The rains are here, and it is time to indulge your palate. While you enjoy, we also tell you how to take care of your health.

Nourish the gut flora with adequate fibres. This is achieved through eating seasonal vegetables such as ash gourd, ridge gourd, snake gourd and bottle gourd. These vegetable fibres act as a prebiotic for nourishing the gut flora. Fibre can also be obtained through sunflower seeds, melon seeds and flax seeds.

Do include probiotics like curd, tempeh, kimchi, kombucha and fermented foods like Idli, Dosa and Dokhla. These are very good for our gut bacteria to digest also, and they improve immunity and prevent infection. Avoid sugary drinks like sodas as they create bloating and gastric issues

. According to Ayurveda, boosting immunity during the monsoon season is essential, and the best method to do it is by consuming fruits and vegetables (superfoods in particular) that help speed up the body’s metabolism. Consuming nutrient-rich food helps strengthen the immune system and defend us to fight infections that crop up with changing weather. 

Here are some recipes that you can try this monsoon.

• Five Spiced Smoky Eggplant Fritters (courtesy Chef Lalit Deo, The Park Hyderabad)
• Tiger Prawns Roast (courtesy Chef Naren Thimmaiah, Executive Chef, Vivanta Bengaluru, Residency Road)
• Peanut Pakoda (courtesy Vikas Shere, Head Chef and Co-owner, Kings Restaurant)
• Dalat spiced chicken satay (courtesy Shankar Devnath, Executive Chef, Fox In The Field)
• Two Ways Methi and Kothimbir Wadi (courtesy Gaurav Ramakrishnan, Head Chef, Hyatt Centric)
• Momos – Veg and Chicken (courtesy Prakash Kumar D, Executive Chef, The Woodrose Club by Brigade)

Read the full story that first appeared in Deccan Chronicle dated August 1, 2022 here: