So here are some examples:

• Carrot tops
• Beat leaves
• Cauliflower stalks
• Broccoli stems
• Leek green part
• Fruit peels
• Citrus fruit peels
• Potato and sweet potato skins
• Kiwifruit skin
• Celery leaves
• Herb stems
• Stems from kale and chard

You may ask how on Earth I can eat it?

Please note that some parts are not necessarily tasty. But it also depends on your palate. The best way to incorporate them into your diet is to use them alongside the normal meals you eat.

Having smoothie for breakfast? Use kiwi with a little bit skin on.

Preparing shredded cabbage for salad? Shred the stem as well.

Got fresh carrots with green tops? Prepare the pesto.

Just juiced carrots? Make carrot cake from fibrous rests.

Don’t have time to peel potatoes? Cook or roast potatoes together with skin.

Using leek for your dish? Use all of it including the green part.

Cooking with beets? Beets leaves can be used as an add on to soup or instead of spinach.

Eating watermelon? Scoop extra 2 cm of white flesh.

Steaming cauliflower or broccoli? Cut stems in slices and steam them together, when tender, add olive oil, salt and pepper to have a snack.

If deciding to use fruits peels e.g. apples, which are not organic, you may consider soaking them in water with baking soda or washing them with Castillo soap.

When you peel citrus fruits like oranges or grapefruits do not remove all the white part which is just under the skin (yes, the bitter one!)

Do not throw away something just because it is chewy, hard or you have not eaten it before! The parts that are more fibrous maybe be happily digested by your gut bacteria.

To sum up, the general rules for parts harder to eat:

• blend it
• cut it into fine slices
• mix it with something you would normally eat
• cook it
• chew it for longer! especially if you are a fast eater

And as always be open-minded and creative!

The post How to become more self-sustainable in small steps. Part 2. appeared first on Convalia.

Thinking about the environment, reducing waste and living a more environmentally-friendly life may feel overwhelming at first glance. But becoming more sustainable does not require having your own farm (if you already have it, lucky you!). You can start with small steps where you are right now. The only thing you need is a little bit of creativity, not being afraid of failure and a little bit of space.

Regrowing vegetables

I want to share the idea of regrowing vegetables and herbs at home which I came across some time ago. It inspired me to think about the small steps we can take in any circumstances which will build our independence (or at least less dependence). This is not only environment-friendly but also helps our budget and gives the opportunity to create new things.

Regardless of the reason behind regrowing vegetables, it may be one of these small tricks you will fall in love with. It will bring you a lot of joy watching the new life emerging from the piece of plant that you would not normally use and would be wasted.

Tips

• It is important to know which part of the plant can regrow (stem, leaves, roots)
• Ideally, choose organic options and make sure that you use fresh and healthy vegetables
• Change water at least once a day.
• Overall it is quite easy, satisfying process, where you only need a jar and/or pot with soil.

Which vegetables to choose?

If you are a beginner, I would suggest starting with those easier options.

Lettuce, Bok Choy and Celery

Cut it few centimetres above the base and place it in the jar with water. When you notice small roots start to form you can plant it in the soil. It will be a delicious add-on to your usual salads or home-made Chinese stir-fry.

Scallions and leek

Similarly, cut off the green part (few centimetres above the roots) and use it for cooking while placing the white part into a jar with water. If your leek or scallions already have some roots you can place them in a pot with soil and water generously.

Carrots, beetroot

For the root vegetables cut the top of the vegetable and place it in the water. Change water frequently. Although you will not regrow the whole vegetable this way, you will benefit from the fresh leaves. You can use beetroot leaves for soups and salads and you can make a delicious pesto from the carrot tops!

Herbs

To regrow herbs (e.g. basil, mint, thyme) choose the healthy new growth stem. Use a clean knife and then cut it around 10 centimetres below. Remove the leaves (except the top ones) and place in the jar with water until roots start to grow. Then simply plant in the pot with soil.

Hope you enjoyed this idea. It reduces waste and at the same time gives us an opportunity to watch the new life forming while we take care of it. Quite satisfying!

The post How to become more self-sustainable in small steps. Part 1. appeared first on Convalia.

Sleep

Everyone knows that sufficient sleep is important for our health. So why are many of us not getting enough sleep? Living in our busy schedules we often prioritise other things over sleep, and may even feel that we waste precious time when we sleep. However, science tells us a different story. While we sleep our body has the opportunity to regenerate and rejuvenate different body systems including our immune system. There is a link between shorter sleep duration and increased risk of infectious illness which means that not getting enough sleep may impact your body’s ability to fight off infections.

So how to make sure we get a good quality sleep?

• take care of your bedroom environment (it should be dark, cool and peaceful)

• relaxation practices prior to going to bed (meditation, gentle stretching, reading book, hot bath)
• no coffee after 2 p.m. and no heavy meals or alcohol before going to bed

Another important factor is the fact that at dark our body produces the sleep hormone (melatonin) which has been claimed to be the most potent antioxidant! It also reduced excessive inflammation and supports antiviral immunity. The best way to support melatonin production is anything that will support your day-night cycle (circadian rhythm):

• consistent sleep schedule (including weekends)

• avoid blue-light exposure in the evening (you may consider buying blue-light blocking glasses to make your life easier), blue-light is the strongest inhibitor of melatonin production

• expose yourself to sunlight, especially in the morning (eat your breakfast close to the window or go for a walk), make sure your body knows that it is a day time! In addition, since March/ April we are able to produce immune-boosting vitamin D when exposing ourselves to the sun, however, do to overdo it!

• cherry juice contains low levels of melatonin (maybe you can swap your evening glass of wine for it?)

Stress

Stress is not good for us, everyone knows that. While we are quite well equipped to deal with the short term acute stress, our body is not handling modern ‘tigers’ chasing us in forms of do-to-lists, endless job and personal commitments and now the uncertain global situation. At the moment, it is more important than ever to have the stress transforming practices. We all know somebody who has been under prolonged stress and was constantly catching different infections which lasted forever. This is partially due to the detrimental effect of the stress (physical or psychological) on our immune cells. While the short term stress can enhance our immune response (think of stepping on a nail, we need a good immune response to fight potential infection!), long-term worry and distress decrease our ability to fight infections. We may not be able to eliminate all the ‘stressors’ from our lives, including the current pandemic, but we may be able to change our response to stress by:

• practising meditation, start with 2 min a day and build it up! Studies showed that people practising meditation are more resilient to viruses.

• if initially, you find it difficult to meditate, try deep breathing, try to practice it on regular bases, you can try different techniques such as 7-4-8 breathing.

• you may also try other techniques to activate your vagus nerve which is a part of your ‘rest, digest and repair’ nervous system such as gargling with water, singing your favourite song out loud or humming.

• and remember, this is all individual, choose what suits you and relaxes you (maybe except video games or Netflix binge-watching!)

Exercise

We all know that we should exercise. It is good for our cardiovascular system, metabolism, bones and hormones. But did you know that it may also help us to boost the immune system and lower inflammation? It also lowers cortisol (stress hormone), promotes better sleep and increases endorphin production (‘joy’ hormone) which will indirectly contribute to better immune response and makes your lungs healthier by increasing lung capacity and creating new blood vessels.

However, it is so important to notice that the benefits of exercise follow the ‘Bell curve’ which means that we have the biggest advantage from balanced exercise routine (not too much not to little).

While some people love going to the gym, some of us struggle to walk upstairs without getting breathless. That is why it is so important to individualise the exercise based on individual capacity. If you are exhausted next day following exercise probably you have ‘over’ exercised your body needs to regenerate. It is well established now, that regular moderate exercise routine is better for us than to be a ‘weekend warrior’. So how we can implement exercise while spending time at home:

• if you work from home think about standing desk (can be DIY!) or you may choose to switch your chair for an exercise ball

• instead of snacking on biscuits, practice ‘exercise snacking’, do some squats or push-ups every 2h, lay on the mat to stretch your back or do some yoga poses

• be creative, cooking, cleaning, gardening, organising things it all counts as exercise!

• do some exercise before meals, exercising before meals will improve your insulin sensitivity which means you will be able to respond to your meal in a healthier way!

• exercise does one more amazing thing, it mobilises and moves the lymph through the body. If you ever heard about the lymphatic system you will know that it plays a significant role in fighting infections and detoxifying our body; so practice any kind of movements, drink enough fluids, practice deep belly breathing or if you are brave enough try dry body brushing

• overall be gentle, do not overexercise and be careful not to sustain any injuries

I hope you found this post useful and there was some new information here!

Try to find what suits you, also consider activities that combine more than one beneficial effect like gardening (exercise, vitamin D production, stress reduction and exposure to soil microbes!), massage before bedtime (stress reduction, better sleep, and building a better relationship), or online yoga class (exercise, sense of community, stress reduction). And while you are spending more time at home remember to open windows as the air inside the house is more toxic than outdoor air.

It may be the perfect time to establish some new self-care rituals and then carry them with you when all of this is over!

If you have any tips that worked for you please leave a comment!

References

Barrett B, Hayney MS, Muller D, et al. Meditation or exercise for preventing acute respiratory infection (MEPARI-2): A randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2018;13(6):e0197778.

Francois, M.E., Baldi, J.C., Manning, P.J. et al. ‘Exercise snacks’ before meals: a novel strategy to improve glycaemic control in individuals with insulin resistance. Diabetologia. 2014; 57, 1437–1445.

Silvestri M, Rossi GA. Melatonin: its possible role in the management of viral infections–a brief review. Ital J Pediatr. 2013;39:61.

Terra, Rodrigo, Silva, Sílvia Amaral Gonçalves da, Pinto, Verônica Salerno, & Dutra, Patrícia Maria Lourenço. Effect of exercise on immune system: response, adaptation and cell signaling. Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte, 2012;18(3), 208-214.

