Should You Worry About Sugar If You’re Skinny?
Even if you don’t have a weight problem, you should still avoid eating too much sweet stuff. Sugar doesn’t care what size your jeans are—consuming too much will still increase inflammation, lower immunity, and boost your overall risk of illness. Don’t confuse inner health with outer appearance: There are plenty of thin people who aren’t metabolically healthy.
2. Eat foods that come from a farm, not a lab. You’ve likely heard this advice before, but subsisting off processed foods, as the majority of Americans do, harms your health by giving you lots of sugar, unhealthy fat, and food chemicals, and very little of the good fat, fiber, protein, and micronutrients we all need to thrive. The standard diet high in processed foods can impair your overall health and weaken your immune system.
3. Consider a low-carb or keto diet. Before I extoll the benefits of low-carb eating, it’s important to realize that no large, definitive study to date has shown that a low-carb or ketogenic diet is some silver bullet for COVID-19. There’s also not an overwhelming amount of research to suggest either diet increases immunity.
In my opinion, the real reason to consider going low carb is the same that I outlined in chapter 1: Consuming a diet low in carbs and high in healthy fat and protein is one of the best ways to lose weight—and losing weight, if you’re overweight or obese, is a surefire way to increase immunity. Following a low-carb or keto diet can also help lower blood-sugar levels, stave off diabetes, and help treat high blood pressure.
Despite what you may have seen on the Internet, you don’t need to count fat or carb grams or prick your finger for a blood sample to make sure you’re in ketosis—a state in which your body burns fat for fuel instead of carbs. Not only is it controversial whether everyday dieters can even reach ketosis,17 but it’s also nearly impossible to sustain these types of super restrictive diets for the weeks or months necessary to see results.
My advice: Make whole-grain carbs like quinoa, farro, rice, oats, and 100 percent whole wheat flour no more than a quarter of every meal. Cut down significantly on added sugar, eliminate soda, sweets, and other instant insulin boosters, and avoid adding sugar or artificial sweeteners to coffee, tea, etc.
4. Eat your vitamin D. If any foods have the power to boost immunity, it may be salmon, yogurt, white mushrooms, fortified milk, and other items rich in vitamin D. Studies now show that increased D can improve immune function, decrease inflammation, and even have antiviral effects—and their data is based on both association and causation.
There may be another reason to load up on more dietary D now: The people who have suffered the most with COVID-19—elderly, obese, and black and brown people—are more likely to have low vitamin D levels.18
For these reasons, I suggest increasing your D levels by eating more foods high in the vitamin. Fatty fish like salmon and mackerel is the best source, but if you don’t like fish, you can consider taking a vitamin D3 supplement, which is more effective in raising nutrient levels than the other common form, D2. The National Institutes of Health recommend adults under age seventy get 600 IU of vitamin D daily—the equivalent of more than three ounces of salmon or at least five eight-ounce glasses of fortified milk per day.19 If you’re at high risk for COVID-19, talk with your doctor about supplementing with higher doses of the vitamin.
5. Limit your alcohol intake. I love wine and tequila as much as anyone else, but I try not to drink either too often, especially during a pandemic, when booze can be especially deleterious to our health. Despite the fact that many Americans started drinking more alcohol during the outbreak, booze is the last thing your body needs physically or mentally during a pandemic. Specific to COVID-19, excess alcohol consumption can suppress your immune system, raise your blood pressure, and boost blood-sugar levels.
6. Keep up your cooking habit. With restaurants shuttered and some (unfounded) fears about the safety of takeout, millions of Americans started cooking more at home, with surveys estimating a 60 percent increase in the number of people making homemade meals.20 While not all pandemic-induced dietary changes have been beneficial, this is one to sustain: People who cook frequently at home are healthier and consume fewer calories than people who eat out more often, according to research.21 For more on why to cook in our new normal, see here.
