Are you eating more onions, garlic or ginger?

[Liz CA]

Our CMO handed out a paper titled "Common Sense" - things we can do in the time of crisis and eating more onions, garlic and ginger root is on the list.

I don't see a shortage of those items at the grocery store so I wondered if people are heeding this advice or not? I have increased my ration a bit but I have always liked ginger root and garlic so it's no big challenge for me. Would you intentionally add items you normally don't consume just to boost immunity?

[regentrude]

I have not seen any scientific evidence presented that these help against COVID 19. 

I am very wary of anything billed as "common sense" remedies, because most things touted under that umbrella are false.
I continue to consume the normal amount of onions and garlic that are part of my diet. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by regentrude

[Jean in Newcastle]

I do a lot of Asian cooking.  Onions, garlic and ginger are a large part of that region's recipes.  (Including China, btw, where the virus originated.) 

[marbel]

I have not seen any particular food recommendations, where did this "common sense" list come from?  (I don't know what CMO stands for.)  In general, those are healthful foods for most people. 

[Arcadia]

3 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I do a lot of Asian cooking.  Onions, garlic and ginger are a large part of that region's recipes.  (Including China, btw, where the virus originated.) 

Chilli too is used a lot in the colder regions of China. 
I’m just using my usual amount.
 

[Selkie]

I hope that is true, because we already eat loads of onions and garlic every day, and ginger about 2-3x/week. I haven’t seen shortages of onions or garlic and haven’t tried to buy ginger for several weeks - I keep gingerroot in the freezer and cut off a piece as needed.

[Soror]

I already eat a lot of these too. My dh is of the mind you can never have too much garlic and everything is better with some sauteed onions. I don't have ginger daily but generally multiple times a week.

[mathnerd]

i normally cook a lot with these ingredients (and also turmeric, black pepper, chili pepper, coconut oil, asafoetida, cumin, coriander seeds): these have natural antimicrobial properties. So, it is always a good idea to include these in our diets. But, because of the pandemic, I cook with these ingredients at least once a day now. I also add a lot of fresh herbs like cilantro, parsley, sage, thyme etc because they are very high in nutrients. Another thing I do is to drink kefir once a day as good bacteria that colonizes our gut helps the immune system.

Edited April 5, 2020 by mathnerd

[EmilyGF]

I am eating more onions because onions are a vegetable that keeps a long time and I just figured out how to slice them using my food processor. (French onion soup! Yum!)

I am not eating more of them for any immune system function.

I am also eating more cabbage because a 3-week-old head of cabbage still makes a great salad!

[Ottakee]

I have been eating more onions and garlic.  It has nothing to do with any health benefits.  It has everything to do with the fact that the food pantry my son works for had an over abundance of onions and we ended up with a ton.   I don't want to see anything go to waste so I am using what I can.

Later this week I will likely cut up a bunch and freeze them before they go bad.  Then I throw them in soups and chili and cook up with ground beef, etc 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Eating healthy foods, exercising and doing good hygiene are good health practices no matter what.  But I want to point out that those do not guarantee that someone's lungs are not attacked by this virus and shut down, that they don't have a cytokine storm or whether they get the virus if exposed. 

ETA:  there is such a broad spectrum of severity of this illness, of symptoms and of response to treatment.  And there is so much that is still unknown.  With non-novel illness doctors can predict how someone with certain underlying conditions will do, how to tailor the treatment to those conditions (and there is no set treatment even) but we are still in novel territory. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Jean in Newcastle

[Liz CA]

26 minutes ago, regentrude said:

I have not seen any scientific evidence presented that these help against COVID 19. 

I am very wary of anything billed as "common sense" remedies, because most things touted under that umbrella are false.
I continue to consume the normal amount of onions and garlic that are part of my diet. 

 

The way I read it, these items were not presented as having magical effects specifically against Corona virus but rather have been known to boost your overall immune system.

[Liz CA]

Just now, Jean in Newcastle said:

Eating healthy foods, exercising and doing good hygiene are good health practices no matter what.  But I want to point out that those do not guarantee that someone's lungs are not attacked by this virus and shut down, that they don't have a cytokine storm or whether they get the virus if exposed. 

