While Bollywood has romanticized the rains, Hollywood uses it as a cliché for depression. But, which way your mood is headed, has little to do with the fact that rains and hygiene don’t mix well. It’s a cocktail for disaster that manifests as several monsoon illnesses and diseases every single year. You can avoid street food, empty out the flower pots for excess water, try to stay warm with hot chai, but is that enough? What about all the water, stagnant and flowing, around you? With the help of nutritionist, Pallavi Srivastava from Evolve Medspa in Mumbai, we draw for you the bigger picture of monsoon precautions.

 - As a general rule, during monsoons one should avoid heavy fried or salty meals as these lead to water retention and bloating. It is better to have medium to low salt food.

- Regular exercise should be incorporated in your daily routine to stay healthy.

- As we know most of the diseases during monsoon are water borne, one should always keep their surroundings dry and clean. Do not allow water to get accumulated.

- Green leafy vegetables have a good amount of nutrients in them, so consuming them will complete your balanced diet. But make sure they are washed properly with warm water or with salt, to get rid of the accumulated dirt which is high during the rains.

- One can also blanch vegetables to get rid of the thriving bacteria and germs. Blanching slows or stops the action of enzymes, which continues even after the vegetables are harvested. It prevents vegetables from loosing colour, texture and flavour before serving.

- If vegetables are not blanched, the enzymes continue to grow during the frozen state causing toughening of vegetables; the colour and flavour also suffer. This is especially important if vegetables are stored for long periods of time.

- One should stay well hydrated, so drink a good amount of water everyday.

- Try to eat warm food. Don't eat less or too much. It is best to eat in moderation to keep the digestive system at ease.

- To avoid gastric problems like gas, acidity and bloating its best to eat a well balanced meal with minimal oil, and spices.

- Apart from this, personal hygiene should also be taken care of - Aside from daily baths, wash your hands before and after all your meals.

- You can also include raw garlic in your diet; garlic consists of anti-viral and anti- fungal properties that assist in curing cold and stomach infections.

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