Use immunity boosting foods in your diet more and change your lifestyle -

Use immunity boosting foods in your diet more and Change your lifestyle. Healthy India – prevention is better than cure. Use this time to build a great immune system with foods and some easy-to-do home exercises, to help you stay fit.

With COVID – 19, spreading its tentacles at an alarming rate and with no antidote till date to combat it, self-isolation and quarantining seems to be the only hope to prevent the virus from spreading further. With the aged and those with pre-existing medical conditions at far greater risk of contracting the virus owing to their lower immunity levels, the time is now, to look inward for foods within the home to help you fight the on-set of the infection.

Use natural herbs and spices :

Use this time to build a great immune system with foods and some easy-to-do home exercises, to help you stay fit. Time and again research has proven that, foods with ingredients like Vitamin C & E and certain types of herbs are great at boosting immunity. Fruits and vegetables which are rich in beta-carotene, Vitamin C, E and even Zinc can surely help build greater immunity. Herbs like turmeric, ginger, garlic, Tulsi and black cumin are proven to have medicinal and curative properties which have now been embraced globally.

Curcumin, for instance, an ingredient found in in the ubiquitous turmeric is a widely recognised ingredient for its anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and immunity boosting properties. Some research also points to having Tulsi with black pepper and honey provides strength to the body to fight diseases and infections. Being rich in Vitamins C, B1 and B6; minerals (phosphorous and iron), Garlic is not only a great flavour-adding agent to the food, but also a rich source of immune booster owing to its nutritive, antifungal and antiseptic properties. Key ingredients present in Garlic – sulfur compound allicin .

Preventive health check-ups.

It goes without saying, that preventive healthcare should the core for the government’s efforts in achieving health for all. Thanks to the mushrooming of chain labs and media awareness, Indians today are opening up to the concept of preventive health check-ups. Lifestyle disorders such as diabetes, stroke, cancers and cardiovascular diseases have been long hitting us.

Detailed studies indicate that the prevalence of these diseases have resulted in an increase in the mortality figures by at least 50% in every Indian state between 1990 and 2016. Infact, every year, roughly 5.8 mn Indians succumb to heart and lung diseases, stroke, cancer and diabetes. Not far behind, non-communicable diseases are expected to comprise more than 75% of India’s disease burden by 2025.

The Government has made a good move by implementing the National Health Protection Scheme under Ayushman Bharat, to provide universal health coverage to over poor and vulnerable families. However, as a country, we are still far away from developing a robust health coverage system for our entire population. According to the WHO (2005), the estimated loss in India’s national income due to heart diseases, stroke and diabetes in 2005 was US $9 billion as compared to US $3 billion. These losses are projected to exceed US $200 billion in the next decade.

An increased tax exemption would encourage people to opt for regular health check-ups, thereby aiding in early diagnosis and in turn reducing the burden on secondary and tertiary care facilities. Nevertheless, it is encouraging how corporates are making pre-employment health check-ups a mandatory part of the recruitment process. Not just pre-employment, they are offering yearly check-ups to all employees which will help to make a healthy society.