Tag: corona

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Do I have to take extra vitamin D because of the corona virus situation?

Hello readers, 

your questions answered.

Do I have to take extra vitamin D when I am at home because of the coronavirus?

Now that many people are at home because of the coronavirus, we receive questions about taking extra vitamin D. This would increase the resistance. It is true that vitamin D is important, among other things, for the proper functioning of the immune system. If you eat according to the Wheel of Five and are outside for 15-30 minutes every day, you will get enough vitamin D. This does not apply to young children, women over 50 years of age and men over 70 years of age, people with a dark skin tone, people who do not come out often and pregnant women. They are advised to take extra vitamin D. Do not take in too much vitamin D. This is not necessary and so there is enough available for other people who need it.

What can you do to get enough vitamin D?

Try to be outside for a quarter to half an hour between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM every day, with your face uncovered and hands uncovered. Your body produces vitamin D itself under the influence of sunlight. If you are not allowed to go outside because of the measures surrounding the corona-virus, try sitting in the garden or your balcony. Do you have no outdoor space? Then sit in front of an open window. If that does not work, and you stay inside completely, you can take a vitamin D supplement. Then do not exceed the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 10 micro-grams. If you can go outside again, you can stop taking vitamin D. You can also get vitamin D in part from food. So eat healthy and varied according to the Wheel of Five. Vitamin D is naturally found in fatty fish, such as herring, salmon and mackerel. Meat and eggs also provide vitamin D, but less than oily fish. In the Netherlands, vitamin D is also added to low-fat margarine, margarine and baking and frying products (but not to oil).

Does vitamin D help prevent infections like the corona-virus?

Scientific advisory committees for food within and outside Europe conclude that it has not been sufficiently demonstrated whether (extra) vitamin D reduces the risk of infections. This is because the results so far mainly come from observational research. Cause and effect cannot be demonstrated in this type of investigation. Moreover, studies so far still show too many different results. Whether a vitamin D supplement helps to prevent infections must first be demonstrated in a good systematic manner.

Can I take in too much vitamin D?

The chance of an excess of vitamin D is small. It can only occur as a result of taking too many supplements for a long time. Do not need a supplement, but do you want to take it now because you are not allowed to come outside because of the corona-virus? Look closely at the label and make sure you choose a supplement that contains no more than 100% of the RDI (recommended daily allowance).

Greetings,

Queeny

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How to eat for a good immune system?

Hello readers,

In a time were people are looking for the solution, it is important to stay sober or how the Dutch people say ‘nuchter’. There is no quick fix or solution to beat some diseases. I want to make clear that before you even think I am going to give you the solution, this is a general advice to keep yourself in the best of health. 🙂 It is science based information, but remember every 10 years this information gets adjusted.

How do you ensure a good immune system?
By eating healthy, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly, your immune system remains as high as possible. With good resistance, your body is more resistant to pathogenic bacteria and viruses and you are less likely to get sick. If you do get sick, you will recover faster.
By eating according to Myplate/ de schijf van vijf/ eatwell guide you get all the good substances you need, such as minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, fats and fiber. If you eat healthy and also sleep well and exercise, you ensure optimal resistance.

My advice in short (this is based on the Dutch “De schijf van vijf” chart) also known as 5 categories of Myplate:

  • Eat a lot of fruit and vegetables; daily at least 250 grams of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit.
    In particular, choose whole wheat, such as whole wheat bread.
  • Vary with meat, fish, legumes, nuts, eggs and vegetarian products. I would like to emphasize on vegetarian/vegan meat replacements, don’t forget them!
  • Have enough low-fat and semi-skimmed dairy, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese.
  • Eat a handful of unsalted nuts daily.
  • Drink plenty of fluids, such as tap water, tea and coffee.
  • Use soft or liquid grease and cooking fats, such as oil, low-fat margarine and liquid baking and frying grease.

Extra vitamin C or vitamin pills?
It is not necessary to take extra vitamin C or multivitamins if you have enough food on hand. By eating healthy and varied, you get all the vitamins you need. By taking more vitamins you will not get a higher resistance and an excess of some vitamins can even be harmful.
Too much vitamin C is not harmful, because you’ll pee it out again. However, only take a multivitamin or vitamin C when you have a shortage of food or not any fresh produce on hand. For example, you are at home now and only have oats and peanut butter and for supper only 5 spoons of vegetables and some rice and beans. This is not enough and only then would I recommend to take supplements. prioritize real foods always!

How do you get enough vitamin C?

By eating 2 servings o fruit a day ( think oranges, kiwi’s, berries, strawberries and pineapple preferable. If you have apples and banana’s eat them too of course, but the fruit listed here contain a lot of vitamin C). Next to this you should aim for 250 grams of greens a day. This can be hard for some people, so if you add it to other meals (lunch or as a snack) it is more maintainable. There are no fruits or vegetables that increase your resistance. It is important however to vary.

Hope this helped guys !

Greetings,

Queeny

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How to survive the lock-down when having an eating disorder?

Hello readers,

When having an eating disorder and depending in which state it is, it can be that you feel a bit disconnected from the whole corona situation. You don’t want to stay inside, but you want to move. Either in the gym or the park. When having binges or bulimia, you are maybe questioning if you financially can handle another binge episode and if it’s the right choice to go to the supermarket this time. Maybe even your pessimistic side of wishing yourself dead just came a little bit too near this time…

Having an eating disorder is already a form of lock-down if you ask me. By restricting yourself from social events and certain foods it’s already a big punishment to give yourself. So how do you cope with that dreadful anxiety you feel at the moment?

Keep prepping your meals / or follow your meal plan

If you have a structured routine of prepping your meal for the days or are following a plan from a dietitian, please stick to this! Remember your goal(s). Why did you choose for recovery? And stay realistic; your body still needs food every single day… period.

Do not go into your room and sneaky workout!

I am afraid a lot you all are already do this…  (-_-) Don’t lie to the people who love you and don’t feed into the anxiety you feel. If you want to move, I highly recommend that you move with somebody and make it a 30-45 min workout inside. Don’t go on for hours and hours!

Seek online help!

Depending in which country you are, you can chat online with fellow strugglers. In the Netherlands we have Proud2bme.nl. An online platform were they have a forum or an online chat (from 19:00-21:00) daily. You are not alone, how cliché it may sound.

Keep busy or sit down and listen.

For bingers or people who have bulimia tendencies, it can be very hard to fight the urges. You often get the advice to keep yourself distracted. In this case you can watch a movie at home, read a book, talk to someone (by phone or face-to-face). But sometimes if you want to fight the ED, you can stop and just listen to the chatter from your brain. Sometimes you just gotta sit down hear the bullsh*t your ED is telling you.

Keep setting goals for recovery 

Even in lock-down, you can always keep setting goals for recovery. Try some peanut butter on bread, eat your favorite candy or try to eat with your family.

Ask help with the pantry

If you want to binge badly, ask someone at home to put a lock on the pantry or ask the person to go with you when you are taking something from it.

I hope this helped! I never really wrote about this in the past, but I believe writing about this is vital. Even when it helps just one person <3

Greetings,

Queeny