5 lifestyle changes towards building immunity

New Delhi: The monsoon is here. As much as we enjoy the rain, it is also the time when the humidity levels in the atmosphere are their highest, resulting in poor digestion and reduced immunity. This makes us more vulnerable to diseases during the season.

Thus, it is important to eat foods which boost immunity and prevent us from contracting water borne diseases such as indigestion, diarrhoea, jaundice, etc. in order to keep us safe during this lockdown.Sheryl Salis, Registered Dietician, and Certified Diabetes Educator shares five easy steps towards eating healthy along with consuming proper nutrition, so you can enjoy the monsoon while keeping up with your fitness goals:

Make Healthier choices

Sip on warm Moringa Green Teas and Green Coffees

Nothing beats the feeling of drinking our favourite hot beverages during the monsoon. You can switch to healthier alternatives like superfood Moringa Green Tea which is a nutrition powerhouse, filled with minerals and vitamins like vitamin C. Superfoods like Moringa are infused with antioxidant properties that boost immunity as well as help regulate the metabolism. With numerous flavours available like honey, lemon, lemon grass and mint, it can bring relief from cold and phlegm which is a common occurrence during the monsoon.

While moringa green tea satiates the tea enthusiasts, coffee lovers can try out the healthier Green coffee which is a health booster and high in antioxidants. The unroasted cousin of coffee, the healthier version is loaded with immunity boosting properties and therefore has three times the antioxidant potential which is otherwise lost during the roasting process. It not only makes for a really healthy alternative but also tastes great.

Don’t forget your dose of proteins

For the best of immunity during this season, it is vital to consume a good quantity and quality of protein in our diet. A quarter of your meal should always include the right protein. Nowadays, instant-ready High Protein soups infused with superfoods like quinoa, amaranth and turmeric are available which are really nutritious and have up to 4x protein content v/s regular soups. It is a convenient and nourishing option to keep you warm and active while cleansing your body of bacteria and waste products. One of the best things about soups is that when you are hungry in the evenings, this plays out as a very good evening snack. For people also soaked in rain water, it helps achieve instant relief since its warm base clears up phlegm in the nasal cavities and general throat area.

Besides soups you can also include seasonal delicacies like bhutta which can be turned into spicy and tangy grilled corn for light snacking along with steamed muthiyas, boiled groundnuts and warm salads that are super healthy and provide instant respite to our monsoon snack cravings.

Consume select fruit, veggies and cooked foods

As our bodies find it harder to digest food during the monsoon, one should eat in moderation and eat only when hungry. Practice thorough washing of fruit and vegetables, particularly leafy vegetables and cauliflower with salt or baking soda. One can also opt for non-leafy vegetables such as snake gourd (pawal), bottle gourd (dudhi), apple gourd (tinda), bitter gourd (karela), cluster beans, French beans, etc. in their diet. However, avoid uncooked food, raw salads and sprouts. Steam those veggies and sprouts well before consuming them to avoid contracting water borne illnesses. Seasonal fruit like mangoes, bananas, apples, litchis, cherries and pomegranates should be eaten as the non-seasonal ones may be infested with disease inducing worms.

Maintain your salt and water levels

Salt is one of the ingredients that complete our food along with adding a dash of edge to our fancy dishes, but excess of it causes water retention and bloating in the body especially in monsoon. Thus, avoid excess salt in your diet while also going slow on pickles, papads, chutneys, especially packaged and canned foods. Maintain your hydration and proper flushing out of the toxins by drinking adequate amounts of boiled and filtered water within 24 hours.

Revisit those ‘Dadi ke nuskhe’ monsoon home remedies

Every household has their own version of home remedies to cure common cold, indigestion, etc. that are passed down from generation to generation. Home remedies like ‘kadhas’ and other traditional tonics can be consumed regularly to always stay on your A-game. Concoctions prepared out of ingredients like virgin coconut oil (10 ml), garlic (2-3 freshly chopped cloves), fennel (2-3 teaspoons), ginger (1-2 inch), cloves (3 -4), cumin seeds (2-3 teaspoons), and turmeric (4 pinches) can be consumed frequently since they are anti-viral in nature that help in boosting our body’s immune system functioning.

