By: Ms. Manisha Chopra Nutritionist, Dietitian and Fitness Expert
Monsoon is loved by all. The rains, the cool and cozy environment, the smell of the mud, and all that follows after gives a soothing relief from the unbearable scorching summer heat. Keeping aside all the good things, monsoon season is also a plethora of a number of infections, ailments, seasonal flu, cough and cold. Most of these ailments happens because people become careless about their health during monsoons. They often get wet, eat junk and fried food and then end up getting infected. This is the reason why people are time-to-time advised to take good care of their well being, primarily through food and fitness.
Before we discuss about the foods, we need to understand what makes monsoon different from the other seasons. The highly humid monsoon weather tends to cause our digestive system to slow down which can cause problems like bloating, gas, acidity & indigestion. The lower immune system is one of the main reasons which is common in monsoon diseases and some-how they find the way in our body. So, a healthy diet in the monsoon is the key to good gut.
Following are some foods that one should eat and avoid during monsoons:
Foods to include in your monsoon diet
1. Fruits: Eat fresh and seasonal fruits like Apple, Litchi, Jamuns, Plums, Papaya, Cherries, Pomegranates. They are some of the best additions to your diet in rainy seasons to improve immune system. Avoid Watermelon and Muskmelon.
2. Vegetables: Bitter is better. Adding veggies like Methi, Bitter guard, Neem, Indian squash etc. to the diet can help in preventing infections.
3. Herbal Warm Water: Those who suffer from infections and fever during rainy season can find relief with detox water prepared from ingredients like ginger, tulsi and a dash of medical spices like cloves, pepper, cinnamon and cardamom.
4. Prefer Curd over Milk: Prefer curd over milk as it avoids the possibilities of bad bacteria present in it.
5. Garlic: Garlic helps in improving the immune system so try to add a hint of garlic in almost every meal during monsoons.
These are the good food which you can have to sustain your good health.
Foods you should avoid during rainy season
1. Watery Food: Foods like Buttermilk, Lassi, Rice, Watermelon etc. should be avoided as they can cause swelling in the body. Doing this will help in water retention.
2. Spicy Food: If one is prone to allergies during monsoon, then they should avoid spicy food because spices increase body temperature and stimulate blood circulation which leads to faster spread of the allergies. So, try to avoid spicy food completely.
3. Eating Meat: If you are one of them who cannot do without non-vegetarian food, you’ll must skip it fir sometime. At least limit meat consumption for a couple of months. Instead of consuming heavy curry dishes or meat, prefer soups.
4. Fried or Junk Food: Do not eat heavy food no matter how irresistible they are. The highly humid monsoon weather tends to cause our digestion system process to slow down which can cause many problems. Also, do not reuse the oil you have fried in once because it can be toxic.