Eight Steps to Stop Stress Eating in a Pandemic
For millions of Americans, the problem with the pandemic hasn’t been what we’re eating, but how much or how often we’re eating. While I certainly made poor food choices at the beginning of the outbreak, what really impacted my waistline and mood was how much and how often I ate. My stress eating was partly due to proximity: I was home, within feet of the fridge and my kitchen cabinets all day, which is something I know many people in our new normal can relate to.
For others, stress eating has been born out of exactly that—stress—along with the feelings of loneliness, sadness, depression, and universal loss that we detailed in chapter 2. I get it: This is a really difficult time for us all, and it is human nature to try to self-soothe with food, especially sugary, high-carb items that can provide a momentary uptick in our mood. Many of us also physically want to fill up the loss with what we can put in our mouths. Unfortunately, any mood uptick we get with food is only momentary, while eating too much of anything—especially sugary, high-carb foods—can make us feel emptier in the end.
I want you to know that stress eating and overeating are really common problems—I talk with patients who suffer from them every day. But while they’re common, they’re not impossible to overcome. Here are eight ways I help my patients stop stress eating:
Admit you have a problem. It’s just like every twelve-step self-help group: The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. For me, step one to getting back on track was acknowledging that I had jumped the track in the first place. Recognizing that we have a problem can trigger the realization that something has to change, which is sometimes all we need to be able to begin to initiate that change.
Adjust your input to your output. If you’re still eating like you’re walking to work every morning or going to the gym after the office every night, it’s time to rethink your consumption habits. If you’re moving or exercising less because of the pandemic, you should also be eating less, plain and simple. This was my first mistake. In pre-pandemic times, I was out of my apartment twelve hours a day, seeing patients and walking around my office, walking to ABC or the store, and going to the gym most days of the week. But when I had to stop going to the gym and didn’t step foot outside the tiny perimeter of my apartment, I still ate like I did before stay-at-home orders were issued. This was a big factor for me in weight gain and mood changes.
Steer clear of peer pressure. Families and roommates are all seeing a lot more of each other these days, with so many working or schooling from home. But just because your kid is eating cookies or your spouse is ordering pizza doesn’t mean you need to indulge, too. Our eating behaviors are often influenced by those around us, but they don’t have to be if we’re aware of the effect. Stick to your own eating schedule and remember that what a fifteen-year-old teen can eat is different from what a thirty-year-old can eat, which is different from a sixty-year-old.
Ask for support. As New York governor Andrew Cuomo said, “It’s not about me, it’s about we.” We’re all in this together, and when you’re hunkered down with your pandemic pod, your behavior doesn’t just impact you—it impacts all of those around you. Whether you live with one person or five, it’s okay to tell your squad that you’re struggling with food and need their help. To soften the ask, make it about what’s best for the team, not necessarily you, as having healthier food in the house will benefit everyone. If you have certain trigger foods, ask that those be kept out of the house or limited to special occasions only.
Find alternative paths of pleasure. The pandemic has taken away many pleasurable activities, like dining out, hanging out with friends, going to shows o
r movies, traveling, shopping, and much more. While you may have turned to eating as a way to replace some lost pleasure, it’s not a healthy coping mechanism, especially if you’re overeating or indulging in high-calorie comfort food. Find something else that can give you pleasure whenever you find yourself tempted to use food for fun, like listening to music, watching a favorite show, or calling a friend.
Remember that a pandemic lasts a lot longer than a bad breakup. In pre-pandemic days, we typically turned to comfort foods after a bad breakup, a difficult day in the office, or some other unpleasant, isolated event. But these examples are short-lived and unique, not the norm and ongoing like a pandemic is. In other words, you can’t self-soothe your way through a continuing health crisis. If you’re using food to cope with feelings of fear, anxiety, loneliness, or even boredom, reach out to a therapist who can help you address those emotions without the help of a pint of ice cream or a plate of donuts.
