Nutrition in Time of Coronavirus
There are many recommendations of late to maintain a 30 day supply of food in the face of possible lock-down requirements. I’ve heard many befuddled responses to this on social media: ”How can anyone afford 30 days worth of food?” “What if we run out of meat?”, “How can I store all of this food?”
We’ve followed a Whole Food Plant Based diet (WFPBD) for over a year now after my husband was found to be pre-diabetic in 2019 (full story here). We reversed his pre-diabetes within 4 months with a WFPBD.
As maintaining a stockpile of food is becoming a part of responsible "adulting" these days, it struck me how easy and inexpensive it is to maintain a WFPBD (which can reverse many chronic diseases anyway) in a situation in which stocking a month’s worth of food would be necessary.
You don’t need animal protein to be healthy. If fact, cultures that only rarely eat animal protein have much lower rates of cancer and heart disease-the #1 killer of Western civilization-than we do in America.
The human body in fact thrives on a diet composed of only food that grows out of the ground. You can actually maintain superior health quite well on a diet composed of whole grains (purchased in the dry form), and legumes (beans, peas, lentils). If you run out of fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen is just as good as fresh produce from a nutritional point of view. Even if you run out of all fruits and vegetables, your body can recycle nutrients and survive (and most likely recover from many chronic diseases to boot) with only the basics of simple whole grains and legumes, easily storable in a dried form.
Plant milks are available in shelf stable form, but the human body certainly does not require plant milk, cow’s milk or any other animal’s milk, other than mother’s milk for infant mammals. Water is all that is required for human health. But herbal teas are a great way to get health promoting antioxidants and add exotic flavors to your water.
So if you are stockpiling 30 days worth of food, start with simple plant-based basics:
Whole grains: Intact whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, farro, spelt, barley and oats are superior to even whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread. Their very high fiber content promotes health by pulling toxins out of our gut.
Legumes: Canned beans are just as good nutritionally as dried. Optimally, look for BPA-free cans in which the sodium content is roughly equivalent (not 5 times more than) the caloric content per serving. Dried beans cooked at home taste fresher and are another excellent way to store a nutritionally superior food. They are easy to cook in a pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot. You can make nutritious soups out of dried beans and also peas.
Frozen fruits and vegetables (NOT with added sauces).
To learn more about Whole Food Plant Based Nutrition and its role in greatly improving and frequently reversing chronic disease like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol from the comfort of your own home, click here! Live Webinar Classes begin March 31st, 2020 .
Be well,
Stephanie
P.S.
Below are some links about how to make easy grain bowls from easily storable ingredients like whole grains and legumes:
https://www.forksoverknives.com/how-to-make-a-buddha-bowl/#gs.xzy88o
https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/plant-based-diets/recipes/kickstart-kale-and-grains-bowl
https://eatplant-based.com/veggie-bowl/
Role of “pre-biotics” in WFPBD in boosting immunity: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/preventing-the-common-cold-with-probiotics/