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Coronavirus Treatment: Swedish Firm Claims Their Mouth Spray, ColdZyme Could Deactivate COVID In The Mouth By 98.3%

01/6Could a mouth spray kill COVID-19 causing virus?

With no available cure or treatment in place, and a vaccine still far from being available for public use, doctors are experimenting with a lot of different therapies and repurposing some drugs (such as dexamethasone, favipiravir and hydroxychloroquine) to treat COVID+ patients.

In a new study, experts are now researching on the idea whether the novel coronavirus infection could be suspended through primary infection sites, such as the mouth or the nose, by administrating drugs to stop the attack.

02/6Swedish life-sciences firm claims their common-cold fighting spray could work

Making a revolutionary claim, Swedish scientists say that one of their homegrown drugs, used to beat common cold can effectively root out 98.3% of COVID-19 causing viruses.

The announcement was made by a Swedish life sciences firm, Enzymatica, who claimed that a mouth spray manufactured by the company, ColdZyme carries the potential of killing the deadly SARS-COV2 virus by a big percentage. The global infection toll for COVID-19 pandemic stands at 14.8 million, with over 6,00,000 reported fatalities.

The news comes after the pharma company conducted pre-clinical trials of the medicine and found positive results against the disease. Sweden currently has over 78,000 active cases and nearly 5000 people have lost their lives.

03/6The study

The company conducted several rounds of in-vitro trials wherein it was observed that the medicine, ColdZyme, used in the treatment of the common cold (caused by another type of virus) was able to disinfect the SARS-COV-2 virus and also provide protection against several kinds of other viruses known to infect humans.

The anti-cold spray works by directly injecting the solution into the mouth and thereby focus on surface and local level virus contamination. The mouth administrated spray is made out of a composition of glycerol and Atlantic cod trypsin and builds a 'barrier' of sorts, preventing any bacteria or virus from entering, and lowering their power.

04/6Mouth injection could deliver fast results, say experts

In a statement, officials from the company said that the spray was also fast-acting, and hence could effectively root out the deadly virus, probably faster than any test or other form of treatment.

"A virucidal efficacy suspension test was conducted using ColdZyme against SARS-CoV-2. ColdZyme deactivated SARS-CoV-2 by 98.3% (1.76 log10) in 20 minutes"

The company's claim of a mouth injection, experts say, could be helpful in stopping and preventing mild to moderate level COVID-19 infections, considering the fact that SARS-COV-2 can stem off in the mouth and nasal cavities and start replicating in the throat, before attacking other vital organs in the body. The product under testing could work by decreasing the viral load of the active virus, and thereby, stopping any attack.

05/6Does it have any side-effects?

It was also observed that the commonly used drug did not produce any sort of harmful side-effects or toxicity in the host body.

"Furthermore, no cytotoxicity was detected for ColdZyme at any dilution tested. The study was conducted by the US company Microbac Laboratories Inc - an independent accredited and certified laboratory,”

06/6Could it help fight the pandemic?

The company is very hopeful that their product meets all safety requirement and can emerge as a life-saving drug against the pandemic. Swedish officials are also asserting that since the mouth spray is a very commonly used product, there won't be many dangers if the product moves onto clinical trials fast. They also said that the common cold medicine could be helpful in rooting out other types of coronaviruses if brought into use.

"Even if the current in vitro results cannot be directly translated into clinical efficacy, it is very interesting that ColdZyme is able to effectively deactivate SARS-CoV-2 in vitro since it constitutes a proof-of-principle that can be taken further into clinical studies. Thus, the results indicate that ColdZyme can offer a protective barrier against SARS-CoV-2," a briefing by Claus Egstrand, Enzymatica’s Chief Operating Officer read.