Question

Please write a one page reflection on how nutrition during this quarantine crisis has affected you

Answer 1

Good nutrition is crucial for health, particularly in times when the immune system might need to fight back. Limited access to fresh foods may compromise opportunities to continue eating a healthy and varied diet. It can also potentially lead to an increased consumption of highly processed foods, which tend to be high in fats, sugars and salt. Nonetheless, even with few and limited ingredients, one can continue eating a diet that supports good health.

Since quarantine and social distancing orders have become common around the world, psychologists have highlighted the direct relationship between social isolation and feelings of loneliness, depression, and anxiety, among other things.

people in all countries are under quarantine in order to reduce the spread of the virus, which then also lessens the impact on medical resources. Since quarantine is associated to the interruption of the work routine, this could be result in boredom. Boredom has been associated with a greater energy intake, as well as the consumption of higher quantities of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins Further, during quarantine continuously hearing or reading about the pandemic without a break can be stressful. Consequently, the stress pushes people toward overeating, mostly looking for sugary “comfort foods” ]. This desire to consume a specific kind of food is defined as “food craving”, which is a multidimensional concept including emotional (intense desire to eat), behavioral (seeking food), cognitive (thoughts about food), and physiological (salivation) processes . Of interest, a gender difference has been reported in food craving, with a higher prevalence in women than in men.
Carbohydrate craving encourages serotonin production that in turn has a positive effect on mood. In a sense, carbohydrate-rich foods can be a way of self-medicating anti stress. The effect of carbohydrate craving on low mood is proportional to the glycemic index of foods. This unhealthy nutritional habit could increase the risk of developing obesity that beyond being a chronic state of inflammation, it is often complicated by heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease
Quarantine-related stress also results in sleep disturbances that in turn further worsen the stress and increase food intake thus giving rise to a dangerous vicious cycle. Therefore, it is important to consume food containing or promoting the synthesis of serotonin and melatonin at dinner.