Getting your greens during Coronavirus

[Shezian]

Here in Australia we are being told the coronavirus is going to be a long term lock down, how does one get greens in the diet without any fresh produce?

[Todd Allen]

I shift to more sprouts when my garden output is insufficient.  Fortunately it's springtime here in Chicago and the garden is doing great.  If come next January and this isn't over perhaps I will have to read this book

https://www.amazon.com/Carnivore-Code-Unlocking-Returning-Ancestral-ebook/dp/B084FKQYGQ

[mccoy]

5 hours ago, Shezian said:

Here in Australia we are being told the coronavirus is going to be a long term lock down, how does one get greens in the diet without any fresh produce?

I considered this eventuality, reasoning as follows.

• In the short, medium-term, the distribution of food and fresh produce seems to be guaranteed. At least here in Italy, all agricultural activities and food industries have not been locked-down and truckers are doing overtime. I don't know in remote locations or large territories, but here in Italy there is no shortage presently and probably there will not be for weeks or months.
• If fresh produce is temporarily unavailable, frozen vegetables might be available. They are a suitable alternative, as we know. Also as Todd suggests, sprouts are a viable, if limited, alternative. We also have time to tend the sprouts if under shelter.
• In lieu of fresh and frozen produce, dried and canned produce may be used for a longer time
• In lieu of all of the above, I foresaw a diet rich in fibers, with lots of legumes, whole grain cereals, bran to be mixed to whole grain flour.
• Last of all, if the scarcity becomes long, it is possible to grow some produce even if a small garden is available. Enough water must be available. Some produce may be grown even at home.

[Gordo]

Still getting normal produce where I am. But interestingly my kale survived the whole winter and is doing great right now:

 

[Shezian]

Great thanks, but as they virus can survive on surfaces, catching it when supermarket shopping still seems risky. If someone who has the virus touched a product on the self then you touch it within a few hours then that poses a risk to contract the virus. Am l right? I have stocked up on enough food to last me 6 months at least, but l don't have many greens. 

[Sibiriak]

4 hours ago, Shezian said:

If someone who has the virus touched a product on the self then you touch it within a few hours then that poses a risk to contract the virus.

You could reduce risk by using  latex gloves and disposing of them  asap,  or  washing/disinfecting your hands asap (never touching your hands to your face etc. before, of course.)

Edited March 25, 2020 by Sibiriak

[Clinton]

Shezian,

No question that greens are important - I agree that it makes sense to consider the impact on one’s nutrition if unable to obtain greens.

Imo the solution starts with looking at what greens provide and trying to come up with alternate ways to provide those nutrients with foods or supplements that have a longer shelf-life.

The key nutrients (and I might miss some) are folate (B9), vitamin K1, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin A, manganese, iron, fibre.

 Frozen vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and beans are going to provide these nicely- especially if you are supplementing with some vitamin K2 - at least for several months.

Clinton

[mccoy]

12 hours ago, Shezian said:

Great thanks, but as they virus can survive on surfaces, catching it when supermarket shopping still seems risky. If someone who has the virus touched a product on the self then you touch it within a few hours then that poses a risk to contract the virus. Am l right? I have stocked up on enough food to last me 6 months at least, but l don't have many greens. 

Sibiriak's suggestions still apply, although you can be very cautious when shopping. For example, take latex gloves, a mask, glasses, and a soft hat. Dispose of the gloves as soon as you're out of the supermarket, then put some alcoholic solution or any other disinfectant on your hands. The important is that you don't touch parts of your person with the gloves while you are shopping. Then back home, leave your shoes outside for 2 days. Put your garments in the washing machine and wash them immediately, including the hat, then wash your face and hair with lots of soap. For a good measure, disinfect your hands before entering home, Put your greens outside or, if warm, in a separate section of the fridge, or if you want extra safety, buy a second fridge where you'll put the greens in a 48 hours quarantine.