Acknowledge, then dismiss animal instincts. Binge eating is a primal instinct. At the same time, the human brain has evolved significantly since the days when eating an entire beast by the fire was necessary for survival. Humans now have something called executive function, which helps us self-regulate, among other high-level cognitive skills. Self-control is what helps to distinguish us from animals. While animals will keep eating until there is no more food, humans know better. While it may be easy to believe that we deserve all the cookies we want during a pandemic, we can’t do that if we want to be happy and healthy. The next time you’re tempted to overeat, recognize your animal instincts and choose to listen to your higher brain instead.
Make the paradigm shift. You can’t keep doing what you’re doing over and over again and expect different results. Realize that you have to make a paradigm shift about how you’re eating and living in order to overhaul a bad habit and instigate change. You don’t have to do everything at once or cut out five food groups to get that change, either. Remember that small steps can add up to huge results when you’re consistent and patient.
Why Pandemic Cooking is a Power Play
Before the pandemic, I avoided cooking as much as I do uncomfortable shoes. I disliked cooking so much that I’d volunteer to set the table, clear the table, and do all the dishes before raising my hand to make a meal. And . . . I wasn’t good at cooking—at all. The times I’d tried to cook had produced only unappetizing results, and I thought I didn’t have the patience or time for it.
But the pandemic reversed my lifelong unwillingness to cook in a matter of weeks, as it did for millions of other Americans. We are now reportedly cooking more as a country than we have in the last fifty years.22 Supermarket executives say people are also taking on more complex cooking—a trend they say they don’t see going away anytime soon.23
After New York City went into lockdown, I started cooking at home first out of convenience: With many takeout places closed and those open averaging more than the hour-plus it normally takes to get delivery in Manhattan, cooking was considerably easier and faster. But as I became more comfortable in the kitchen—and got a few glowing reviews from my kids, who clearly are easily impressed!—I started to enjoy the process of cooking, too. I also discovered that cooking gave me a sense of control at a time when everything felt out of control.
My gateway meal was a dish we featured on Good Morning America: baked peppers with ground turkey, mozzarella cheese, and marinara sauce. The recipe is from Good Morning America co-anchor Amy Robach’s mother, Joanie Robach, who started an amazing recipe site called My Keto Home full of delicious, low-carb dishes. I never thought I could make something that looked and tasted so good, but it was super easy—and a massive ego booster after my kids told me the dish was the best thing ever. I started making my own modifications to the recipe while learning new ones.
I still cook today, as I’ve learned that there are some big benefits to the habit in our new normal. Here are reasons to keep up the cooking habit:
Cooking is cheaper. Who doesn’t love free money? When you cook at home, you save up to five times the amount of money you would spend when ordering from a restaurant, according to research.24 While you may need to make an initial investment in pantry basics if you haven’t cooked before, these items will pay off big time in your budget if you keep up the habit. Don’t think you have to make only pasta or other inexpensive carbs to save money, either: Cooking with meat, seafood, and fresh vegetables and fruits also saves money, experts say.25
Cooking is more convenient. This was the hook for me. Since my schedule is usually insane, I figured I didn’t have time to cook before the pandemic. But when the outbreak hit, I realized it didn’t take any longer to cook my meals than to order takeout, especially when you consider the wait time and the possible commute time to pick it up. You can make cooking even more convenient by learning a few fast go-to recipes, planning in advance, and shopping only once a week—which is a smart habit to adopt anyway during a pandemic.
Cooking is educational. Cooking a meal is a lesson in itself for all ages and various subjects, including math, reading, physics, science, home economics, and nutrition. Plus, when you cook with kids, you’re teaching them a life skill and fostering a new passion they’ll hopefully sustain for life.
Cooking is therapy. Before the pandemic, I assumed cooking was stressful, but I now know that nothing is further from the truth. Cooking has helped me slow down and take the time to enjoy a process, relaxing me in a way few other activities can. Like jogging, I now see cooking as a time to reflect and self-nurture. Making your own meals can also be a good distraction from whatever’s going on in the world around you.