 

No, certainly not. I think it was meant as an overall way to boost your immune system.

[Ali in OR]

There was one shopping trip early on under SIP when the main grocery store was out of both fresh ginger and ginger in a squeeze bottle which I like because it's so easy to add to stir fries. But I was able to find both in a different store the next week.

Edited April 5, 2020 by Ali in OR

[Liz CA]

24 minutes ago, marbel said:

I have not seen any particular food recommendations, where did this "common sense" list come from?  (I don't know what CMO stands for.)  In general, those are healthful foods for most people. 

 

In an effort to support some concerned employees in our medical division who wanted to know what "else" they could possibly do to prepare, the Chief Medical Officer passed this out. Evidently came from the Harvard Gazette BUT she was quick to add that there is really not much that can be done but it never hurts to eat healthy and have a healthy immune system.

[Guest]

We eat a good bit of those three items anyway. I am not eating more than usual. 

One of my shopping trips had no onions and I was able to get the last garlic, which was organic and therefore more expensive. I did think this was surprising, though, since those items are nearly always *ingredients*, so I can’t really understand buying a lot of them. 

[73349]

As Katie said in another thread, I'm not going to out-garlic Italy. We're pretty much eating our usual foods, but with an increase in chocolate.

[Pen]

Even with a significant interest in medicinal herbs I have no reason to think that any of those 3 probably has any particular useful effect on SARS-CoV-2. (lomatium maybe, lobelia maybe, a few others maybe...) 

Usually we use very little onion, right now I have been using some, not because I think it medicinally useful, but because I have been making soups and stews which onion is good in for flavor and we are low on some other vegetables and herbs that I might usually have used more. 

Garlic: same as usual- which is very limited as it adds to my migraines, I think

Ginger: none for regular cooking.  Medicinally for headaches and nausea as needed, not more than usual. 

[Liz CA]

11 minutes ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

 

I don't think it hurts, but I doubt that an illness hitting China and Italy this hard is vulnerable to ginger or garlic. 

 

I was thinking about this since I have always used ginger and some garlic - not necessarily a lot of onions and got sick end of January into mid February. Every other year, I had either no respiratory issues at all or a mild cold - gone in 3 days. 

[ktgrok]

Well, I figure I'm not going to "out garlic" italy....someone said that the areas hardest hit don't eat that much garlic though?

[Liz CA]

1 hour ago, mathnerd said:

i normally cook a lot with these ingredients (and also turmeric, black pepper, chili pepper, coconut oil, asafoetida, cumin, coriander seeds): these have natural antimicrobial properties. So, it is always a good idea to include these in our diets. But, because of the pandemic, I cook with these ingredients at least once a day now. I also add a lot of fresh herbs like cilantro, parsley, sage, thyme etc because they are very high in nutrients. Another thing I do is to drink kefir once a day as good bacteria that colonizes our gut helps the immune system.

 

I have recently "discovered" coriander. Have a bottle of ground coriander but have never used it in any other form. Are the seeds more potent, more flavorful? How do you use the seeds>

[Tanaqui]

Is this the same CMO that told you to drink tea? Your CMO is an idiot. None of this is helpful except inasmuch as these foods taste good and it's always good to be happy when cooped up. Start double checking everything they tell you, and stop peddling misinformation.

Edited April 5, 2020 by Tanaqui

[Liz CA]

18 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

Is this the same CMO that told you to drink tea? Your CMO is an idiot. None of this is helpful except inasmuch as these foods taste good and it's always good to be happy when cooped up. Start double checking everything they tell you, and stop peddling misinformation.

 

It seems to me you are misunderstanding some of the things I wrote.  Nobody has said onions, garlic, ginger or any other food will protect you from COVID19. Please read carefully. I understand these are trying times but I don't feel being accusatory while misunderstanding context is helping anybody or anything. I can't speak to the competence of our CMO since I am not working closely with her, however, she never suggested drinking tea is a prophylactic or curative measure. I have explained the context in which this transpired in the other thread.

