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While the principles for healthy living and healthy eating remain the same throughout the year, certain seasonal rules apply. Just as summer and winter bring their unique environments and nutritional needs, the monsoon creates its own set of dietary restrictions.

Eating according to the season and region is the foundation of good health. It allows not just for individuals to have better health but also contributes towards local economy and helps keep the global ecology in a state of balance.

Eating during monsoons is always a little tricky. This is the season for gastro diseases, most of which are food and water related infections like typhoid, hepatitis A (in children) and hepatitis E (in adults) and gastroenteritis (commonly known as food poisoning). So during monsoons one must be doubly careful about the food they are consuming.

So here is a guide on what you can eat during monsoon!!!

1. No Rain, Without Grain, As for grains, the season is a good time to bring home ragi, jowar, maize or corn (so the delicious roasted bhutta is an excellent option). Say no to bakery products like bread, biscuit, khari, rusk.
2. Leafy Vegetables, The rainy season is probably the only time of the year when I would not recommend leafy greens, Now is the time to go off palak, methi, math,broccoli, lettuce, kale and rucola. These aren’t fresh and growing naturally now. Other options for non-leafy veggies include snake gourd (tori), gourd (dudhi), pointed gourd (parval), yam (suran), apple gourd (tinda), bitter gourd (karela), and cluster beans (gavaar) along with your usual onions, turnips and potatoes.
3. Stick to Seasonal fruits, like Pomegranate, Banana, apple, pear, plums and cherries.
4. Restrict Seafood And Poultry: Seafood such as fish and poultry like chicken and eggs must be restricted in your monsoon diet as these foods are heavy on stomach that may lead to hampering of your digestion system by slowing down it. Apart from that, the risk of infection increases in seafood and poultry during monsoon due to heavy rains. Pulses are the best source of proteins, vitamins, minerals and even fibre during this season.
5. Oil, Use filtered groundnut/ mustard/ coconut oils and don’t re-use the oil for cooking afterwards. Remember that without essential fat in the diet, Vit D cannot get assimilated, and also that essential fats also help in regulating blood sugar. So apart from being tasty, oil makes the food healthy too (and for everyone, heart patients, obese and diabetics included)
6. Hydration, Continue to hydrate yourself, even if you don’t feel thirsty. It is all the more important to have your 8 glasses of water daily (as you sweat excessively too). Water makes up 70% of our body mass and is one of the most vital nutrients. During the monsoon season, we not only lose out on this water content through sweating but rarely find ourselves feeling thirsty which is why we just don’t drink enough water.
7. Stick to easy to digest foods, as body’s digestion capability is rather compromised in this season due to high humidity. For the same reason, Eat in moderation, focusing more on lighter foods, which can be easily digested such as fruits and veggies and less of oily and spicy food.
8. Avoid sour food items as they lead to water retention and as it is there is a tendency to retain water in the body during rainy season.
9. During monsoon, infections are on an all-time high and immunity is on an all-time low, so include anti infection foods like ginger, garlic, onions, turmeric (haldi), methi seeds and bitter gourd in your daily diet.
10. Probiotics help keep the gut healthy, thus help boost the immunity immensely. Daily probiotics can help restore the natural state of health that a diet of excess sugar, meat, processed foods and prescription drugs have destroyed, and keep seasonal viruses away.

HYGIENE MUSTS

• Eat at home mostly, and when eating out or ordering out make sure it is freshly cooked food (not raw salads etc.), and ensure that you wash hands every single time before you pick up food to eat.
• At home, do not leave food unrefrigerated longer than one hour at a time to prevent bacterial growth.
• Be particularly careful in handling any homemade food that contains eggs, mayonnaise or salad dressing, such as potato salads.
• And of course it goes without saying that water for drinking, cooking and dishwashing must come from a safe and approved source.

Staying healthy while working from home can be a real challenge, but it’s totally possible. Here are my best tips.

I know that many of you have recently transitioned to working from home in the past week or so. In theory, working from home sounds great — you can sleep in, wear whatever you like and make yourself a homemade lunch. On the other hand, working from home is difficult because there can be a tons of distractions at home, it’s hard to create boundaries and it’s easy to run into the kitchen to snack whenever you get stressed.

