EATING THE right kinds of food at the right amount is greatly beneficial towards the immune system, lessening the chance of acquiring chronic related illnesses and infectious diseases.
This was stated by Nutritionist Dietitian of Provincial Health Office (PHO), Mayflor Espiritu, during the Pakigsayod with the theme “Good Nutrition vs COVID19” earlier morning today.
In order to achieve a well-balanced diet for a strong immune system, she cited the National Nutrition Council’s ‘Ten Commandments’ that people can follow.
“Meron po tayong sa National Nutrition Council na ten commandments para makuha natin yung proper nutrition (The National Nutrition Council has the ten commandments towards having a proper nutrition),” Espiritu said.
The first of which, according to her is that people should consume a variety of food. This way, people are more likely to get a more balanced nutrition.
Second, newborn babies up to 6 months old should “exclusively” be given mother’s milk.
Third, vegetables and fruits should be consumed everyday as these are where the majority of the vitamins and minerals needed for a strong immune system are found.
Fourth, people should eat fish and other sources of protein since this is what rebuilds the ‘worn out’ tissues within the body. She stressed that this is also especially important for kids and their growth.
Fifth, people should drink milk or consume other sources that contain calcium like green leafy vegetables and “gilis” fish. She added that this is especially important for the elderly as to avoid the bones from becoming more brittle.
Sixth, food and water being consumed should always be clean in order to avoid “foodborne” diseases like diarrhea.
Seventh, iodized salt should be regularly incorporated in consumption of food to avoid Iodine Deficiency Disorder.
Although the seventh commandment encourages the use of iodized salt, the eighth commandment warns of the overconsumption of salty food as well as the oily, and sweet ones.
She explained that if people have comorbidities or lifestyle diseases, this greatly lessens their chance of fighting off the COVID19 virus as seen on many of the COVID19 deaths involving people with existing lifestyle diseases.
Ninth, people should watch their weight. Espiritu said, “the more a person is obese, the weaker the immune system becomes; thus, becoming more vulnerable to lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, heart diseases, diabetes, and even cancer.”
Although the majority of the ten commandments are related to food, the final or the tenth commandment stresses the importance of physical activity.
“Kung wala tayong exercise, sedentary ang lifestyle, prone pa rin po tayo na magkaroon ng chronic illnesses (If we don’t exercise and have a sedentary lifestyle, we will still be prone to chronic illnesses),” Espiritu said.
Aside from the ten commandments, she also discouraged alcohol consumption. She added, “I’m not saying you should stop completely, but you should at least minimize your consumption of it.”
She also said the same thing about smoking, “smoking is a lifestyle that will slowly kill you.” She explained that a cigarette packs on so many harmful contents such as carcinogen, which has been shown to cause cancer.
Along with these, she urged the people to avoid eating out at restaurants as much as possible since observing social distancing is just difficult to maintain due to the nature of the setting. (By Jan Vincent Leuterio)
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