 

[Liz CA]

10 minutes ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

Here's something that I wonder. 

The cytokine storms that they are seeing in the sickest patients are an overreaction by the innate immune system.  I know with my kid, whose innate immune system is very problematic, we've been told to avoid things like elderberry which "boost" the immune system.  We haven't received the same advice for things like turmeric, garlic, ginger etc . . . and when he was taking more food orally we continued to feed them to him in normal quantities, but I wouldn't use them at the level of a supplement.  

I'm not saying not to eat these things, but it does make me wonder if supplementing past the level normally seen in food might not be a good thing.

 

This is an interesting point. I think @Jean in Newcastle knows more about this - she mentioned it either in this thread or another one. Too many virus threads going right now to keep straight. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

3 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

This is an interesting point. I think @Jean in Newcastle knows more about this - she mentioned it either in this thread or another one. Too many virus threads going right now to keep straight. 

I am on prescription immunotherapy that regulates my immune system- ie boosts it when it is too low and tamps it down when it’s too active. I do have elderberry but won’t be relying on it. (And honestly, I can’t even rely on my prescription meds since there is no guarantee that it will increase it enough or tamp it down enough.  ). 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, whitehawk said:

As Katie said in another thread, I'm not going to out-garlic Italy. We're pretty much eating our usual foods, but with an increase in chocolate.

Lol, that is definitely best for my mental health...

[Tanaqui]

13 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

It seems to me you are misunderstanding some of the things I wrote.  Nobody has said onions, garlic, ginger or any other food will protect you from COVID19. Please read carefully. I understand these are trying times but I don't feel being accusatory while misunderstanding context is helping anybody or anything. I can't speak to the competence of our CMO since I am not working closely with her, however, she never suggested drinking tea is a prophylactic or curative measure. I have explained the context in which this transpired in the other thread.

 

No, I understand just fine. You're asking about drinking tea, and you're asking about eating certain foods, and you're calling this "commonsense advice", and it's all nonsense.

And absolutely no amount of "context" is going to make it not nonsense. Drinking tea will not kill the germs before they can move from the digestive tract to the respiratory tract - which is an absolutely bizarre understanding of the human body, but let's not lose track of things. Onions, ginger, and garlic do not have much of a benefit to our immune system. These are old wives' tales - every one of them.

I'm worried because you apparently have the most uncritical approach to information-gathering I've ever seen. What's next? Your CMO tells you that fish medicine or anti-worm medication might kill the disease, so you take it? Stop spreading misinformation. Start spending a few minutes of your day googling and asking "is this true?" before you spread more garbage.

[Tanaqui]

(By the way, "Harvard Gazette tea covid-19" gets no results. Neither do I get results searching for Harvard Gazette with "coronavirus tea", "covid-19 onions", "coronavirus commonsense" or any combination of terms. You've been duped - again. And given that it seems to be the same document peddled by the same ignorant CMO, that's shocking. You could've googled this. You SHOULD have googled this, especially since I know you know better. Check your citations before you spread rumors and misinformation. How many times are you going to be taken in by the same broadsheet of lies and old wives' tales?)

Edited April 5, 2020 by Tanaqui

[mathnerd]

53 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

I have recently "discovered" coriander. Have a bottle of ground coriander but have never used it in any other form. Are the seeds more potent, more flavorful? How do you use the seeds>

Seeds are more flavorful but powder will do. I buy organic coriander seeds from my local indian grocers. When you stir the powder in a hot skillet for a few seconds, it releases the essential oils and becomes more fragrant, but it is tricky to do without burning it!

You can coarsely pound the seeds in a mortar and pestle and add it in while you are sautéing onions and garlic: i do this to any curry type dish or stir fry vegetables. If I have the time, I make a coarse powder of pepper, cumin seeds and coriander and use it to add to many soups, curries, stir fries. These spices can be used alone or together depending on your preference.

I make a south indian soup dish called Rasam, known for its antiviral properties. The powder used in the recipe calls for coriander seeds: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5628526/

I also make Thai curry pastes which call for coriander seeds.