The post Indoors lifestyle – a guide to staying healthy and supporting your immune system during COVID-19 pandemic. appeared first on Convalia.

COVID-19 is the name of the disease caused by the virus called SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2), commonly known just as Coronavirus.
At the moment different ways of treatment are being tested worldwide, such as intravenous vitamin C, vaccines or hydroxychloroquine. The challenge is that we do not have good medical ‘weapons’ to fight viruses, even the common ones, and we can see they are highly contagious. That is why it is so important to avoid infection (isolation) while working on balancing our immune system and making our body a less welcoming place for viral infections.

Immune System

To simplify, the immune system can be divided into two categories, innate immune system which is the first-line defence against pathogens and adaptive immune system, the one that ‘remembers’ microbes it met in the past.

Because our immune systems have never encountered SARS-CoV-2 in the past, our body’s response can be slower and may need additional support.

Gut Health

In addition to the immune cells circulating in our blood, there are immune cells in our liver and even brain. However, 70%-80% of the immune system is localised in the gut. That is why it so important to support our gut health at this time. Immune system cells in the gut lining communicate with bacteria and other habitants of our intestines called microbiota. I am sure by now you have heard about how the beneficial and potentially non-beneficial bacteria and that the imbalance between them can be linked to multiple diseases. So how can we support our little friends that work so hard for us?

You can consider gut-healing foods such as bone broth. Try probiotic supplements or foods containing beneficial bacteria such as kombucha, fermented vegetables, kimchi, sauerkraut, non-dairy yoghurt, and if you do not have problems with dairy or soy, kefir, plain yoghurt, aged cheese, miso, tempeh. I fully understand that now it may be more difficult to get a hold of them, but some, like fermented vegetables, are easy to prepare at home.

Even more importantly you can also consider adding some ‘food’ for your good bacteria – these are called prebiotics and are some of our favourites such as asparagus, banana, eggplant, garlic, honey, artichokes, leeks, legumes, onions. If you have a tendency to become bloated easily you may wish to start with small amounts, and remember to soak overnight and ideally cook for a long time any legumes or beans.

Nutrients

So this strategy may help long-term with a healthy balance of immune system, however, is there anything you can do right now to optimise your immune system? There are certain foods and nutrients which may help you to ensure a more balanced immune response.

B vitamins – they are important for optimal immune system function, especially vitamin B6. Good sources of vitamin B6 include turkey breast, grass-fed beef, avocado, pistachios, chicken, sesame and sunflower seeds. And remember that vitamins B works the best if taken together!

Iron – adequate iron levels are important in protection from pathogens, however, supplementation is not indicated during active infection. Good sources include good quality red meat or leafy greens

Vitamin C – it cannot be produced by the human body, it decreases the oxidative stress, and it may help prevent lower respiratory tract infections. Good sources include kiwi, peppers, citrus fruits.

Zinc – one of the most important nutrients when considering immune support, enhances immune cells activity, and it may inhibit viral replication. Good sources include seafood, meat, nuts and seeds, lentils.

Selenium – deficiency of this nutrient predisposes to oxidative stress, which enables viruses to have a worse effect on the body. Good sources include Brazil nuts.

Vitamin D * – modulates the inflammation in our body, enhances the natural immune response against various infections, helps with the maturation of immune cells. Ideally, we should get enough sun exposure to produce vitamin D in our skin. Some food sources include fatty fish, liver, egg yolks.

Vitamin A * – known for its antiviral properties, supports all aspect of the immune system. Good sources include liver, egg yolks, as beta- carotene form: sweet potato, leafy greens, butternut squash. Avoid if pregnant or have a history of liver disease.

Omega 3 – they influence immune cells function. Good sources include fatty fish such as mackerel, salmon, anchovy, sardines, herring and a certain type of algae.

And overall please remember that although it may be difficult to get a hold of some foods right now, it is fine, we do not aim for perfection. These are just some suggestions. And in the current situation, in supermarkets we notice the lack of packaged food but not vegetables!

Please think about this challenging time as an opportunity to spend time with your family, and maybe cooking together will be one of those things that will decrease stress and bring your family together. Preparing fermented vegetables or bone broth together with family members may be an excellent way to support your gut, immune system and even mental health!

And before you open your box with supplements, please set it aside for the one day as coronavirus will likely survive on cardboard for 24 h!

* High-dose supplementation of vitamins D and A may not be recommended, due to the current controversy around coronavirus and ACE2 receptor.

References:
Valdes Ana M, Walter Jens, Segal Eran, Spector Tim D. Role of the gut microbiota in nutrition and health BMJ 2018; 361:k2179
Zhang, L, Liu, Y. Potential interventions for novel coronavirus in China: A systematic review. J Med Virol. 2020; 92: 479– 490.

This guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical or nutritional advice. Please consult your healthcare professional before implementing any changes. Please do note that those strategies are not a substitute for hand hygiene, social distancing and other recommendations made by public health authorities.

The post COVID-19, how to stay safe in the current situation and support your immune system appeared first on Convalia.