The Senior Scene

Not sure how to eat and stay healthy this quarantine season?

Candice Rosen, author of the book “Forget Dieting: It’s All About Data-Driven Fueling,”  encourages “food combining. As you combine foods, Rosen adds, “monitoring blood glucose is the key to weight gain versus weight loss, good health versus poor health.”

Here are some specifics from her:

Make Wednesdays and Fridays vegan days.

According to Rosen, avoid dairy. Try vegan yogurts, cheeses, and milks. Dairy is inflammatory and will deplete your bones of calcium. There are unsweetened milks of almond, hemp, cashew, etc., and all are available in grocery stores. A low blood glucose breakfast idea would be a sprouted grain English muffin, spread with a tofu or nut-based cream cheese, some sliced tomatoes, and topped with sea salt.

Eat fruits that are high in fiber.

Apples, bananas, oranges, berries  ̶  the list goes on. You will still want to avoid sugary fruit juices, as well as very sweet fruits like pineapples and mangos while trying to lose weight. Fruit is always eaten alone with two exceptions–when added to a vegan smoothie, and eaten with a nut or seed butter. These healthy fats reduce the chance of a blood glucose spike.

Nothing white.

To lower blood glucose, don’t eat or combine animal proteins with any white potatoes, bread, rice, or pasta. “Sorry,” she said.

Eat more sweet potatoes.

Think wholesome, nutritious, responsibly grown, pancreatic-friendly food that doesn’t raise your blood glucose, like sweet potatoes and yams, which are nutritious carbohydrates that are low in sugar levels and provide fiber. They’re best consumed baked or steamed, but can also be cooked in a variety of other ways. A great lunch or dinner option (and it is inexpensive) is a baked sweet potato, split down the middle with a large spoonful of black beans, a tablespoon of tomatillo salsa, and a side salad. To lower blood sugar, eat them with veggies and plant-based protein together—not meat.

All your hard work in the vegetable garden is paying off with a bountiful harvest. Fresh produce is filling your garden, countertops, and refrigerator while the garden keeps producing more. Preserve some of your harvest to enjoy throughout the winter with some tried-and-true or updated variation of food preservation techniques.

Hanging bundles of herbs to dry is a long-time practice that works. Harvest herbs in the morning just after the dew has dried off the leaves. Rinse, allow them to dry, and remove any damaged or dried leaves.

Gather the dry herbs into small bundles and secure with a rubber band. Use a spring-type clothespin to hang the bundles from a clothesline or hanger in a warm, dry, airy place out of direct sunlight.

A modern twist on this tradition is the space-saving Stack!t Herb Drying Rack (gardeners.com) hung from the ceiling. You will be able to dry large quantities of herbs in any narrow, out-of-the-way space.

Extend the life, flavor, and nutritional value of squash with proper harvesting and storage. Only store blemish and damage-free fruits and vegetables to reduce the risk of mold and decay developing during storage.

Harvest zucchini when the fruit is six to eight inches long and scalloped squash when three to six inches in diameter. Store these in a plastic bag inside the vegetable crisper drawer in your refrigerator for several days.

Wait to harvest winter squash when the fruit is full-sized, and the rinds are firm and glossy. The portion touching the ground turns from cream to orange when the fruit is ripe. Use a pruner to harvest the fruit, leaving a one-inch stem on each fruit. Cure all winter squash, except for acorn, in a warm, humid location. Then move to a cool, dry, well-ventilated area to store for several months.  In the past, gardeners stored these, potatoes, onions, and fruit in wooden racks that maximized storage space and allowed air to reach each layer of produce. An updated version, Gardener’s Supply Orchard Rack, adds convenient drawers to this traditional storage system.

Boost your cabbage harvest with this trick. Remove firm full-sized heads but leave the lower ring of leaves and roots intact. The plant will form several smaller heads.

Harvest cucumbers based on how you plan to use them. Pick the fruit when it is 1 ½ to 2 ½ inches long if you plan on making sweet pickles. Allow the cucumbers to grow a bit bigger, three to four inches, if dill pickles are on the menu. Harvest those for slicing when the skin is firm, bright green and the fruit is six to nine inches long.

Turn a portion of your harvest into something delicious. Fermentation is a relatively easy preservation technique used for thousands of years. Preserve some of your cucumbers as pickles, cabbage as sauerkraut, and berries as preserves with fermentation. Store fermented fruits and vegetables in a cool, dark place or extend their shelf life by canning the finished product. For most projects, you just need the fruit or vegetables, water, salt, and spices. The desired ingredients are placed in a covered vessel, like Gardener’s Supply Fermentation Crock. Weights are used to keep the fruit and vegetables submerged in water throughout the fermentation process.

If your garden is still producing when frost is in the forecast, extend the harvest season. Cold frames and cloches are tried-and-true techniques used for extending the growing season. A modern method employs floating row covers. These spun fabrics allow air, light, and water through while protecting plants from frosty conditions. Cover the plantings and anchor the fabric in place. Lift to harvest and enjoy several more weeks and even months of garden-fresh produce.

Select the storage and preservation methods that work best for your garden produce, growing location, and lifestyle.

Once you enjoy homegrown produce in winter meals, you will start growing more produce to eat fresh, share and preserve.

With social distancing orders in place in many areas across the country, you may be doing your grocery shopping with shelf stability in mind. But this factor should not be your only priority. Right now, it’s especially important that the foods you eat also support your health and longevity.

Here are three things to know about eating to feel strong while sheltering in place:

1. Empty calories should get the boot.

Many products designed to last a long time don’t contain the vital nutrients your body needs, and instead contain artificial ingredients that lead to quick energy and crash cycles. While empty calories will keep you alive, they won’t allow you to thrive, promoting fat over muscle and actually weakening your body’s ability to defend itself.

2. Nutrients ignite your body’s natural power to defend.

The COVID-19 crisis highlights the fact that people who have compromised immune systems and chronic disease are often the most vulnerable to viral infection. Fortunately, you can help boost your immunity and defend against certain chronic diseases with a nutrient-packed diet. Why? Nutrients nourish your cells, defend against free radicals, give you energy, and aid muscle growth and repair.

3. Eating to thrive is easier than it sounds.

Getting the “big five” — protein, vitamins, minerals, omega-3s and fiber — doesn’t have to be a challenge during difficult situations. To get all your essential nutrients in every meal, consider stocking up on products supported by research, such as Nutrient Survival, a line of nutrient-dense foods and drinks that are simple to make. Developed by a team of food scientists, researchers, chefs, outdoorsmen, survivalists and adventure athletes who were frustrated with the lack of effective emergency food options, these non-perishable snacks, drinks, entrees and even coffee are high in protein and contain 14 vitamins and 14 minerals, so you can provide your body with what it needs throughout the day.

Social disruption shouldn’t stop your ability to survive and thrive. In these challenging times, fueling your body right is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself.