Weakened digestive power during the monsoon season can lead to stomach problems. Paying careful attention to your diet and lifestyle can help improve digestion and your health.  

During the monsoon season, special attention should be paid to diet and daily routine, as compared to other seasons, as digestion becomes weak due to the slowing down of gastric fire. Therefore, it is advisable to consume light, fresh, and easily digestible foods and drinks. Let's learn from Dr. Pradeep Kumar Prajapati, Director of the All India Institute of Ayurveda, Delhi, about the lifestyle you should adopt during this season...

In Ayurveda, the rainy season is considered a time when the body's digestive power, or gastric fire, weakens. Humidity, clouds, contaminated water, and sudden changes in temperature in the atmosphere tend to aggravate the Vata dosha. Therefore, maintaining a proper diet and a balanced lifestyle during this season is considered essential for maintaining health and preventing disease.

Eat easily digestible and fresh food for better digestion

During the monsoon season, eating light and easily digestible foods, such as old grains, wheat, barley, old rice, green gram, gourd, honey, and jaggery, instead of heavy meals, improves digestion. Foods with mild sour, sweet, and salty flavors are considered beneficial. Among spices, rock salt, black pepper, cinnamon, and ginger are beneficial. Moderate consumption of digestive-aiding spices like turmeric and asafoetida helps maintain appetite and digestion. Those with poor appetite can take a small piece of ginger with a little rock salt before meals, provided they do not have acid reflux, heartburn, or any other health problem.

Avoid these things

Due to poor digestion, raw food should be avoided during this season. Avoid salads, raw vegetables, and sprouts. Furthermore, limit leafy vegetables like spinach, cabbage, and fenugreek, as they are more prone to insect infestation during the rainy season. Also, avoid heavy and fried foods like kidney beans, chickpeas, junk food, urad dal, paneer, and stale food.

Stay away from caffeine

Avoid cold drinks, soda, cold coffee, or any caffeinated beverages during this season. Instead, opt for soup, green tea, herbal tea, basil, or ginger tea. These provide energy and improve digestion.

Don't forget to eat stale food

Due to the high humidity in the atmosphere during the rainy season, food can spoil quickly. Many people eat stale food stored in the refrigerator or reheat dinner the next day, but this can be harmful to their health.

Be careful while eating non-veg food

Many aquatic creatures breed in the sea during the monsoon season. Fish and other marine products found during this season can sometimes cause infections. Therefore, it's best to avoid non-vegetarian food during this season.

Do not eat cut fruits

Limit your intake of water-rich fruits like watermelon, cucumber, and radish during this season. Also, avoid eating cut fruit, sugarcane juice, or other loose items sold on the roadside. These increase the risk of stomach upset.

Some important things

• In this season, water should be boiled and filtered before drinking.
• Lukewarm water is more suitable than cold water.
• Cold things slow down digestion and can increase throat problems.

A balanced lifestyle is essential

According to experts, in addition to diet, it is also essential to adopt a disciplined lifestyle during this season. Avoid getting wet in the rain, walking barefoot in muddy or dirty water, wearing wet clothes, and immediately exposing yourself to cold air after sweating. Always keep your feet clean and dry to prevent fungal infections. The body's strength is relatively low during this season. Therefore, according to your capacity, do light yoga, stretching, breathing exercises, and light walks. Heavy exercise, sleeping too much during the day, staying up late at night, and irregular meals should be avoided.

You can also try these remedies to maintain good digestion and health during the monsoon. If you liked this story, please share it. Stay connected with Harzindagi for more such stories.

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