 

[Dean Pomerleau]

Shezian, 

You could check if there is a CSA program in your area that you could join in order to get your produce directly from a local farmer rather than the supermarket. 

http://www.csanetworkausnz.org/

--Dean 

[pete533]

I live in NYC in the borough of Queens.  NYC has one third of the cases of covid-19 in the country and Queens has the most cases in the city.  It is still increasing.  I wear gloves and a mask to even take out the garbage.  Although I've kept my shopping down to a minimum I wear gloves and a mask.  Live in a garden apartment which is like a small two family house.  My neighbor goes out and also has her boyfriend come over periodically.  I wipe down door knobs and every time one of them leaves.  I don't have a washer in the apartment and have to use the common laundry room on premises.  I have so far went at times where I have avoided other people.  I am 70 years old.  I've read that some stores have special hours for seniors with lighter traffic.  Not near me.  I have a daughter living in Brooklyn with two roomates and a dog.  She is working from home.  Wanted her to move in with my ex, my son is there also. At least there would be a backyard so she wouldn't have to walk the dog.  She refuses.  I am retired but life has never been harder than now. .  Don't know if I've covered all things.  Also worrying about two older brothers, one in St. Paul and one in San Diego.  Although they don't live in "hot" spots, they both have underlying health conditions.  

Trying to do as much as I can do, but I am getting to the point where I think bad things will happen. Feel like I'm losing this war.   Oh, I can't dispose of the gloves.  I have to re use them because I can't get more.  Even Amazon has them back ordered.  I spray them with disinfectant.  Was just lucky to get toilet paper yesterday.  They have been out for weeks.  

 

[Matt]

I've only just started to grow some of my vegetables and greens but the fruit trees have hundreds of flowers already and hopefully will get a good harvest from them this year.

I'm considering sticking to fruits that I have to peel (like an Avocado) and eating a  lot of root vegetables like sweet potato, carrots, and canned baked beans, olive oil etc.

For the time being, I'm gonna be more reliant on a multivitamin and not have the variety I normally get from the store.

But if I do buy anything from the store, I'm going to make sure that I wash it better than I normally do. Is regular hand soap I wash with okay? As long as it's removed after rinsing, there isn't much risk?
 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Matt

[mccoy]

37 minutes ago, Matt said:

Is regular hand soap I wash with okay? As long as it's removed after rinsing, there isn't much risk?

They recommend to wash hands, in this case produce, for 40 to 60 seconds. Only problem might be, if you don't rinse well enough, a soapy taste!

[mccoy]

23 hours ago, Gordo said:

Still getting normal produce where I am. But interestingly my kale survived the whole winter and is doing great right now:

Wildlife not interested in kale? Where I live there are lots of wild boars and deers, which I'm afraid would compromise any crop which I'd try to grow in the wild. If inside the fence, dogs would mess with the vegetables for sure...

[TomBAvoider]

23 minutes ago, mccoy said:

They recommend to wash hands, in this case produce, for 40 to 60 seconds. Only problem might be, if you don't rinse well enough, a soapy taste!

Interesting. Around here, they recommend 20 seconds. Honestly, I wash my hands so often these days that if I did it for 60 seconds every time, I'd never leave the bathroom. I'll stick to 20 seconds.

Pete533 - If you are running low on gloves, you can also use a rag to open the door or grab onto things, it is easy then to throw the rag into a bucket with soapy water for a few minutes and then let it dry and reuse endlessly. Alternatively, you can use tissue paper that then you dispose of.

Also, while I'm not minimizing the risks, there is no sense in being overly pessimistic - remember, the vast majority of people, including elderly people will have minimal effects if the catch the virus. So I'm not saying don't take all precautions, I'm saying don't overly stress yourself, since excess stress also lowers immunity :)... and as the wise saying goes "this too shall pass".

[Gordo]

Normally the wildlife is interested, but apparently hasn't discovered it yet 😉

As for getting infected from food - I really don't think this is a very significant risk, experts are saying they believe most transmission is direct person to person.  I would not avoid produce, just wash it and wash your hands a lot.  Also if you happen to eat some of the virus its not going to result in an infection it will just be destroyed in your gut.  Its getting the virus in your nose or eyes that is the real problem.  Wash your hands after preparing your food, then eat with utensils and not your hands, and you will minimize any risk of transfer from food to hands to eyes/nose.

There is nothing wrong with spraying isopropyl alcohol on your nitrile gloves or other sanitizer and reusing them.

Pete - hang in there, many seem to expect the infections to peak within the next 2-3 weeks (I hope its correct).  NYC is like the new Wuhan, its kind of alarming - I have been wondering if they might lock down that island?  I sure hope there aren't thousands of people fleeing the city and spreading the virus to the rest of the country.

