“Close scrutiny will show that most ‘crisis situations’ are opportunities to either advance, or stay where you are.” – Maxwell Maltz
It looks like the world is facing its first major pandemic. Nevertheless, many philosophers and deep thinkers have observed that every crisis always have a silver lining.
While mental health is something most people especially Africans don’t like to talk about, it has to be addressed. A healthy mind will help a healthy body function optimally and either of the two cannot exist independently.
As a result of this, the Glazia team decided to make the best out of this situation and introduce the Glazing Health challenge! It is a health crisis but how about you use this time to boost your wellness and come out stronger and better?
DAY 4 – Eat Fruits And Vegetables All Day Long
Today’s challenge will be a truly transformative one. Some people call it fruit fast, others call it plant – based diet. it is basically eating only fruits and vegetables all day long. No meat, no diary, nothing aside fruits and vegetables. Though this may seem very difficult / challenging especially if you like junk or desert. However, it is known as one of the ways to detoxify your system as well as re-vitalize your body; as you will be pumped with vitamins and minerals all day. Now that physical movements are restricted, this is another way to burn some calories. This will even help the brain which is now the most worked organ to improve its capacity.
Fruit and vegetables are important components of a healthy diet, and their sufficient daily consumption could help prevent major diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers. Approximately 16.0 million (1.0%) disability adjusted life years (DALYs, a measure of the potential life lost due to premature mortality and the years of productive life lost due to disability) and 1.7 million (2.8%) of deaths worldwide are attributable to low fruit and vegetable consumption.
Moreover, insufficient intake of fruit and vegetables is estimated to cause around 14% of gastrointestinal cancer deaths, about 11% of ischemic heart disease deaths and about 9% of stroke deaths globally.
A recently published WHO/FAO report recommends a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables per day (excluding potatoes and other starchy tubers) for the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity, as well as for the prevention and alleviation of several micronutrient deficiencies, especially in less developed countries.
WHO and FAO launched in 2003, a joint Initiative to promote fruit and vegetables for health worldwide.
A few tips to successfully carry out this challenge include;
- Have all the fruits you need for this exercise at home or get them from somewhere nearby and go protected. Safety first
- Make sure you get enough fruits for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner
- Get enough water as you will need a lot of fluids
- Variety is the spice of life. Make sure you are not buying just one fruit
- You can make smoothies out of your fruits.
- Use your vegetables to make delicious meals devoid of too much sodium or any kind of calorie. We have a recipe for a delicious immune booster. Click and use that
Do write us to let us know how this went. You can tag us on social media with the hashtag #GlazingHealth and nominate your friends and family to participate.
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