After days of relentless summer heat, the rainy season brings along the much-needed respite from the blazing sun and soaring temperatures. But when the monsoon arrives it increases the chances of contamination owing to water-logging as well as various bacterial and viral infections.The best way to enjoy monsoons is by boosting your immunity, cleaning your surroundings and staying away from possible sources of contamination and infection. Read on for some simple and effective dietary and everyday tips to stay healthy during the rainy season.
FOODS TO EAT
Here are few dietary tips which will increase your power of digestion, and strengthen the digestive system during the rainy season:
-Drink warm beverages. Add mint or ginger or dry ginger powder to tea.
-Include naturally sour food (not fermented) like tamarind, tomato, lime, thin buttermilk and kokum in your diet.
-Have plenty of moong dal, especially the watery kind, as it is easy to digest. Add more of garlic, pepper, ginger, asafoetida, sonth, turmeric, coriander and jeera to your platter to enhance your body’s digestive power and improve immunity in monsoon.
-Binge on green vegetables like bhindi, dudhi, parwal, suran, roasted baingan, and karela in the rainy season.
-Eat lighter meat preparations like soups and stews rather than heavy curries.
-Drink only boiled and filtered water. And take plenty of water, even if you don’t feel thirsty. Remember dehydration is a possibility during the monsoon too.
FOODS TO AVOID
Here is the list of foods that you must avoid to breeze healthy through monsoon:
-Avoid eating food straight out of the fridge. Fresh foods are the best, but if you like to store cooked food in the fridge, heat it gradually and thoroughly before eating.
-Avoid leafy vegetables like spinach.
-Say a big no to street food in monsoon
-Don’t look for reasons to bite fried snacks and junk in the name of rain. These foods make you prone you to infections.
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
-Take extra care of your feet. Wash your feet using a scrub and wipe it dry every time you come in from outside as humidity does cause fungal infections.
-Wash and disinfect your hands frequently.
-Avoid eating at places which are crowded, or where mass cooking goes on.
-Wash your clothes and clean your house with antiseptic liquids.
-Do not let water stagnate around your dwellings, as mosquitoes breed in these waters. Also, ensure that the underground and overhead water tanks are disinfected and cleaned before and after the monsoon
-Keep your house and surroundings dry and clean as possible.
-Maintain indoor plants properly and try not to over water them. Prune them well and discard any dead plant matter.
-Consult a doctor, if you have a fever for more than three days.