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Fasting and Building Immunity During Navratri

immunity during navratri

The very word Navratri brings to our mind joyous dance, music and fasting. Fasting during navratri has been a traditional practice which rekindles our stomach fire to get rid of toxins from the body. Erratic eating habits make our digestive system weak. This results in lower immunity. Fasting is a cleaning therapy which reboots our immune system by regenerating the immune cells. Sharad Navratri falls during September-October when there is a seasonal change which leads to decline in immunity, making our body vulnerable to infections and diseases. Hence, Sattvik food eaten during navratri is light on the digestive system. 

How To Fast and Build Immunity During Navratri 

The COVID pandemic changed the way we celebrate our festivals, wherein we place more emphasis on immunity. While a question may arise whether fasting is safe for the immune system or not, I’d recommend going ahead with it with the tips suggested below: 

  1. Avoid long periods of starvation as this can lower immunity and make us susceptible to infections. Have fruits, dry fruits and nuts at regular intervals.
  2. As we want to ease our digestive system by fasting, choose light food and not fried food.  Buckwheat, water chestnut atta, samak rice and sweet potatoes are nutritious options.
  3. Keep the body well hydrated during by having coconut water or nimbu pani in the morning. Butter milk is another great option. Have fruits and veggie infused water to level up the water intake. Avoid sodas and aerated drinks.
  4. With few options available during Navratri, choose your food wisely. Opt for cottage cheese and makhana rather than potato chips or any fried options.
  5. Since many people observe salt restriction during the fast, do not go overboard with sugar. Replace sugar with jaggery or honey.
  6. Eat at least 3-4 servings of fruits during Navratri fast as the high fiber will help you stay lean.

We hope these tips on fasting and building immunity during Navratri help you celebrate to the fullest! Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on Navratri, check out Healthy Reads or get in touch with your GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce 

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Heal Naturally From Monsoon Illnesses

heal naturally With the monsoons here in full swing, most of us worry about getting sick with an infection. With the weather change, the virals in the air also start reacting. The side effects of cold, fever, viral and sore throat get rampant with drastic changes in weather. A strong immune system will help you recover quickly and mostly without the need for medication. The lower your immunity, the longer the healing process and you may have to resort to antibiotics.

Natural Remedies That Work

  1. Take a 1-inch piece ginger mashed, 1 clove garlic, 3 peppercorns, 2 cloves, 2 cardamoms and a cinnamon stick. Boil in water and reduce to half, strain and add organic honey. Drink this concoction twice or thrice a day, or actually, as much as you need to.
  2. Be aware of your body and feelings. Usually, when sick, your appetite may reduce, and that’s a good sign. It means your body is using energy to repair and heal. So if you can, don’t eat until you feel your appetite slowly increasing. This is one of the best ways to heal rapidly and completely.
  3. Stay warm, wear socks even while in bed. Cover your head to prevent contact with dew when out at night.
  4. Sip on hot liquids through the day.
  5. Breathe a lot! Almost all viruses and germs cannot survive in highly oxygenated cells so help your body create an environment that’s unfavorable for these germs.
  6. Rest, rest, rest – This is the most natural and effective way to heal. It’s natures cure.

It’s good to fall sick once in a way, your body replenishes the white and red blood cells and it also strengthens immunity. So stay positive, don’t feel low and know you are doing the right things to get better.

We hope this article helps you. If you find these tips useful, let us know in the comments below! For more on managing illnesses during monsoon, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce 

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Foods That Weaken the Immune System

immune systemDo you experience high amounts of stress, get irritated by little things, aren’t able to concentrate on work, suffer from digestive disturbances or have a cold more often than usual? In fact, do your wounds take more time to heal than normal? Frequent infections? Do you feel tired all the time? All this could be due to a weak immune system!

Immunity is a balanced state of multicellular organisms having adequate defence to fight infection, disease or other unwanted biological invasion while also avoiding allergies and other autoimmune disease. The immune system also keeps a record of every microbe it has defeated so it can recognise and destroy the microbe if it enters the body again.

Bone marrow and thymus form the primary immune system and spleen, tonsils, lymph vessels, lymph nodes, adenoids, skin and liver form the secondary immune system.

  • Bone marrow: helps produce white blood cells (T cells, B cells) which defend the body against infectious disease and foreign materials.
  • Thymus: Situated at the base of the neck is most active in the neonatal and preadolescent period of development.

One of the best ways to build immunity is through nutrition. There are many foods that help us improve the immune system but there are also foods which can weaken it. During this Coronavirus pandemic, it has become increasingly important to take care of ourselves and build our immune system! In order to do that, we must avoid consuming things which can lower or harm our immunity levels. 

Foods That You Must Avoid

1. Soda and Carbonated Beverages
This includes sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose, which are all harmful to the immune system. These ingredients reduce levels of beneficial bacteria in your gut and have an adverse effect on glucose metabolism which has an extended effect on how well our body responds to potential threats.

Solution: Choose water with few slices of fruits if you do not like having plain water or choose green tea with lemon which has good antioxidants. Drink green Tea in moderation.

2. Processed Foods and Refined Carbs
The large number of calories in processed food may lead to health problems such as increased inflammation, reduced control of infection, increased rates of cancer, and increased risk for allergic and auto-inflammatory disease by changing the balance of bacteria in our gut – all of which weaken the immune system

Solution: Include whole grain healthy snacks which are baked or roasted and not deep fried

3. Foods & Drinks High in Sugar
Drinks high in sugar spike insulin levels which spike cortisol and suppress the immune system. Unwanted bacteria thrive on sugar and the more sugar they have to feed on, the safer they grow, which will outnumber beneficial bacteria. This can have a negative effect on our mood, blood sugar levels and immune function. Increased sugar intake makes it difficult for the body to absorb Vitamin C, which eventually decreases immunity levels

Solution: Choose whole foods and natural sweeteners like honey which promote growth of healthy gut bacteria

4. Alcoholic Beverages
Drinking alcoholic beverages affects hormones by disrupting the circadian rhythm. As sleep is closely connected to the immune system, changes in circadian rhythm can make one feel unwell by having a negative effect on the immune system.

