A blog about eating out, cooking, travel and fun. The author invests a lot of time and energy in researching and learning about Ayurveda food and cooking and how what we eat affects our bodies, the way we think and the way we tend to react to situations as well. She truly believes that we are what we eat!

The downtime means that many of us are staying at home and doing less in terms of social interactions and exercise. This can have a negative effect on your physical and mental health. 

Below is advice to help you and your family to stay healthy at home during this period of confinement.

Eating healthy:

Eating a healthy diet is very important all the time especially during the downtime. What we eat and drink can affect our body’s ability to prevent, fight and recover from infections and affect our body’s immune system.

Every day, eat a mix of wholegrain like wheat, maize and rice, legumes like lentils and beans, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, with some foods from animal sources (e.g. meat, fish, eggs and milk).

For snacks, choose raw vegetables, fresh fruit, and unsalted nuts. It’s easy to find our which foods are healthiest for your body.

A vast number of foods are both healthy and tasty. By filling your plate with fruits, vegetables, quality protein, and other whole foods, you’ll have meals that are colourful, versatile, and good for you.

Healthy Parenting:

Due to the spread of disease, children are affected by physical distancing and nationwide school closures due to downtime. Identifying and raising a family while keeping your life balanced is an art form.

As part of ongoing collaborations with children’s entertainment and education platforms, show the fun in safe hand hygiene by encouraging children and families to wash their hands in a proper manner to keep them safe.

Maintaining your mental stress and taking care of mental health is a key during this time.

As countries introduce measures to restrict movement as part of efforts to reduce the number of people infected, more and more of us are making huge changes to our daily routines. The new realities of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends and colleagues take time to get used to. Adapting to lifestyle changes such as these, and managing the fear of contracting the virus and worry about people close to us who are particularly vulnerable are challenging for all of us. They can be particularly difficult for people with mental health conditions.

Fortunately, there are lots of things that we can do to look after our own mental health and to help others who may need some extra support and care.

Keep informed. Listen to advice and recommendations from your national and local authorities. 

Have a routine. Keep up with daily routines as far as possible, or make new ones.  

Social media. Use your social media accounts to promote positive and hopeful stories. 

Support health workers. Take opportunities online or through your community to thank your country’s health-care workers and all those working to respond to downtime.