How to fight seasonal flu

By Dr. Ajit

It would not be an exaggeration to say that at the moment at least 80% of the New Zealand population is suffering from flu and influenza or cough. Everyone is in panic mode as doctors are running out of flu shots. But have we ever thought for a moment as to why is it so?  Why in this season do we all have to suffer from cold and flu symptoms, which can lead to other seasonal ailments like asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia. Those who are a bit conscious or aware about their health and wellbeing go to the health store to pick up various antioxidants and immune boosters to fight these ailments but without much success. Why do we waste so much money and still end up with so many sick days?

Let’s take a deep breath and understand how we can break this vicious cycle. Today, everyone can win against this monster issue and experience a totally healthy state as long as they are able to follow the principles and advice of the ancient science known as Ayurveda. It has a very logical explanation as to why we suffer from various ailments in winder, with its wet, cold, damp and moist qualities. Ayurvedic science tells us that our bodies are governed by three bodily intelligences and each of them has specific functions, specific areas of dominance and specific qualities.

In Winter, the intelligences known as Kapha is dominant in the environment, as well as in our bodies. Kapha means water/mucous, coldness, dampness, heaviness, sluggishness. So what does this mean? It means our body tells us that we should not eat cold, damp, moist, heavy and sticky foods during this season as this will cause these qualities to accumulate in our bodies. But if you look at the 21 meals we eat in a week, you will find most of the time we eat bread, cheese, banana, yoghurt, cereals, pasta, cold water, cold drinks, burgers, pizza every day. It means we are adding to our bodies lot of thick, mucous quality foods and inviting trouble. If we observe whenever we have flus and cold or congestion, we get lots of mucous congestion and this get built up easily with all the above food items.
Hence to get better what should we do?

• Remove all such items from our daily eating habits

• Eat only warm, cooked foods such as Porridge, pancakes, boiled eggs

• In addition, do steam inhalation every day (2 litres of hot water with 10 drops of eucalyptus oil)

• Gargle with Himalayan salt at least twice a day (1glass of warm water and 1 teaspoon of salt)

• Only use warm milk

• Never mix yoghurt and fruit, fruit and milk or milk and yoghurt

• Make a mix and have it x3 times a day:
 - X1 teaspoon of honey
 - X ½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder
 - X ½ teaspoon of ginger powder
 - X ½ teaspoon of black pepper
 - X ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder
 - Mix and lick on tongue, x3 times a day

These routines can minimise your chances of suffering from these winter ailments by 80% but if you are still suffering then you can use the following ayurvedic supplements to give you some relief:

• Agnitone
• Prana Care
• Sinocare

For children, use Sepnil Syrup and Kofnil Syrup