Staying Immune in Rainy Season : the Ayurvedic way

By Dr. Somasree A S

Ayurveda is one of the few ancient medical systems that give importance to prophylaxis. By recommending what regimen to follow each season, Ayurveda dictates how you can stay healthy, unaffected by seasonal changes.

Traditional Kerala Ayurveda gives a lot of importance to the rainy season. The pH imbalance and polluted nature of water  in the season makes it unhealthy, thus weakening the strength of everyone who drinks it. It is very customary to do an annual cleanse followed by a nutritive and light diet in monsoon months. This is believed to be rejuvenative.

When is Rainy Season in India? 

Monsoon hits India from June to mid September annually. During this time, a person’s body strength, immunity, digestive secretion and digestive power reduces.

So, the chances of health issues like low appetite, communicable fevers, diarrhoea and dysentery are high.

Therefore one must follow a specific diet that is easy to digest & moderate in amount along with a healthy lifestyle.

So what should you do to boost your immunity? 

5 Food tips for the Rainy Season!

  1. Consume light and fresh foods.
  2. Warm soups are good! Make them with vegetables, greens etc.
  3. Add a bit of Oil and Salt in your food, as it combats increasing Vata. Sour is good too.
  4. Drink boiled warm water only.
  5. Include cow’s ghee, lean meat, lentils ,ginger and green gram in daily diet.

What to Avoid?

  • Avoid drinking excess fluids as this further slows down the metabolism.
  • Avoid heavy and slow digesting foods. Like red meat and yogurt.
  • Avoid day sleeping
  • Avoid excessive physical exercise and excess sexual intercourse.
  • Avoid getting wet in the rains. If you happen to get wet, change into dry clothes as soon as possible to avoid getting infections as immunity is going down during this season. Also, don’t turn on the air condition with wet hair and clothes. You can do dry neem leaves fumigation of clothes and house to reduce fungus etc.

As mentioned earlier, Monsoons are a wonderful time to do some detoxing to your system. Consult a physician as to what to do and how to do it.

Enjoy a fantastic Monsoon!