The monsoons bring relief from the harsh heat during the summers but with their respite, they also bring along with them various sicknesses. Every monsoon season, the risk of catching various diseases is extremely high due to unhygienic conditions and not adhering to basic preventive measures. After so many treatments and allopathic medicines, we still struggle to get monsoon flu, this leads to allergies, lung cancer and asthma in the long run. Then Ayurveda comes into relief. As per Ayurveda, the balance of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha is generally misbalanced during the monsoon season. The Pitta in particular that also represents the digestive fire in the human body is also affected. Due to this, the digestion weakens and this serves as the basis for various diseases. The most common amongst these troubles is the common cold and cough that affects a significant number of the population.
A cough is a sudden explosive movement of air to clear material from the respiratory airway. It helps to protect the lungs from foreign particles. Coughing can bring up phlegm; a mixture of mucus, debris, and cells. If it becomes severe and chronic it can result in shortness of breath, hoarseness, dizziness, and wheezing. Viral coughs are highly contagious and spread quickly in any social group.
What Are The Symptoms Of The Monsoon Diseases
- Coughing and hoarseness
- Irritation in the throat
- Fatigue and body aches
- A cold, if the infection has spread to the nose
Mucus and coughing play an important role in clearing infections and particles in the respiratory system. The best thing we can do is to help our system liquefy and expel the mucus easily, diminishing the seven days of inconvenience and suffering.
Effective Home Remedy To Clear The Congestion And Relieve Frequent Cough
- Fresh Ginger (Adrak) Juice ½ Teaspoon
- Turmeric (Haldi) Powder ½ Teaspoon
- Garlic (Lehsoon) Juice ¼ Teaspoon
- Fresh Basil (Tulsi) Leaf Juice 2 Teaspoon
- Honey (Madh) 2 Teaspoon
- Black Pepper (Kali Mirch) Powder 2 Pinch
Mix all the ingredients well. Keep it refrigerated if you are making a large quantity and wish to use take it again, then bring it to room temperature before taking it. Take 1 to 2 teaspoons of this mixture four times a day. Children can safely take this cough mixture.
Diet And Lifestyle To Follow During Monsoon
- Completely avoid smoking.
- Avoid exposure to cold, winds, dust, fumes and other pollutants, or cover your head, ears, and nose to protect yourself from these.
- Give your vocal cords a rest by talking less.
- Drink warm water, not cold, throughout the day.
- Drink hot tea made of basil (Tulsi) leaves, fresh ginger, and mint leaves.
- Exercise and practice yoga as a daily routine, as it will improve and maintain the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.
Eat a well-balanced diet as mentioned above. This improves the body’s immunity, which is extremely important in all respiratory ailments.
Practice The Yogic Breathing Techniques
- For Wet Cough: Bhastrika, Kapalbharti, Ujjayi Pranayamas
- For Dry Cough: Shitali, Sitkari
When experiencing cough or cold, completely stop milk and milk products, deep-fried foods and fruits. These foods decrease the digestive fire (Agni) and produce mucus (Kapha) and toxins (Aama). Ice, cold foods and drinks are immediate “killers” of the digestive fire. They also produce excess mucus. So, it is best to avoid them.
Foods You Should Eat More During Monsoon
- Take warm vegetable soups with lots of spices like ginger garlic paste, pepper, etc. This will help expel the mucus and relieve the congestion of the chest and nose. Once the cough and cold are relieved, you can slowly return to a normal diet. Try to have more cooked vegetables like pumpkin, squash, marrow, courgette, ivy gourd, spinach, fenugreek leaves, french beans, bottle gourds, ridge gourds, snake gourd, smooth gourd, mange-tout, asparagus, fennel, swedes, sweet corn, onions, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, celery, chicory and leeks.
- Potatoes should only be eaten occasionally, with their skin. Pulses like Mung and split Mung beans (green gram), Tuvar Dal (yellow lentils) and Masoor Dal (red lentils) are easy to digest, balancing and nourishing to the body. To get the full value from pulses they should be eaten along with grains (especially rice). Grains including rice, oat, rye, maize, millets, amaranth, quinoa, polenta; basically, everything other than wheat & maida.
- Flours made from these grains and from potatoes and buckwheat are excellent substitutes for “normal” flour. Dried fruits like almonds, walnuts, apricots, figs, hazelnuts, dates and raisins can be eaten.
- Occasionally you can have white meat like chicken, turkey, and fish (freshwater). You can replace dairy milk with almond milk, rice milk, soya milk or oat milk.
Recommended Ayushakti Herbs Proven To Relieve Cough And Cold
- Ayushakti Asthaloc: 2 Tablets, Twice Daily
- Ayushakti Kaphano Syrup: 1 Teaspoon, 3-4 Times A Day
These herbs have been proven to be effective for more than 31 years. They soothe sore throats and deal with coughs by liquefying and expelling mucus and clearing congestion.