The arrival of the rainy season brings a welcoming relief from higher summer temperatures. However, also the sudden drop in temperature combined with higher humidity during rainy season creates the perfect breeding ground for seasonal bacteria, viruses, and fungi. From seasonal influenza and dengue to waterborne infections such as typhoid, our body immunity systems faces challenges to keep us healthy during the monsoon season.
Safeguarding your health, during the rainy season does not mean staying locked inside home. But, it is of making a few intentional adjustments to your diet, hygiene, and daily routine, you can enjoy the cozy wet and humid weather with keeping seasonal illnesses away.
- Prioritize Food and Water Safety
Waterborne diseases increases significantly during the monsoon season due to contamination in public water systems.
- Drink purified water: Always drink filtered, RO-processed, or boiled water. If you are traveling, drink packaged water, and at home sieve, and then boil and cool the tap water and then drink so the boiling will remove the most of the seasonal bacteria and sieving will remove the contamination.
- Avoid Eating street food: Eating Raw unwashed vegetables, pre-cut fruits, and open street-side snacks haves a high risk of carrying foodborne bacteria such as Salmonella etc. to avoid them.
- Wash Fruits and Vegetables properly: Carefully rinse leafy greens and vegetables and fruits under running water, or soak them in vinegar or salt water to remove the hidden dirt and parasites from the food specially during rainy season.
- Eliminate Mosquito Breeding Grounds
Stagnant water ponds are the primary home for mosquito-borne illnesses such as Dengue, Chikungunya, and Malaria.
- Clear stagnant water ponds and pots: Regularly empty flower pots, old tires, cooler tanks, and open buckets and ponds around your home. Even a small puddle can become a breeding ground during rainy season.
- Shield your skin: Wear long-sleeved clothing when stepping out of home, especially during dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are the most active.
- Apply insect repellent: Use an EPA-approved insect repellent containing DEET or Picaridin on exposed skin surfaces to safeguard yourself from insects biting during rainy season.
- Supercharge Your Body Immune System
A strong immunity system is your best natural defense against seasonal respiratory viruses. Focusing on targeted nutrition can drastically reduce your chances of catching a cold or flu.
- Consume more vitamin C and zinc rich Food items: Citrus fruits, bell peppers, amla (Indian gooseberry), and nuts helps to stimulate white blood cell production and make you immune from dangue like diseases.
- Drink herbal Kadhas and Tea’s: Drink warm ginger, turmeric, and tulsi (holy basil) teas is good during rainy season. Turmeric contains curcumin, a compound which is known for its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.
- Keep gut health strong: Consume probiotics such as yogurt or kefir to maintain a balanced gut microbiome, which spports your digestion and overall immune function during rainy season.
- Practice Hand Hygiene
Respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses spread rapidly via surface transmission during wet weather.
- The 20-Second Rule: Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds after using public transport, handling cash, or returning home after visiting public places and peoples.
- Carry hand sanitizer: Keep an alcohol-based sanitizer (minimum 60% alcohol) in your bag for situations where soap and water are unavailable.
- Avoid touching your face: Keep your hands away from your eyes, nose, and mouth to prevent pathogens from directly entering in your eyes, mouth or nose respiratory system.
- Keep Your Clothes, Equipments, Gear and Home, Office space Dry
Wet environments promotes the rapid creation of mold, dust mites, and fungal skin infections such as athlete’s foot).
- Dry off immediately: If you get wet in rain, then immediately change to dry clothes as soon as possible. As, wet clothes on your body drastically drops your body temperature, and make you vulnerable to viruses and cold born diseases.
- Sanitize footwear: Clean and dry mud-covered shoes regularly. Avoid wearing wet socks or wet and closed shoes for a longer period to avoid smell and wet feet swelling etc.
- Ventilate your home: Ensure adequate airflow inside your home , office rooms to combat with moisture buildup and prevent mold creation from settling on walls and fabrics.
During the rainy season, the high humidity and fluctuating weaher temperatures can weaken your body immunity system and slowers down your digestive fire (Agni). To stay fit, combat with waterborne illnesses, and prevent seasonal bloating, both modern nutritional science and Ayurveda recommend a diet of warm, light, and antimicrobial foods.
Best Foods to Consume in the Rainy Season
- Warming Spices & Ghee
Spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, and black pepper contain antibacterial and anti-inflammatory compounds such as gingerol and allicin, that protect against monsoon born infections. Cooking your meals in pure cow’s ghee helps to stimulate a better metabolic rate and improves better food nutrient absorption during outside cold environment like monsoon.
- Light Soups and Steamed Vegetables
Instead of heavy food or fried meals, prioritize easy-to-digest comfort foods in your diet during cold rainy season. Clear vegetable broths, chicken soup, or moong dal khichdi helps to keep your digestive tract working. Stick with well cooked monsoon veggies such as bottle gourd (lauki), ridge gourd, and bitter gourd (karela), which naturally help to cleanse the liver and promotes better health.
- Low-Water Seasonal Fruits
Choose for fresh, seasonal fruits that are packed with antioxidants and vitamin C but lower in natural water content. Jamun (Indian blackberry), pomegranates, plums, pears, and litchis are best sources for building your body immunity and reducing bacterial growth and infections.
- Gut-Supporting Probiotics
Maintaining a strong gut is key to avoiding stomach issues during outside cold and wet weather. Drink fresh homemade buttermilk (chaas) seasoned with roasted cumin (jeera) powder or eat fresh curd during the day time to boost your digestion.
Warm Wellness Tea’s during Rainy Season
The Organic India Tulsi Turmeric Ginger Tea is an excellent caffeine-free beverage choice that fights with two biggest monsoon health issues by boosting your respiratory sysem immunity and igniting better digestion.
Critical Foods Items to Avoid During Monsoons
- Raw Leafy Greens & Salads: Raw spinach, cabbage, and pre-cut salads carry’s a high risk of bacterial and parasite contamination from humid conditions and floodwaters situations. Always wash and properly cook your food and vegetable greens completely during rainy season.
- Street Food & Un-boiled Water: Avoid open street foods and cold beverages, as waterborne pathogens such as Salmonella contamination have higher risk during heavy rains.
- Heavy Fried Snacks: While hot pakoras and samosas are tempting during rainy season, but eating heavy, deep-fried foods daily during rainy season can critically impact on your already weakened digestive system, and may leads to acidity, bloating, and lethargy.
- Seafood: The monsoon is the breeding season for most fish and prawns, making them highly quick in spoilage and contamination.
How to Choose Your Meals during Rainy Season:
- Choose This: Warm, freshly cooked meals, Avoid That: Cold Refrigerated, raw, or leftover foods
- Choose This: Boiled or filtered water, Avoid That: Soft Drinks, Iced drinks or unfiltered and un-boiled water
- Choose This: Gourd-based vegetables, Avoid That: Raw leafy greens and open street cut-fruits
- Choose This: Spiced herbal infusions, Avoid That: High carbonated or caffeinated drinks
- Choose This: Light Inside Workout, Avoid That: Being Wet in rain, frequent public places visit or field trips
A healthy monsoon season can be achieved with consistency and safe routine. By proactively protecting your diet, keeping your surroundings dry, and actively boosting your body’s immunity defenses, can effortlessly cover you through the entire rainy season without being sick and by staying active all day.