Living under quarantine can present a variety of challenges—especially when it comes to maintaining a healthy diet. Some people seem to be getting into the best shape of their lives while others have been eating their feelings.
Healthy food items
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Either way, nutrition plays a vital preventative role in maintaining health. “What you eat affects your body and the way you feel every day,” explains Dr. Adrian Heini, a doctor of internal and preventative medicine with a Clinical Nutrition specialty at the Clinique La Prairie Medical Clinic. “By consuming a variety of food, your body takes in thousands of phytochemicals acting together to help provide you protection against inflammation, oxidative stress, and low immune activity. Let’s not forget the importance of proteins, which are critical for good immune system function since white blood cells and enzymes fighting against aggressive microbes, are made out of them.”
With so many people still under stay-at-home orders, I’ve rounded up some delicious healthy foods and snacks that provide your body valuable nutrients and minerals that can be delivered right to your door.
Ayoba Biltong
Ayoba Yo Biltong + Droewors
Courtesy of Ayoba
If you like cured meats, you will love Ayoba Biltong, an air-dried meat snack that originates from South Africa made from grass-fed beef that’s marinated, seasoned, and hung to dry for fourteen days. But don’t confuse this snack with beef jerky.
Founded by brothers Emile and Wian van Blommestein, Wian tells me, “Typically, beef jerky is heated at a low temperature for six hours. This leaves the beef very dry. To counter this dryness, most beef jerky recipes use either a sugar marinade or artificial ingredients to soften the beef. Biltong’s difference lies in the drying process,” That process includes being hung dry much like prosciutto. The result is an incredibly tender snack without all of the added sugars and ingredients including no added nitrates. “The Biltong drying process also leaves more muscle fibers intact, which means Ayoba Biltong contains more protein than jerky.”
Biltong has a long rich history in South Africa dating back 400 years and was first created by the country’s indigenous people when they cured the meat in salt. As Europeans settled the country they brought with them more sophisticated means to cure the meat including the use of vinegar and select spices. “Our Biltong adventure started in our family kitchen with an authentic South African family recipe that has been passed down countless generations within the van Blommestein family,” shares Wian. “Our recipes have evolved over the years, but one rule remains the same: we stick to the basics and use only all-natural spices to accomplish our rich flavor profiles, such as freshly ground black pepper, coriander and rosemary.”
As a gal who’s been known to travel with cured meats in her purse to satisfy her sudden need for protein, I love Ayoba Biltong. I also love the brand’s Droewors, which are meat sticks. The meat is tender (i.e. doesn’t break your teeth), perfectly seasoned, satisfying, and not loaded with chemicals like many of the other products in the marketplace. Ayoba Biltong can be purchased directly from at AyobaFoods.com, where their warehouse is open and shipping daily in addition to being available on Amazon.com.
BRAMI Italian Snacking Lupini Beans
BRAMI Lupini Beans
Courtesy of BRAMI
If you’ve never heard of lupini beans, they are Italy’s answer to edamame. These lightly pickled beans were once fuel for Roman warriors and are now enjoyed as an appetizer across the Mediterranean region. BRAMI founder, Aaron Gatti, grew up snacking on lupini beans when he was visiting family in Rome as a young man. But, it was on a trip with his wife that he rediscovered his lov
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