 

[Liz CA]

11 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

Seeds are more flavorful but powder will do. I buy organic coriander seeds from my local indian grocers. When you stir the powder in a hot skillet for a few seconds, it releases the essential oils and becomes more fragrant, but it is tricky to do without burning it!

You can coarsely pound the seeds in a mortar and pestle and add it in while you are sautéing onions and garlic: i do this to any curry type dish or stir fry vegetables. If I have the time, I make a coarse powder of pepper, cumin seeds and coriander and use it to add to many soups, curries, stir fries. These spices can be used alone or together depending on your preference.

I make a south indian soup dish called Rasam, known for its antiviral properties. The powder used in the recipe calls for coriander seeds: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5628526/

I also make Thai curry pastes which call for coriander seeds.

 

 

Thank you! That was a very informative article on Rasam which I don't think I have ever eaten. I have to get more details on this since soup is one of my favorite things in the winter.

We live in an area with a lot of East Indian population so I am hoping to be able to get all the ingredients - at least when everything opens up again. It was amazing to see how many beneficial properties turmeric alone has, let alone in conjunction with other herbs / food.  Only thing that gave me pause what the "laxative" effect of tamarind as I don't need any help in that area, probably due to my regular consumption of Kefir and vegetables. :)

 

[Arcadia]

India Cash & Carry for spices if you have one nearby.

Safeway has this: MCCORMICK GOURMET™ ORGANIC CORIANDER SEED

https://www.mccormick.com/gourmet/spices-and-flavors/organic/organic-coriander-seed

[mathnerd]

1 minute ago, Liz CA said:

 

Thank you! That was a very informative article on Rasam which I don't think I have ever eaten. I have to get more details on this since soup is one of my favorite things in the winter.

We live in an area with a lot of East Indian population so I am hoping to be able to get all the ingredients - at least when everything opens up again. It was amazing to see how many beneficial properties turmeric alone has, let alone in conjunction with other herbs / food.  Only thing that gave me pause what the "laxative" effect of tamarind as I don't need any help in that area, probably due to my regular consumption of Kefir and vegetables. 🙂

 

Don't worry, I eat a lot of tamarind based soup and don't use the bathroom more than most other people 🙂 

Rasam is a tamarind based light soup dish made typically with tomatoes (lutein, lycopene) and a combination of spices that are known to have antimicrobial activities and to generally help strengthen immune system: the compounds in the combo of spices have been shown to boost the disease fighting response of white blood cells in the body when they encounter viruses especially viruses that cause the common cold or flu. Most east indians prepare rasam when they are sick with a cold or flu. To be clear, this is NOT a cure for any disease, just as eating fresh vegetables and fruit everyday is NOT a cure for diseases, but this is known to improve immune response to viruses in the flu/cold family. There are many variations for the Rasam powder and any of them will work. But, if you are near an idian grocer, just buy a small packet of rasam powder to try it (usually has instructions printed on it).

https://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/recipe/Rasam-Powder-KhaanaKhazana.html

local lanecdote: local chinese immigrants int heh bay area were buying rasam powder packets from indian stores and mailing them to relatives in china in February so that they could prepare this soup with antiviral properties. All the local Indian stores in the south bay are open and have curbside pickup or free online delivery these days.

[madteaparty]

We could not possibly eat more that we already do . I expected a run on ginger at froze some . 

[Liz CA]

3 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

Don't worry, I eat a lot of tamarind based soup and don't use the bathroom more than most other people 🙂 

Rasam is a tamarind based light soup dish made typically with tomatoes (lutein, lycopene) and a combination of spices that are known to have antimicrobial activities and to generally help strengthen immune system: the compounds in the combo of spices have been shown to boost the disease fighting response of white blood cells in the body when they encounter viruses especially viruses that cause the common cold or flu. Most east indians prepare rasam when they are sick with a cold or flu. To be clear, this is NOT a cure for any disease, just as eating fresh vegetables and fruit everyday is NOT a cure for diseases, but this is known to improve immune response to viruses in the flu/cold family. There are many variations for the Rasam powder and any of them will work. But, if you are near an idian grocer, just buy a small packet of rasam powder to try it (usually has instructions printed on it).

https://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/recipe/Rasam-Powder-KhaanaKhazana.html

local lanecdote: local chinese immigrants int heh bay area were buying rasam powder packets from indian stores and mailing them to relatives in china in February so that they could prepare this soup with antiviral properties. All the local Indian stores in the south bay are open and have curbside pickup or free online delivery these days.

