The entire Coronavirus crisis has left us in a quandary. While we are doing all we can to protect ourselves and our family, we can’t be too sure if we are safe. However, one thing is amply clear, it’s important to have a good immunity – to avoid and to deal with not just the virus but all kinds of illnesses. The best way to build and strengthen immunity is through our diet. We just need to be informed about what to eat and what not to eat to achieve the same.

In an interaction with NDTV Food, clinical nutritionist and author Ishi Khosla suggested some diet tips for immunity during the warm season of summer that we should follow keeping our overall health in mind. She busted some myths, confirmed some facts and listed some dos and don’ts for this season.

(Also Read: 7 Immunity-Boosting Foods For Summer Diet)

^{Healthy diet can build our immunity against flus and viruses.} 

Summer Diet Tips For Good Immunity:

1. Nutritionist Ishi Khosla stressed on having gut-friendly foods. A healthy gut leads to healthy body teeming with good immunity. Try to have probiotics and prebiotics with live bacteria and yeast that maintain the gut flora, ensuring smooth digestion and stimulation of antibody production. Curd, cheese, kombucha, pickles, kefir are some probiotic-rich foods.

2. Have more of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Canned or stored foods, even if they are good for immunity, can never fare better than fresh produce. Make use of all the summer bounty for sound health.

3. Too-much sugar intake may compromise your immune system by suppressing immune cells. You can replace refined sugar with low calorie sweeteners available in stores or use naturally sweet foods like honey or jaggery, but in limited amounts.

4. Alkaline foods with high pH level are great for boosting immunity. Lemon, garlic, mango, orange, avocado are some of the foods that you must include in your summer diet.

5. Hydrate yourself with fruit juices, lemon water, herb-infused water every day, green tea etc. but limit to one glass per day. The best way to go about it is to have one of these hydrating drinks per day, and try to have a variety of them to reap the benefits of all of them.

Ishi Khosla reiterates that a strong immune system enhances the body’s ability to fight germs, bacteria, viruses and diseases. With the danger of Coronavirus still looming large, make sure to follow an apt diet according to the current season.

Stay healthy. Stay safe.