Cooking is fun—and one of the few social activities we have. Not only is it relaxing, cooking is also fun—and can be even more enjoyable when you get others involved, especially now when we have fewer social options than we did before the pandemic. Cooking helps fill the void by offering a communal experience that can be different every night you try a new meal. In fact, trying new things like cooking can help couples stay more connected, according to the American Psychological Association.26 Live alone? Cook with others and compare techniques and taste over Zoom, FaceTime, or Skype. I’ve even heard about people holding entire dinner parties over live video.
Cooking is control when the world feels out of control. I gravitated to cooking because it lets me control something—when, what, and how much I ate—at a time when everything was out of my control. That uncertainty still exists, both in our personal lives and the world at large, and cooking can help provide a sense of normalcy and control. Cooking also produces immediate results that you can taste and touch, which can establish that you can do tangible, productive, and beneficial things to improve your life now.
Cooking is healthier. I saved the best for last because you’ve heard it before: People who cook more frequently at home consume less sugar and fewer calories. Home chefs also have an easier time maintaining or losing weight: When you make your own meals, you control the ingredients and portion sizes rather than leaving it up to the whims of a restaurant chef. And whims can wreak havoc: Studies show that most restaurant dishes contain the number of calories we need in a single day, not a single meal,27 while 92 percent of all restaurant meals exceed normal serving sizes.28 Home-cooking also obviates the temptation even the healthiest eaters can feel when facing a menu of tempting options, no matter how many times they told themselves they’d stick to the salad.
Is Takeout Food Safe to Eat?
I’ve been asked this question on air countless times, and I think it’s important to set the record straight: The coronavirus is a respiratory virus, and research shows that COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets and aerosolized particles, not through food or people touching food that’s served to you. To worry if the coronavirus is hiding in takeout is an example of fear without facts. On the other hand, E. coli, salmonella, listeria, and other food-borne pathogens, which sicken thousands across the United States every year, can be lurking in foods
, yet these outbreaks usually don’t deter people from eating out.
During the early pandemic, I ordered takeout all the time. In fact, I made a conscientious effort to order food from local restaurants several times a week in order to support small businesses that I knew were struggling. My takeout bill went through the roof, and while I benefited, it was the least I could do to try to offset some of the risks essential restaurant workers exposed themselves and their families to.
How to Stock Your Kitchen for Any Emergency
Coronavirus isn’t the only threat that may interfere with your ability to go out and get food. It’s helpful to know how to stock up for any kind of emergency, including a severe storm, food-supply disruption, widespread power outage, or flood. Don’t wait until an emergency has already happened to prepare for it—you might not have the chance. Here are steps to get your kitchen emergency-ready:
Toss it out before it sickens someone. They lurk in nearly every kitchen cabinet: those foods far past their use-by or sell-by date or that will never be eaten by anyone in your house ever. Make room for essentials by tossing them. Throwing out expired foods also reduces the risk of eating something that may make you sick.
Think meals, not snacks. When lockdown orders went into effect early in the pandemic, sales of chips, pretzels, cookies, and other snack foods skyrocketed. While it’s fine to have these on hand in an emergency, you can’t eat chips and dip for dinner for two weeks. Before shopping, take the time to plan out actual meals that you can make if you have to shelter in place. Keep in mind that you may not have power, so include some canned and/or boxed items that don’t need to be cooked.
Buy what you like, not what you see in movies. A big mistake a lot of people make is loading up on the foods they think they need in an emergency, not the ones they’re most likely to eat. If you stock up on canned ham, for example, because you think that’s what people should eat in an emergency, but you can’t actually stand the taste, sheltering in place for two weeks is going to be more stressful than it already is. When the CDC warned Americans to prepare to stay at home for two weeks, I stocked up on sardines and Wasa crackers—two foods I love that I can easily turn into a sardine sandwich for dinner every night. But if I had to eat canned beans for two weeks, I’d be miserable and more anxious than I already may be if there are stay-at-home orders in place.
The New Normal Page 9