 

I want to emphasize along with you that nobody here presents any kind of food as curative of any illness - this has already been misunderstood in this thread and one other thread where I posted BUT I am glad that Bay Area immigrants were able to ship some rasam powder back to China - even if it did not outright cure anything, what can be the harm in eating something healthy?!

I am now so intrigued and curious that I want to order Rasam powder. I looked up this recipe  https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/tomato-rasam-recipe/ and I have almost all ingreds on hand except chili. I am off to see if some online places carry authentic powder. I don't have asafoetida and I have to check on my cumin supply.

[Liz CA]

14 minutes ago, madteaparty said:

We could not possibly eat more that we already do . I expected a run on ginger at froze some . 

 

When you freeze the root, can you cut it frozen or do you have to wait until it's thawed? I never freeze it (we eat it quickly usually) but I keep it in the fridge.

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Tanaqui said:

 

No, I understand just fine. You're asking about drinking tea, and you're asking about eating certain foods, and you're calling this "commonsense advice", and it's all nonsense.

And absolutely no amount of "context" is going to make it not nonsense. Drinking tea will not kill the germs before they can move from the digestive tract to the respiratory tract - which is an absolutely bizarre understanding of the human body, but let's not lose track of things. Onions, ginger, and garlic do not have much of a benefit to our immune system. These are old wives' tales - every one of them.

I'm worried because you apparently have the most uncritical approach to information-gathering I've ever seen. What's next? Your CMO tells you that fish medicine or anti-worm medication might kill the disease, so you take it? Stop spreading misinformation. Start spending a few minutes of your day googling and asking "is this true?" before you spread more garbage.

But eatingthings that are good for health in general is only going to help you be in better shape to fight off any illness. Not kill the germs, just have you in good shape. I don't think there are any magic foods, but lots of doctors and nutritionists advice eating onions, beans, greens, mushrooms, ginger, garlic, berries, etc for general health. I think that being healthy has to be better than eating chips and chocolate all day. And tea better than soda, etc. 

That said, I'm fight anyone taking my emergency chocolate. 

[mathnerd]

10 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

I want to emphasize along with you that nobody here presents any kind of food as curative of any illness - this has already been misunderstood in this thread and one other thread where I posted BUT I am glad that Bay Area immigrants were able to ship some rasam powder back to China - even if it did not outright cure anything, what can be the harm in eating something healthy?!

I am now so intrigued and curious that I want to order Rasam powder. I looked up this recipe  https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/tomato-rasam-recipe/ and I have almost all ingreds on hand except chili. I am off to see if some online places carry authentic powder. I don't have asafoetida and I have to check on my cumin supply.

If you are out of chili powder, just powder some red pepper flakes (the kind used to sprinkle on pizza) if you have it. Asafoetida will enhance the rasam, but, no harm in making it without it. Remember to sprinkle a generous amount of freshly chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) on top of hot rasam before consuming. Warning: this is a spicy dish, so go easy on the rasam powder if you cannot deal with spicy food.

Edited April 5, 2020 by mathnerd

[madteaparty]

43 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

When you freeze the root, can you cut it frozen or do you have to wait until it's thawed? I never freeze it (we eat it quickly usually) but I keep it in the fridge.

I don’t really know but what I did is peel and roughly chop ( because that’s how I use it, I toss into my water for tea etc). And froze it in small ziplock bags. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by madteaparty

[Selkie]

1 hour ago, Liz CA said:

 

When you freeze the root, can you cut it frozen or do you have to wait until it's thawed? I never freeze it (we eat it quickly usually) but I keep it in the fridge.

