Coronavirus brings changes to health lifestyle

Nellore: With the general opinion that Covid-19 is going to stay with us for long and we have to learn to live with it, people are now slowly getting used to new lifestyle. They have come to realise that it would take some more time before coronavirus can be won over and, even if that happens, the life may not be the same again.

The Covid-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the value of personal hygiene and physical distancing, besides greeting others by way of Namaskar instead of handshake both in urban and rural areas.

Unlike in the pre-corona times, the day now does not start with the most popular beverages like coffee or tea. The majority are simply consuming Kashayam (an ayurvedic preparation with some herbs) that contains ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper along with honey, and lemon juice, boiled in water. Many people are keeping thermo steel bottles and consuming lukewarm water.

While corona had a strong negative impact on the economy, the ayurvedic stores seem to be more in demand these days as the demand for products used in Kashyam and pure turmeric, black pepper, organic jaggery etc has gone up. People want to protect themselves by improving their immunity levels.

The majority are preferring a healthy diet that includes dal, veg curries, chicken, highly spiced with garlic, ginger and turmeric, fruits, cow ghee, and eggs. Vegetables are also on the list of Vitamin-C such as raw mango, lemons, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, capsicum, radish, spinach, and tamarind.

They are also preferring fruits enriched with vitamin-c like sweet orange, guava, black grapes, kiwi, watermelon, papaya, and pineapple. Some others are consuming raw garlic with cloves and cinnamon like pan exhibiting a bizarre food habit.

Doctors have also been advising to consume eggs for protein, vitamin D, fat, and phospholipids. In fact, phospholipids comprise an important class of biological molecules that serve both structural and functional roles in the human body, nutritionists say.

The demand for vitamin tablets like A, B, C, and D has also gone up. People crowding at way side tea shops has drastically reduced and instead they are preferring masala chai prepared with the same ingredients being used for Kashayam. Demand for ayurvedic herbs like aswagandha, guduchi (tippateega), amla powder (usiri), basil products, and immunity-boosting preparations has also shot up.

However, experts say that people should be cautious and should not start consuming everything that they find on social media. All the ingredients that boost immunity levels should be part of the meal we take and not pop in some capsules or tablets or take some medicines without medical advice, said R K Reddy a retired medical officer. People are also scared of going out for morning walk. So, terraces, cellars and internal spaces are being jam-packed with family members and people residing in the apartments who walk during morning and evening hours.

"Finally, COVID promoted many healthy practices among people who normally confine to lifestyles with some indiscipline. Now they have realized the importance of healthy food this is a welcoming feature and people should follow them constantly, said Dr N Siva Kumar, dean and professor and head of the department of pedodontics.