According to Ayurveda Varsha Ritu is considered as monsoon season. Each season affects the body differently, so structuring our diet and lifestyle helps the body to have good immunity and balanced life. Ayurveda lays out a set of seasonal guidelines known as Ritucharya, Ritu means season and Charya means guidelines. These guidelines serve as prescriptions for diet and lifestyle changes throughout the year.
With industrialization making once-seasonal food available year-round, and the fact that we spend more and more of our lives inside, it’s easy to forget what it feels like to truly live in harmony with the rhythms of the seasons.
Seasonal variations affect the health of children and play a crucial role in maintaining their immunity.
Varsha Ritu (monsoon season) falls in the month of July -mid-September, this is typically a wet, rainy season, with earth and fire energies rising to the forefront. To ward off the imbalances in the body during the Monsoon, one should follow the recommended routine and lifestyle modifications according to the season. This in turn will help you to boost immunity and maintain good health. During this season, aggravation of Vata and Pitta dosha is considered the root cause of various diseases and conditions. The food, lifestyle, and care should help in balancing the vitiated Vata & Pitta doshas and maintaining a healthy body constitution.
While rains help us get some relief from the summer, it also leads to the beginning of monsoon diseases including jaundice, typhoid, cholera, and flu. It is important to select the right treatment and adapt certain diet changes to get better.
DIET
Agni or the digestive fire is weak due to the aggravation of Pitta dosha which in turn leads to various diseases. So, during this season diet should balance the vitiated doshas and stimulate Agni to perform proper digestion.
FOOD TO INCLUDE
Salty, sour, and oily foods are the star of this season. As we want to boost our children’s digestive fire to begin to pick up, avoid heavy foods at first and transition slowly through the season.
- Grains — Red rice, Sali Rice, Wheat, Jowari (Great millet).
- Vegetables – Bottle Gourd (Dudhi), Snake Gourd (Padwal), Okra (Bhindi) Dodka, Ghosali
- Legumes – Tur Daal, Green Gram, Koolith, Black Gram
- Tubers – Garlic, Onion, Ginger, Suran
- Fruits – Dates, Grapes, Coconut, Mulberry.
- Milk and milk products – Cow milk, Buttermilk, Ghee
- Drink small portions of lukewarm water throughout the day for good digestion
- Easily digestible, hot & light foods should be taken
- Medicated porridge-like rice soup, or millet soup with spices is recommended
- Include honey in your diet
- Always prefer to give them freshly cooked meals
FOOD TO AVOID
The ideal Rainy Season diet avoids uncooked foods
- Grains – Vari, raagi, Bajari (Pearl millet), Maize, Barley.
- Vegetables – Spinach, Bitter Gourd (Karela), Chavlai, Cabbage, Dry Vegetables.
- Legumes – Matki, Vaal, Vatana (Peas), Lentil (Masur), Gram (Chana)
- Tubers – Potato, Shingada, Sabudana, kamalkanda, Arum, Carrot.
- Fried, spicy, uncooked foods should be avoided
- Fruits – Black Plum (Jambul), Jackfruit, Cucumber, watermelon, Muskmelon.
- Milk – Buffalo Milk, Paneer.
- Sweets, Fried Food, and Shrikhand.
- Cold water
- Excessive liquid and wine are to be avoided.
LIFESTYLE
Monsoon is a time when the body’s immunity drops, thus proper care should be taken to prevent possible illnesses. Some of the lifestyle tips to follow during Monsoon are:
- Ayurvedic treatments are highly recommended during this season to prevent any kind of disorders and to boost immunity
- Use of boiled water for bath
- Massage body with oil
- Avoid sleeping during the daytime
- Avoid over exertion in any form
- Avoid walking barefoot
- Use an umbrella to avoid heavy rains & strong sun rays which usually come during monsoon
- Getting wet in rain, heavy wind, and staying on the riverbank are to be prohibited.
AYURVEDA TREATMENT IN MONSOON
Varsha is the perfect time for Panchakarma, a cleanse that takes you through five treatments: Basti, Nasya, swedana, abhyanga, and snehana. Reset the body for the coming year and feel great. The most recommended Ayurveda treatment that can do at home is oil massage. Abhyangam is the mode of treatment that helps to get rid of various aches and pains that increase during monsoons like muscle pains & cramps, growing pain, and weak bones Abhyangam imparts sheen and glows to your skin while keeping your bones healthy.
HOME REMEDIES TO COP UP WITH MONSOON
Having a proper diet only gives positive results when accompanied by healthy lifestyle changes.
- Drink boiled warm water to avoid waterborne diseases during monsoon.
- Drinking warm milk with turmeric powder can help one get rid of a sore throat, and throat pain, cold which is common during monsoons.
- A simple decoction of tulsi leaves and turmeric for gargling also relieves sore throat.
- Stay hydrated during the rains and sip warm water medicated with herbs
- It is advised to meditate and do pranayama every morning.
- Disinfect your home with dhoop (fumigation) every day. The herbs used in fumigation containactive antimicrobial properties, whether used alone or with other herbs, for example, Guggulu dhoop.
EAT RIGHT
Include Tulsi leaves, ginger, mint, seasonal fresh fruits (Jamuns, cherries, and plums), dry fruits, and turmeric in the daily diet
STAY ACTIVE
- Whenever the weather permits, let the children enjoy outdoor games.
- Exercise in any form to boost immunity
WASH HANDS
- Wash hands frequently, six-eight times a day. Proper handwashing is one of the easiest and most effective means of stopping the spread of infection via faeces, body fluids, and inanimate objects.
- It is particularly important for children, as these age groups are the most vulnerable to infections from unwashed hands.
- Dry clothes and utensils well since there is a risk of fungal growth due to dampness. Ironing clothes to disinfect serves both ways.
- If your child is prone to allergies, keep a check on walls, carpets, and curtains for infection-causing germ growth.
- Avoid close contact with sick people, especially the body fluids. If someone at home is sick, clean contaminated places and objects frequently to reduce the spread of the infection-causing germs.
Moreover, with the close vicinity of children in schools and childcare settings, there is a high risk for the spread of infectious diseases. If at all your child falls sick, allow the child to rest at home, and consult him to a paediatrician, do not medicate your child without appropriate medical advice. If your child has played in contaminated water in public spaces, don’t take it lightly there could be a high risk for leptospirosis. Monsoon increases the dampness in the environment which encourages the growth and spread of infection-causing germs. If proper care is taken along with an appropriate diet, we can prevent certain infections in children.
Take care of yourself and your children’s body inside out and handle seasonal changes simply by following ayurvedic Varsha Ritucharya
