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Cooking a balanced lunch on self-isolation

The right food is now attended not only by experienced zoozhniki. Firstly, because of quarantine and closed catering, people cook themselves. Secondly, perforce, they try to diversify their food - on pasta and fried potatoes alone it would be completely dreary to “isolate” themselves.

How to cook correctly in terms of health benefits, without bothering with the calculation of calories, vitamins and the notorious BJU? This is quite possible and not difficult, assured nutritionist and nutritionist Anna Dugina. Here are some simple specialist tips for readers of WG - Week.

1.Now, because of the epidemic, everyone is fixated on the desire to increase immunity. You can, of course, urgently buy ginger at a hefty price and eat lemons in kilograms. But still you need to be aware: the immune system is maintained and stimulated by the right diet, but not in a "one-time" order, but subject to a constant balanced diet. Therefore, the first advice - change the daily diet in the right direction, if not immediately, gradually, now there is time and opportunity for this. The result will be.

2. In order to maintain immunity on an ongoing basis, it is necessary that the diet contains the recommended amount of macro- and micronutrients. But to calculate the ratio of BZHU every time, the amount of vitamins and minerals is difficult and tedious, especially for non-specialists. Therefore, I propose a simple way: the main principle here is that the products should be very diverse, and the composition of the dish balanced.

3. Let's start with macronutrients. Macro is just the main components of food - proteins, fats and carbohydrates. If we are not bodybuilders, then we do not need to consider the ratio of BZU to a gram. It is quite enough to ensure that all the main groups of products are in the diet in a certain proportion.

So, the protein group is lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, milk and dairy products.

Fats - fatty meat, lard, vegetable oil. Margarine and other trans fats we do not need.

The group of carbohydrates includes all cereal products (bread, pasta, cereals), as well as fruits, vegetables and berries.

And now we make the "right" plate.

For one meal, it should be:

1/4 part - protein (a piece of meat or fish, or eggs, etc.),

1/4 - grain side dish (buckwheat or other cereals, rice, pasta from durum wheat),

1/2 - vegetables - raw or stewed, as well as fruits.

The amount of fat is easy to regulate: if the meat is fat, eat it with raw vegetables and herbs. If the protein portion of the plate is lean, add the stewed vegetables or salad with butter, sour cream.

4. Now about micronutrients: vitamins and minerals. They are found in all products, except refined. Another simple tip: a variety of products will provide us with all the necessary micronutrients.

For example, if you take a side dish - what do we eat most often? Usually - potatoes, pasta, less often buckwheat porridge or boiled rice. About other cereals - barley, corn, millet, pearl barley - we safely forgot. And they are rich in trace elements we need.

5. Everyone has heard that vitamins are the foundation of immunity. Half of our conditional plate should be vegetables, fruits, berries. Providing the full range of vitamins is also simple: you need to try to have vegetables and fruits of all possible colors on the table. Rainbow in the plate.

Red, yellow, orange are rich in carotene (provitamin A), vitamin C - these are citrus fruits, and red bell pepper, and apricots, and carrots, and pumpkin, and apples.

Violet - eggplant, red cabbage, currant, chokeberry, beetroot - this is a large amount of antioxidants, vitamins C, E, F.

Greens - cucumbers, zucchini, green peppers, all kinds of cabbage, all kinds of garden herbs - also vitamins C, E, F and a huge amount of minerals.

Therefore, a maximum of colorful vegetables, fruits and berries every day is a lively and delicious vitamin complex.

6.The following advice is commonplace, but necessary. Want to be healthier - reduce the amount of sugar and salt in food. Sugar can be eaten with a maximum of 25-50 grams per day - these are WHO recommendations. It's about the total - it's all sweet together: both juices and desserts. For salt, the amount is even tougher - 5 grams per day. In order not to cross this border, simply exclude smoked sausages, canned food, chips, salted nuts and fast food. And also salt the already cooked food.

7. Regarding the intake of vitamin-mineral complexes, if you follow the above recommendations - vitamins in most cases will not be needed. But to strengthen immunity in connection with the epidemic, I can recommend a complex - vitamins D, A, E, C, as well as zinc and selenium. But one must be careful and treat vitamin complexes not as a usual “supplement”, but as medicines. Self-medication is not welcome.

8. Drinking regimen is very important. Signs that moisture is not enough - dry skin, bruises under the eyes, constipation. Start drinking more (talking about clean water) - you will feel a change for the better in a few days.

Everyone has heard the notorious 1.5-2 liters of water per day. But serious research, why exactly 1.5 liters, is not. I believe that thirst should be drunk.

For self-control, start drinking a glass of water shortly before meals - 4-5 glasses a day will turn out, this is quite enough.