Eating Healthy While Social Distancing

As we've all practiced social distancing and self-quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, I've been a bit challenged to eat the whole food plant based diet I normally do. I generally eat an abundance of fresh produce. I went to the grocery as I normally do for a few weeks but practiced social distancing, but each week I also picked up a few frozen versions of some of the things we eat on a regular basis, just in case the need arose.

As I thought about how to prepare to be able to eat a whole food plant based diet without the need for a minimum of a weekly trip to the grocery store, I started thinking about whether I wanted to buy canned or frozen food. I'm lucky because we have a stand alone freezer, so I opted for frozen. Frozen tends to be less processed - less "cooked" - than canned and therefore holds more of its nutritional value, but I do have some canned/jarred goods and will use those as well. 

As I look at the items I gravitated toward, I'm a bit amused - broccoli, kale, spinach, and cauliflower were the main vegetables. I bought a few bags, and I've been rationing them to our daily allotment according to the serving sizes in Dr. Gregor's Daily Dozen to make sure they last. I also bought frozen mushrooms because mushrooms are good for the immune system.

I, even more than usual if that's possible, centered my grocery shopping around the foods that held the most nutritional value, highest anti-oxidant values, highest immune system boosting values, and lowest detrimental effects. But... I did get a little vegan chocolate for a tiny bit of an indulgence...

We don't have to rely solely on processed foods during a quarantine like this one. We can still eat whole foods. We can still eat healthy. It just takes a little planning, a little forethought, and a little flexibility. Check out the frozen veggie and frozen fruit sections in the grocery store. A few bags can go a long way to keeping us healthy and helping our immune systems stay strong. If you have the freezer space, and I realize not everyone does, then buy the frozen fruit and veggies. If you need to buy canned fruits and vegetables, try to buy the ones with the least sodium and the fewest added ingredients possible.

We are in a situation where we need to be doing everything we possibly can to boost our immune systems and decrease the inflammation in our bodies. I implore you even more strongly than usual to buy and eat the healthiest foods you possibly can.

I decided not to go to the grocery store last week, and I ended up on Amazon ordering some pantry items like grains, dried beans, and spices even though I know they won't arrive until this week. Granted some of these items were things both grocery stores I went to the previous week were out of, so I decided I'd just order them rather than risk them not being in the stores again during my next grocery shopping trip.

There are some items I can't find online, didn't find last time I was in the grocery store, or couldn't find frozen versions of. I'm starting to miss some of those regular parts of my daily diet.

Several companies are providing local deliveries of fresh produce, but I haven't yet tried those services. I have a need to pick out my own fresh produce, but I might end up ordering at some point. I don't feel like I need to go that route quite yet, but I might at some point.


I'll likely end up at the grocery store some time later this week even though we could probably eat on what's in the pantry and freezer, especially combined with the items I ordered from Amazon, for at least another week... 

Some foods really are best fresh...