Edited March 25, 2020 by Gordo

[Dean Pomerleau]

8 minutes ago, Gordo said:

  I sure hope there aren't thousands of people fleeing the city and spreading the virus to the rest of the country

That seems almost inevitable without any travel restrictions. What would you do if you were a New Yorker who feels fine at the moment and have some place to escape to?

I think the biggest risk in the US is that we'll see each new hotspot city send out a diaspora of new cases to other part of the country, setting off a chain reaction of major outbreaks in metropolitan areas over the next six months and preventing us from getting back to any semblance of normalcy.

Trump's idea of getting everything fired up by Easter (2.5 weeks) would be laughable if it weren't so tragic, encouraging people to think the worst is behind us and social distancing will soon be unnecessary.

--Dean

[mccoy]

 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Dean Pomerleau said:

That seems almost inevitable without any travel restrictions. What would you do if you were a New Yorker who feels fine at the moment and have some place to escape to?

I think the biggest risk in the US is that we'll see each new hotspot city send out a diaspora of new cases to other part of the country, setting off a chain reaction of major outbreaks in metropolitan areas over the next six months and preventing us from getting back to any semblance of normalcy.

The above has already happened in Italy, to an extent.

[pete533]

Actually Manhattan itself has the second least amount of cases.  Another island, Staten Island has the least of the 5 boroughs.  The whole metro area is affected.  Long Island, Westchester, North Jersey.  What I think is laughable (along with anything coming out of the White House)  is that New Orleans has become a hotspot and so has Atlanta, but the governor of Mississippi thinks it is not going to affect them, so he has no orders in place.  I had been stationed for a short time in Biloxi Mississippi while in the Air Force and  and I remember New Orleans is 90 miles away.  Sometimes I think we are too dumb to survive.  

[Saul]

I'm lucky.

I'm in Rochester, NY.  We're under lockdown -- Gov. Cuomo shut down the whole state.  BUT

(1)  I'm a full Prof. of Math at the University of Rochester.  I'm teaching two courses.  UR has had us switch to remote teaching, using Zoom.  So I'm teaching from home, using Zoom, getting my full salary, and viewing and conversing with my students.

(2) My wife is an NP, working in a small off-hospital site of Rochester Regional Health.  Since she's a health professional, she's fully employed, going to her office 3 days a week, getting full salary.  (Rochester Regional Health may eventually switch her to caring for patients remotely.  Fortunately she doesn't work in the Hospital.)

(3)  We live very near the largest Wegman's Supermarket -- I but food there most days.

(4)  The gym where I work out on a top quality Elliptical has of course been shut down.  BUT, many years ago I purchased two top quality exercise machines for my wife -- an Elliptical Cross-trainer with Hand Motion and a top quality treadmill.   She uses them occasionally -- and now I use the Elliptical, getting a workout comparable to what I'm used to in my gym, 6 days a week.

So, I continue to be in excellent health -- combining the three pillars of good health:

Diet (CRON)

Exercise

Adequate Sleep.

SUGGESTION:  This is the Calorie Restriction Society Forums --  Not the world planning organization for handling the world pandemic.  Maybe let's discuss something more relevant to these forums, rather than waste your time imagining that the world will listen to your thoughts about the pandemic.

(Or, we can all babble on forever)

  --  Saul

[Gordo]

On 3/27/2020 at 2:25 PM, Saul said:

SUGGESTION:  This is the Calorie Restriction Society Forums --  Not the world planning organization for handling the world pandemic.  Maybe let's discuss something more relevant to these forums, rather than waste your time imagining that the world will listen to your thoughts about the pandemic.

My view may be off-base, but I see the forum as more of a "how to maximize my healthy lifespan" rather than a strict focus on only one aspect of that topic.  Discussing a global pandemic that is now impacting every single one of us is very much relevant to the overall theme of "how to maximize my healthy lifespan" (avoiding injury/death from a pandemic would be high on my list, haha).  We've discussed effectiveness of various strategies for avoiding infection, we were very early in discussing treatment protocols which could be life saving, far ahead of the mainstream media or politicians, etc.  I think it's good to read/discuss various strategies to dealing with the pandemic, public opinion (the sheep) can be swayed by influencers and science, its nice to know the science before the media/politicians so we can call out misinformation and stop hysteria in some cases.  There is even an economic aspect to it which very well could impact your longevity/health in various ways many people don't even realize yet.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Gordo