During the Pandemic, How and What Should We Eat?

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JJ during this Crazy time, how should we eat? This is JJ Virgin four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert, and Fitness hall of Famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions, and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert. Susie Santos from Facebook asks JJ, during this crazy time, how should we eat? I'm living a sedentary lifestyle. I have Hashimoto's and I'm trying to armor myself against coronavirus. I'm going to drink your smoothie first for one meal. What should I eat as another meal? This is a great question, not just for during the pandemic, but all the time. In fact, probably one of the biggest questions I get is what should I eat and what, how and when all fall together. So I'll be right back to answer that question.

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All right, Susie, let's start out because we're going to talk about what to eat, when to eat and you said how should we eat? I'm going to actually start with how and then we'll go to the what and the when. How. Sit down. I think one of the great things that's going on right now and let's I'm always looking for what are the silver linings amongst all of this going on. And one of the silver linings is we're home, we're cooking, we're actually sitting down and having meals with family. So the how is sit down, focus on your food, be mindful, put your fork down in between bites, chew a lot. Okay? So be, be grateful and appreciate what you have. All right, so that's the how. Now let's talk about the what should you have as this other meal? Cause that was what should I eat as another meal? If you've read either the virgin diet or the sugar impact diet or hopefully both, you know that I teach you to eat by the plate and the plate has clean lean protein and that is things like wild fish, grass fed beef, pastured pork and chicken and protein powders and then healthy fats, avocado and healthy oils and raw nuts and seeds and then fiber from slow low carbs, little bit and lots of non starchy vegetables. So that's the plate. And the reason being is that protein and fiber slow down stomach emptying, keep ghrelin suppressed so you feel fuller longer and and fat triggers the release of some chemicals in the small intestine to tell your brain you are full. And they all work together, especially the fiber to help keep your blood sugar stable. Not going up too fast and down too fast, just nice steady slow release. This is an excellent time to make sure you're eating by that plate. I'm going to talk about some great immune boosting foods you'll want to include on the plate but also to intermittent fast. And just you kind of hinted at it saying I'm going to have your smoothie for one meal and make sure with the smoothie you're using one of my clean protein powers. Either the plant based or the paleo inspired. And along with the protein powder you're going to put in there like little avocado for healthy fat, maybe some berries or green banana for your slow low carbs with lots of plant nutrients. You could even throw in some spinach, kale, some deep green leafies with it. And I always add in a little extra fiber too and then a nut milk. And I really love coconut milk here for the mcts and the antiviral effect. So the other meal, because if you're doing intermittent fasting, you're eat a brunchy like late breakfast brunch and then you'll eat an early dinner and try to have that within eight hours. That's the when so that you stop eating three to four hours before bed. Super important. You don't want to go to bed full. That can mess up your growth hormone release during the night and also can trigger some heartburn. So let's talk about some of the things I'd love to see on your plate during this time. Because I'm assuming we are going to want to be immune strong forever actually, but now more than ever. And so we're looking at foods that are rich in vitamin C, vitamin a, vitamin D, omega 3s, antioxidants, zinc, magnesium, selenium, quercetin, and potentially are mucolytic. That means they thin the mucus and help it flow. Those are things we're looking for in food because while food can be delicious, its first job is to nourish and heal. So here's some things I'd love to see on your plate. You know, wild fish, of course, amazing. And shout out to vital choice. That's where I get mine. So wild fish is great. And also those omega 3s you're going to get from there so you get clean, healing, protein healing for your gut. And you'll also get the Omega 3s from that. And you'll also get something called astaxanthin. That's what makes the fish pink. It's an antioxidant. Other things I'd love to see here are nuts because they are rich in magnesium and selenium and zinc. So throw in some raw nuts. One of the things I love to do is have some blueberries, dark chocolates and dark chocolate and raw nuts. Like dark chocolate chips. I do the sugar free ones, no sugar added and then little stevia and then some walnuts. Yum. Green tea. Green tea is one I love to drink. In fact, I've got some right by me as I'm recording because it's antimicrobial and it also can feed the good bacteria in your gut. Cayenne is mucolytic, so you can add that into what you're eating. Of course, deep green leafies. And especially shout out to broccoli that has both glutathione, a major antioxidant that recycles all the other ones. It's known as the master antioxidant. And sulforaphane. Also shout out to avocado, another rich source of glutathione. Coconut I love because it's antiviral and it's got those energizing MCT fats that are easy to burn. Garlic is another antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial and ginger anti inflammatory. All the deep green leafies again, I said that and bone broth. And that's where I use my bone broth shake because I'm getting the bone broth and collagen that helps really keep the gut healed. And then I love red peppers and red onions and apples and citrus fruit. I'm looking at places where I can get vitamin C and quercetin. And mushrooms are pretty interesting. You know, there's a lot of great compounds in mushrooms, but if they're UV exposed, you're also getting the vitamin D. Of course you can get the vitamin D and vitamin A from fish as well. So those are some of the things that I am looking at to build my plate with too. So I love the idea right now it's a great time to add in some intermittent fasting which is good for your immune system, can trigger your body to make new stem cells. So great time for that and great time to get in the kitchen and use as many immune supporting immune strong foods as possible. This is JJ with Ask the Health Expert. I do this five times a week week, so make sure you never miss a show by going to subscribetoj.com.

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