Many of us are also suffering from gut issues like acidity or constipation due to lower activity, battling anxiety or sinking into moody blues almost every day. But do not fret! Help is at hand for all the issues that you might be facing.

1.Have a morning routine.

With working from home, it’s so easy to just roll out of bed and onto your computer. As tempting as this may be, don’t do it! Keep your morning routine. It might look a little different, but reserve that time for you. Try to wake-up at the same time everyday this helps regulate your circadian rhythm,or your “internal clock” 

2. Take time to eat a proper breakfast

Working on an empty stomach is going to reduce your ability to concentrate and leave you with lower energy levels in the morning. It’s probably the most important part of any daily routine! 

3. Exercise

• Forget the gym, instead schedule a work out at home. Do body weight training at home. Some of the best body weight exercises include planks, squats, push-ups, lunges, frog jumps, spider crawls and standing long jumps.
• While you brush your teeth, alternate standing on one leg and then the next (every 30seconds). Balancing like this develops your core muscles and may even be good for your brain.
• Every time you grab the phone, stand up and pace around.
• Stand up whenever you need to write a list or jot down notes. It guarantees that you’ll get off your seat and stretch your legs a few times a day. New findings are telling us that inactivity is killing more people than smoking. Stopping your work every hour to take even a 10-minute break can make all the difference .

4. Plan out your meals for the day. When you know the plan for the day, you are less likely to skip meals or raid the kitchen when its lunchtime or the 6:00 PM snack time hits.

5. Take an actual lunch break! Don’t eat your lunch in front of the computer. Close down your computer and take your usual lunch break. It’s good for your mental health to take an actual break. It’s also healthier because you’re able to focus on what you’re eating, which will help prevent overeating.

6. Keep healthy snacks on hand.  It’s so easy to fall into the habit of mindless snacking when you work from home. And if you’re surrounded by sweet treats and unhealthy munchies all day, it’s much more tempting to grab those! If you have healthy snacks like fruit, or a homemade snack then, it’s much more likely that you’ll be inspired to reach for those instead. Some of my favorite healthy snacks: roasted kurmura, rice-flakes chivda, roasted soyabean, rajgeera chikki, roasted chana, roasted makhana, lemon juice and buttermilk.

7. Battling Acidity and constipation:

• Shun refined foods and zero in on whole foods, and consciously include more fruits and vegetables in the diet.
• Don’t eat your meals too quickly: We all know that digestion starts in the mouth. Your teeth are used to break down your food into smaller bits. When you don’t chew your food and larger bits of food go to your stomach undigested
• Hydration: Having enough water is also an important aspect of feeling good with your bowels. Start and end the day with a glass of warm water.
• Regular Meal Times: Trying to keep your meals at same time every day is extremely   important. So try to have your breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner at the same time every day.

8. Hydration. Keep A Water Bottle With You. Consume at least 2-3 liters of water on a regular basis to make yourself fit and active. Keep a water bottle or glass with you during the day, it becomes easier to consume more water. Get a water bottle with a motivational saying if it’ll actually help you to drink more water! Your body needs H20… don’t deprive yourself of it!

9. Sleep. Good sleep is important for your body to function at its best. When we sleep, our body rests and conserves energy. Adequate sleep helps in reducing the blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. Sleep is the deepest meditation so don’t compromise!!Good sleep helps you eat better, exercise better and stay healthier. Inadequate sleep can lead to weight gain and other mental health problems like stress, anxiety and depression.Keep a fixed sleeping and wake-up time.

10. Me-Time. Consciously carve out downtime. Zero on half an hour sometime during the course of the day to take a complete break from everything, and to do something that gives you happiness. Ideally even put your phone on silent. After this little “Me-Time” you’ll surface ready and equipped to handle the world.

FOOD IS A FRIEND AND NOT A FOE!!