You can cut it frozen, as long as your knife is sharp.🙂

[Jean in Newcastle]

1 hour ago, Ktgrok said:

But eatingthings that are good for health in general is only going to help you be in better shape to fight off any illness. Not kill the germs, just have you in good shape. I don't think there are any magic foods, but lots of doctors and nutritionists advice eating onions, beans, greens, mushrooms, ginger, garlic, berries, etc for general health. I think that being healthy has to be better than eating chips and chocolate all day. And tea better than soda, etc. 

That said, I'm fight anyone taking my emergency chocolate. 

But it is frustrating if you have chronic illness and immune problems like I do and people keep pushing kale, garlic and various essential oils on me. My diet has been reviewed by more than one nutritionist and is very healthy. I eat the good stuff and don’t eat the bad stuff (with the exception of dark chocolate and even that has antioxidants).  And yet I still have chronic illness and immune problems. I must not be chewing my kale just right. 
 

And in the context of a pandemic?  What actually helps is quarantine and social distancing while they find out enough of the actual biological processes involved so that treatments and vaccines can be developed. 

[barnwife]

Aren't garlic's anti-infective properties most available when it's raw? I haven't particularly increased our consumption. However, if I ever feel I am coming down with a cold, I do eat a couple cloves of raw garlic a day. I also gargle with salt water multiple times and steam myself. Since I began doing those things, I get sick much less often than other members of this household. And when I am sick, it's generally not as bad for me as the others.


 

[ktgrok]

32 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

But it is frustrating if you have chronic illness and immune problems like I do and people keep pushing kale, garlic and various essential oils on me. My diet has been reviewed by more than one nutritionist and is very healthy. I eat the good stuff and don’t eat the bad stuff (with the exception of dark chocolate and even that has antioxidants).  And yet I still have chronic illness and immune problems. I must not be chewing my kale just right. 
 

And in the context of a pandemic?  What actually helps is quarantine and social distancing while they find out enough of the actual biological processes involved so that treatments and vaccines can be developed. 

Like I said, I don't think any food is going to magically cure anything, other than maybe chocolate and my PMS 🙂

I think that the idea that eating healthy is pointless rubbed me wrong. But...I also have PMS and no chocolate other than some chocolate chips hidden in the cabinet, lol. 

But because eating veggies and foods with lots of vitamins and minerals is good, and better than eating junk, doesn't mean it will cure anything. I think the phrase that applies is "necessary but not sufficient". 

[Liz CA]

58 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

But it is frustrating if you have chronic illness and immune problems like I do and people keep pushing kale, garlic and various essential oils on me. My diet has been reviewed by more than one nutritionist and is very healthy. I eat the good stuff and don’t eat the bad stuff (with the exception of dark chocolate and even that has antioxidants).  And yet I still have chronic illness and immune problems. I must not be chewing my kale just right. 
 

And in the context of a pandemic?  What actually helps is quarantine and social distancing while they find out enough of the actual biological processes involved so that treatments and vaccines can be developed. 

 

😄 (in reference to the bolded)

I am sorry, Jean that it feels like people are thinking you eat poorly because you have health issues. I hope I did not give that impression - and if I did, please forgive me. It was not my intention. Since I don't have any (known) immune issues, my posts usually stem from a broader POV and I can see that reading these very generalized suggestions everywhere must be frustrating when it's not doing a thing for you.

[Liz CA]

2 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

But eatingthings that are good for health in general is only going to help you be in better shape to fight off any illness. Not kill the germs, just have you in good shape. I don't think there are any magic foods, but lots of doctors and nutritionists advice eating onions, beans, greens, mushrooms, ginger, garlic, berries, etc for general health. I think that being healthy has to be better than eating chips and chocolate all day. And tea better than soda, etc. 

That said, I'm fight anyone taking my emergency chocolate. 

 

I have a stash of Theo's in the garage fridge...

[Jean in Newcastle]

7 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

😄 (in reference to the bolded)

I am sorry, Jean that it feels like people are thinking you eat poorly because you have health issues. I hope I did not give that impression - and if I did, please forgive me. It was not my intention. Since I don't have any (known) immune issues, my posts usually stem from a broader POV and I can see that reading these very generalized suggestions everywhere must be frustrating when it's not doing a thing for you.

