionary measure and advised on following good hygiene practices during food handling and preparation, such as cooking meat thoroughly to avoid cross contamination between cooked and uncooked foods. As we all know in Africa, Nigeria to be precise, it’s been observed that we over cook most meals (from boiling to frying to steaming in soup\stew and the continuous warming for days) which is absolutely good but only if done in excess food might lose its essential nutrient. Please let’s take all necessary precautions when making meals.
DISCLAIMER!!! In bid to save you from misinformation, no particular food has been said cures corona virus (covid-19), care is needed not to fall for many write ups and conspiracy theories on the internet. All we know is the immune system needs to be boosted to prevent the virus and also taking personal hygiene seriously (washing of hands regularly with soap and water for 20 seconds, use of alcohol based sanitizers when soap and water is not available, social distancing and self-isolate when you feel unwell, avoid touching the nose, eyes or mouth if hands aren’t clean) were the laid down measures by (WHO) to prevent spreading the virus.
Since isolation began, internet has been flooded with many people asking for food combinations that equally go well with each other and basically, ways to improvise. I will be sharing some with you in this article. Let’s begin here, if you runout of foods like: fish – use sardine\geisha, red meat – use chicken (breast), cornedbeef, bacon or sausages can be used instead. Leafy green – If you are cooking egusi or efo riro which is often eaten amongst Nigerians. Instead of using the conventional pumpkin leaf known as Ugu, you can improvise by using kale, spinach, water leaf, bitterleaf or even scent leaf when making your soups. These leafy greens are very rich in vitamin C, antioxidants etc. Smoothie lovers – kale, spinach, avocado, apple, pineapple juice, orange juice, banana and pear will make an incredible green smoothie and act as an immune booster. Note: You don’t need to use all the mentioned fruits in just a smoothie. You can divide into portion e.g: kale + orange juice + apple + avocado or spinach + pineapple juice + banana + pear.
Even as we try improvising, foods like vegetables and fruits are example of foods that can’t be traded for anything they are essential so it is a requirement they can only be improvised with another fruit or vegetable that share similar chemical property. Speaking of herbs, I personally, think it’s easy to improvise this for each other. Curry spice on a normal day contains: cardamon, tumeric, cumin, mustard seed, ginger, chilli pepper, black pepper, cinnamon and coriander should in case you runout of curry, all the mentioned spice can be used in absence of curry powder. In absence of black pepper corns, negro pepper\grains of selim can be used only that its pungent and slightly bitter than the normal black pepper, Onion can be improvised with shallots, onion flower, or even onion powder. Ginger & garlic can be improvise with celery. In absence of thyme, bay leaf can still be used in creating that herby feel in meals. Aniseeds, cloves & star anise can be used interchangeably as well. Pepper soup is also great when talking about boosting the immune system if you runout of pepper soup spice get the native nutmeg, grains of selim, black pepper corn toast in a dry pan, get grains from the selim pod and mill with other toasted spices.
In soups and sauces that require cauliflower, brocolli, lettuce, cabbage or garden eggs these can be used interchangeably. Starchy foods like yam, cocoyam, potato can be used as improvise when one is out of stock. Plant protein can stand in for animal protein; in the case of cow milk: soy milk, coconut milk, tigernut milk can be used. Sweetners like sugar can be improvised with honey or jaggery. For rice dishes- pasta, noodles, couscous can be used instead of rice take for instance, jollof rice: jollof pasta, noodles or even couscous can be made only note that, the rate at which each of these produce need moisture differ. In countries, where pancakes are predominately eaten, in absence of all-purpose flour, wheat flour, plantain flour, can be used. For sauces that are usually imported, fermented locust beans (iru, dawadawa…) can be used in place of soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce for that umami feel when cooking.
All the mentioned foods are rich in vitamin A, B, C, D, K & micro and macro nutrients (minerals). Health they say is wealth take good care of your body, eat well to fight covid-19 and follow the precautionary measures.
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