Immunity Boosters are the new buzz word
All of a sudden there’s immunity word buzzing around and many people are thinking to venture into production of these immunity boosters. Immunity and immunity boosters are the present trend at least from the day this coronavirus has started to spread rapidly. But do we really need immunity boosters during this time? I think it would be both a yes and a no. Yes for the natural immunity which you get by eating right food and No to the supplements.
I would relate this to the famous proverb. Rome wasn’t built in a day the same way immunity cannot be built overnight or by taking some shortcuts like supplements. I’m not against the supplements for sure. But without consuming proper food what is the point of supplying constant supplements to your body?
The other day I was talking to one of my cousins who is into food technology. She was telling that many people have started approaching her regarding the immunity booster composition. I’ve also seen people, who have the worst lifestyle and take immunity supplements or other supplements without the advice of doctors or nutritionists. I’m really fortunate enough to get a doctor, who doesn’t give me medicines, immediately after I visit her. She prescribes medicines only when and where needed. Else, with the condition I was in I think I would have collapsed by now.
Avoiding Junk food is not impossible
Keeping that aside, It’s not easy to stay away from junk food once habituated. But, it’s not impossible either to stop it altogether. Me being a food lover particularly junk food, if given an option between my grandma’s homemade food and the junk which I love the most I would always choose my grandma’s food. If you cook it in the right way as our grandmas did, I think not many would run away from eating traditional food.
Food, Physical and Mental Fitness
I strongly believe that immunity comes from the food you take, exercise and not to forget mental health. As I’ve told in the previous post that not many people understand the importance of mental health. But next time check out for yourself, in case of anxiety your body tends to show that in various forms. For me, most of the time it’s a stomach related issue. And if there are panic attacks, then I feel my chest tightening. And if there is some emotional trauma/pain that would come up as throat pain followed by some infections. And it is not the same for everyone. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by positive people to help me overcome situations like this.
Our body is also a host to many types of bacteria (be it good or bad) they might not be in the active state and this is linked to the immunity of the person.The stronger you are the more your body can fight, but it can never stop virus/ bacteria from entering the body.
Excess of anything can be harmful!
And one more important thing I’ve noticed with people when someone says that a particular food is good, then most of them without understanding completely about it, take it either in food or supplement form in excessive quantities forgetting the basic fact that anything taken in excess might harm your body. Check for seasonal food and try to consume them accordingly. When we were young watermelons used to be in the market only when it was summer, now they are available throughout the year. For the watermelons to grow throughout the year, they either use hybrid seeds or take help of pesticides to grow them in the offseason. Watermelon cools our body during summer and makes you feel hydrated. What happens if you eat the same during winter or rainy season, there are high chances that you might catch a cold or have to pee very often and it’s irritating. So if we try and identify what is local and seasonal, we are helping ourselves to stay healthy and helping farmers who are growing seasonal and local crops at the same time 🙂 Most importantly if you get to know anything new other than what you know already, please cross verify either with your doctor or your elders, particularly your grandparents (they are considered to be the knowledge bank and act as our family nutritionists). Don’t follow anything blindly because everyone else is following.
Conclusion
There is no particular vitamin or mineral that is most important for your body, every vitamin and mineral plays an essential and important role in maintaining the balance in your body. To conclude, anything that is deficit or excess is not good for the body. Be it vitamins, food, exercise and even thinking, emotions, empathy anything. And no immunity boosters will help unless it is combined with a healthy lifestyle and calm mind.
And we are fortunate that our food has all the types of nutrition our body wants. It is just us who needs to identify them and feed it to our body. And supplements/boosters can be taken only when body is deficient of it and on the advice of the doctors/nutritionist. And also try identifying and working on the root cause.
When your body can get all you need from the food you take, why do you want to prefer supplements unless prescribed by a doctor. Eat Clean, Stay Healthy and Stay Fit 🙂
PS: The opinions I expressed above are purely based on my experience