Having worked on yachts when we did crossings I had to make sure the boat and the food was completely sterile and safe for a long period crossing oceans- that it would keep for a long time even fresh food and keep the crew well fed happy and healthy. There are NO doctors or hospitals at seas. These are tips that can now be used if a house is in self isolation and in this Corona Virus situation.
Viruses come in many shapes and sizes. Some are spread through the air, when people cough or sneeze. Others move via contaminated foods, dirty hands or polluted water. Some are carried by insects and can be transferred by bites; others travel in bodily fluids. If your immune system is strong and working it will have a range of reactions to get rid of infections some people can be expected to fall ‘under the weather’ rapidly. The minuscule micro-organisms reproduce by hijacking the healthy cells in your body and using them to multiply and spread. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses (though they do work on bacterial infections) and as rapidly as modern medicine comes up with pharmaceutical products to neutralise their effects, currently Corona viruses are clad in sharp spikes, which like a space invader game use these legs to stick into and inject attack and overrun your healthy cells. Watch under a microscope and you will see a virus attach itself to the smooth walls of your cell and stick its spikes through your cell membrane, allowing it first to gain a foothold, then to colonise and rapidly multiply. Scientific Research has shown that protective compounds in the Elder berries unhook viral spikes and can do this constantly
Buy Elderflower tea and cordial -ideally in season make your own drink it all the time.
Make hot drinks using fresh lemon honey and liquid Cinnamon(NOT DRIED POWDER THAT CAN DAMAGE LUNGS IF inhalled) – I add a bit of ribena for taste- Recent research in lung cancer has found that cinnamon also has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant benefit so for viruses that target the lungs might help. Hot drinks also destroy viruses in the mouth and wash them into the digestive system where they are destroyed
Have milk thistle to protect the liver and kidney get rid of pathogens through bodily waste
If you have bought several items such as lettuce or cabbage do not use one up then go onto the other – each day use just the outside leaves of each one.
Buy all your root vegetables such as carrots parsnips with mud on – you can buy these in sacks keep in a cool dark place such as a cellar or cold room and they will last for months.
Fried pulses are brilliant you can store them for a long time just add water and you can make nutritious meals.
Allow food that does not need cooking – plenty of tins of tuna fish sweetcorn mayonnaise tinned fruit
HEALTHY HOUSEKEEPING WHEN THERE IS A POSSIBLE VIRUS
If you have everyone at home make sure you wear marigold or medical gloves at all times to collect empty dishes and cups and add a milton sterilising tablet to the dishwasher.
Hipiscrub used nby doctors or a vet equivilent called Epicleanse are excellent handwashes
Steam ironing effectively kills bacteria because the iron has to heat the water to 212 °F in order to generate steam, and most bacteria can‘t survive at this high temperature. Studies show that washing and tumble drying alone does not eliminate all germs and that ironing plays an important role in sanitizing clothing. Take a bucket of hot soapy water with you to do beds and bathrooms and put any flannel and pillow cases every day in this and transfer to a hot wash – then tumble dry on a high temperature or ideally out in the sunshine to dry and iron – Ironing was always used to kill bugs and germs on fabrics even in the old days.
In the morning and evening Prepare a jug of kettle boiling water and a milton sterilising tablet -in the bathroom when family brush their teeth tell them to put each separate toothbrush in its own mug of hot sterile. Do not let children do this on their own they need to have their parents take care of this to avoid burning themselves with hot water. Each day take the mug and put through the dish washer replacing it with a new sterile mug.
Never empty bathroom and kitchen bins without wearing gloves and remove from the house in sealed bags.
When post is delivered open the envelopes with gloves on – with all food delivery – wipe surfaces with a milton solution and dry with paper towel before putting away.
ALWAYS USE VACCUMS WITH BAGS Clean and replace all filters in air conditioning units ideally with Hepa filters – ditto the hoover –
use gloves and cover your mouth to remove bags when replacing put in a sealed bad into the trash.
MENTAL HEALTH
Keep busy doing useful things – put on music and clean clean clean your house and your CAR!
Get in the garden and dig and plant vegetables fruit and herbs – whatever happens you can have delicious fresh food its good exercise and the kids will love it
Go for walks our countryside is beautiful at this time of year
Telephone people- forget texting and social media call them up and say hello check they are ok especially elderly relatives or those who are single