Solution: Alternate alcohol drinks with water or choose healthy snacks to have with alcohol to limit intake of alcohol.

5. Caffeine
Increased intake of caffeine (present in coffee and coffee products) boosts cortisol levels which reduces your immunity levels. Regular increased intake of caffeine reduces the number of T cells which are responsible for destroying the infected cells of the body.

Solution: Switch to low caffeine beverage and keep check on your intake of caffeine rich foods

 6. Refined Oil
Oil can be incredibly healthy, providing much-needed fatty acids like omega-3 and vitamin E but only when they’re produced the right way. Refined oils go through a lot of heat processing which destroys the nutrients that we derive from fats. Eating food cooked in refined oils leads to production of free radicals that damage the tissues and cause temporary inflammation.

Solution: Switch to cold pressed oils and filtered oils which go through less or no heat processing, keeping the nutrients intact.

 7. Junk Foods
Foods high in fat, sugar and low on fiber other than creating cravings, also destroys the immune system. The body responds to fast foods the same way it responds to an infection. The moment one consumes fast food our body identifies it as a threat and starts attacking faster than usual as it would react to a bacterial infection. These repeated reactions of the body leads to development of diabetes and heart diseases.

Solution: Choose healthy homemade snacks which have no added namkeen/crispies or are fried in healthy oils 

We hope that this article helps you remain healthy during this time. It is crucial to keep our immunity levels in check and avoid foods that can destroy it. 

For tips on how to build your immunity, read more articles on Healthy Reads. To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, subscribe to personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr  

Do leave your thoughts in the comments below! 

#BeTheForce 

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9 Steps For Building and Mainting Immunity

build immunity

In the wake of the ongoing pandemic, maintaining one’s immunity has become a must. However, even if not for any random virus flying off, one’s immunity is the biggest strength against any onslaught of a virus and bacteria. Taking care of one’s self is a lifestyle. It must be down as a means to protect one’s body. I’m writing this article touching on a few aspects of maintaining one’s immunity. Since these worked for me, I believe it might work for you all as well. Being healthy has to be imbibed in one’s lifestyle just so no virus or bacteria can affect you. 

How Do You Build Immunity?

If only maintaining immunity was as easy as popping a pill, life would have been a bed of roses.  But it’s not! You have to work for it to earn it. One’s immunity depends on the way one is born, to one’s genes! But, we are talking about factors which are in one’s hands. The thumb rule is to listen to your body, it never lies. And, most of what your grandmother said was right in terms of health… keeping all that aside, here are a few quick tips to build up your immunity.

  1. No Stress & Yes to Happiness: Stress can wreck any organ in your body. Let go and be happy. Remember, if you are stressed over Corona, you are at risk. A happy and positive person is less likely to fall sick usually.
  2. Maintain Personal Hygiene: Wash your hands with soap before and after eating, bathe, wear breathable clothing and follow all the instructions in basic science textbooks of a 2-3 class child. It will help to prevent a lot of infections!
  3. Seasonal Vegetables and Fruits: Every area is known for its own vegetables and fruits as per the season. For instance, the Saag in North India is awesome during winters. It’s a must have. And yet you get it during summers in some regions. That’s a big no! Watermelon is a fruit of the summer. It is best to have it at that time.
  4. Home cooked food is the best because there is no adulteration. It should be cooked by a healthy person who has no infectious disease, be it your maid, or a house member. I strongly believe that basic hygiene like washing hands before touching food, washing the vegetables before cutting, etc. must be followed. In fact, these are taught in our curriculum in primary sections!
  5. Back to Basics: Consume natural food, have good nutrition and avoid unnecessary medication. By natural food I mean raw vegetables and fruits. Refer to your doctor/nutritionist for your diet plan if you are unable to do so.
  6. Daadi maa ke nuskhe (Grandmother’s Secret Recipes) might just work better than medications for basic ailments like cough and cold. See what works best for your body. As a child, I remember my mother giving me ginger juice mixed with honey every day in the morning during winters. I hardly had a runny nose during childhood. When I grew up, teenage took over and the orthodox medicine said that medicine is the best cure, but it didn’t work for me. Even at this age, ginger juice and honey is my prevention from cough and cold and I’ve no idea why it works for me! Try and find what your remedy is!
  7. With respect to air borne  infections, we need to protect our body, especially the orifices from where we breathe. So for the nose, take very little cow ghee/castor oil/any kachhi ghanni (cold pressed) oil and rub it inside your nostrils. The thick ghee captures the dirt and germs in the nostrils itself. For your skin, apply virgin pressed coconut oil.
  8. Sun is a Friend: Basking in the morning sun is good. Don’t overdo it but remember that the sun is the best and the strongest natural disinfectant. So if you do not have a medical condition, and if the doctor has not advised otherwise, make the sun your friend. I do not deny the ugliness of buildings since people dry their clothes outside, but remember one’s clothes are best disinfected in the sun.
  9. Exercise: Are you a yoga person, jogger, swimmer or gymmer? See what suits your body and get into shape. Pranayam though must be followed by all.

We hope this helps you build and maintain your immunity against the coronavirus. For more articles on immunity, nutrition and the coronavirus, check out Healthy Reads. To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, sign up for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr 

Stay safe, stay healthy and #BeTheForce 

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