No, I didn’t get that impression from your posts.   But it bugs me a bit when you tie it to fighting COVID19 instead of just overall health. That’s because eating healthy doesn’t mean that one can relax social distancing etc. And while certain specific health issues are listed as putting people at higher risk, there is no specific data that says eating certain foods makes you in a category where you are more likely to survive.

I apologize if this sounds picky but we are in a general environment where all sorts of rumors and “cures” are circulating. I am passionate about being very careful and accurate in what we share under those circumstances. Especially because while some public figures have been very careful in what information is disseminated, that hasn’t been across the board. Obviously someone eating right isn’t going to die as a result (like someone who listens to those who downplay social distancing might end up dying) but if that advice is misinterpreted as being a cure or a deterrent to the virus then I believe that we have a problem. 

[Liz CA]

15 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

No, I didn’t get that impression from your posts.   But it bugs me a bit when you tie it to fighting COVID19 instead of just overall health. That’s because eating healthy doesn’t mean that one can relax social distancing etc. And while certain specific health issues are listed as putting people at higher risk, there is no specific data that says eating certain foods makes you in a category where you are more likely to survive.

I apologize if this sounds picky but we are in a general environment where all sorts of rumors and “cures” are circulating. I am passionate about being very careful and accurate in what we share under those circumstances. Especially because while some public figures have been very careful in what information is disseminated, that hasn’t been across the board. Obviously someone eating right isn’t going to die as a result (like someone who listens to those who downplay social distancing might end up dying) but if that advice is misinterpreted as being a cure or a deterrent to the virus then I believe that we have a problem. 

 

This is exactly what we were trying to convey - no food is a cure for any specific illness. I think it may be similar to my reading about a "new, all cure stretch for back issues" while I am pretty certain that no such thing exists because I have tried a lot of stretches over the years.

I was just wondering if people are changing / supplementing their diet and/or being more intentional about including healthier foods regularly.

And I don't mean to downplay other common sense precautions like keeping distance and hand washing by saying if you dribble a few drops of essential oil on your kale and chew it right, the virus will skip you even if you disregard all other precautions.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Liz CA

[mathnerd]

51 minutes ago, Danae said:

You can grate it so much easier when it’s frozen. It cuts right through all the stringiness. 

I peel the ginger, cut it roughly and then I make a paste (using mortar and pestle) and put it in ice cube trays and freeze. Easy to take out and use - i usually sauté ginger in oil and 1 cube is enough for a dish.

[mathnerd]

20 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I apologize if this sounds picky but we are in a general environment where all sorts of rumors and “cures” are circulating.

Eating certain foods will not cure COVID-19 (not even if it tea infused with Pangolin-Scales specially concocted for that purpose). But, there are numerous medicinal spices, plants and herbs that effectively boost the body's ability to fight infection. Turmeric, coconut oil, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mint, capsaicin from peppers, ginger, onions, garlic etc etc. These foods are traditionally eaten in many societies as a way to fight infections which is different from "curing" a disease.

In a pandemic situation, it is very helpful if people are aware of this and eat more of those food categories considering that 80% of patients who get this disease have milder symptoms and they are expected to sit at home and fight this off by themselves (which is what my county is suggesting). It makes even more sense to stay healthier and seek out these foods when I see how overwhelmed the medical system has become and the utter lack of PPE and ventilators and drugs. If our immune response to this virus is boosted by eating certain foods, why not add those into our diets on a regular basis at the very least during desperate times? (of course, I am not talking about people who have preexisting health conditions who cannot eat certain things and those who are on medication etc). My point is, for the general public, eating foods known for their antimicrobial properties is a good option as is drinking a lot of fluids, exercising to keep up general good health, eating vitamin supplements and probiotic food.

[Carol in Cal.]

I use ginger regularly anyway and have tried to increase how much of it I use.  It has been harder to find than normal, intermittently, since this started.

[mathnerd]

2 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I use ginger regularly anyway and have tried to increase how much of it I use.  It has been harder to find than normal, intermittently, since this started.

Tons of Organic Ginger and Organic fresh Turmeric root in costco this week. Very reasonable price as well.