Food is a friend not the foe that stalks flabby nightmares. The more one eats, the more one burns. Today the perceived form of food is calories, fat, more fat and cholesterol. Food has become an enemy, it sparks fear. Food has lost its root purpose of serving as fuel for the body. All of us try not to give in “to the love of food”, People have to understand we are what we eat and there are some things we can eat often and some things we can’t.

While eating right can be tough when you begin with it, everyone who has made that switch swears that once the results show, you are hooked. LOVE THY FOOD

 Every person needs (i) Energy giving food (ii) Body Building food (iii) Protective food from his daily diet. A balanced diet means a diet, which contains all the above constituents in needed quantity, in accordance with the requirements of age, sex, constitution of the body, the type of work and climatic conditions.

No rigid rules can be laid down about the actual requirements of diet by a person every day. The proportion and percentage of the various constituents of diet depend upon the occupation, physical condition, sex, age and climate.

Food variety means eating a wide variety of foods (a balanced diet) from within and across each of the five food groups, in the amounts recommended. Eating many different foods helps maintain a healthy, well-balanced and interesting diet that provides adequate nutrition. Eating a variety of foods can help prevent diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

The foods that contain carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals are called balanced diet. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins are considered as major nutrients items these are very essential for our health. These items provide our body with energy to perform different kinds of functions. Beating of heart, activity of muscles and brain are worthy of them.

WHY BALANCED DIET???

A Balance Diet is one that helps maintain or improve general health. A Balance Diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, adequate essential amino acids from protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and adequate calories. Where lack of calories is not an issue, a properly Balance Diet (in addition to exercise) is also thought to be important for lowering health risks, such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cancer

Energy

Calories are the unit of measure for stored energy in food. The energy provided by food calories is needed for every function of the body, including thought, physical activity, growth and healing.

Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are the building blocks of energy. After ingestion, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, which provides raw energy that is either used immediately or stored in the muscles for later use. Complex carbohydrates like whole grains, vegetables and fruits provide a balance of calories and nutrients, whereas simple carbs such as sugar and white flour are high in calories and low in nutrients, making them a poor choice for energy production.

Weight Management

A healthy diet helps maintain an ideal body weight and prevent obesity. When eaten frequently, foods high in saturated fat, Trans fat and sugar can lead to excess weight gain and obesity. 

While calories are needed for energy, empty calories—those derived from foods with little nutritional value—can lead to weight gain. Eating foods with a balance of calories and nutrients can help provide the body with the fuel it needs to function while avoiding weight gain.

Disease Prevention

A poor diet has been directly linked with diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer. Trans and saturated fats are known to cause atherosclerosis, which is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Foods high in cholesterol can raise levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol in the blood, which also contributes to the arterial damage seen in atherosclerosis. 

According to the American Cancer Society, processed meats, fried meats and alcohol are associated with an increased risk for certain types of cancer, such as cancer of the colon or liver. Foods that contribute to obesity are also indirectly linked to cancer, since obesity increases the overall risk for developing cancer.

Mood and Cognition

A healthy diet can lead to better overall performance of the mind and body. Foods high in antioxidants can help promote generation of neurons into old age while improving the ability of existing brain cells to communicate with each other, resulting in improved cognitive functioning.

What’s more, diet may play an important role in mood and mental health. According to a research, a healthy diet is associated with a lower incidence of depression, anxiety disorders and dysthymia than a typical “Western” diet high in sugar, processed foods and alcohol.

Healthy eating should not be about short-term change but long-term measures that are put in place with the emphasis on enjoying more of the foods that protect and nourish the body. This is done by choosing a variety of foods from each of the different food groups each day and remembering that there are no healthy or unhealthy foods – just healthy or unhealthy diets.

For many people this will mean big changes, but they should remember to make changes to their diet slowly. ‘Small changes in the choices people make can make a big difference!!

CONCLUSION

Healthy eating does not need to be complicated. It’s much easier and healthier than restrictive diets and unbalanced fads – I’m sure you know the ones I’m talking about.

A Healthy diet is the basis for a well-functioning body. Food is the source of energy for all of our bodily functions and directly affects how our bodies and minds function in every stage of life. There are a variety of reasons why a healthy diet is important, including disease prevention, maintenance of a healthy weight and quality of life.