'I have learnt to always give time to my body to heal by itself' 

Mumbai-based lawyer Sonali Pawar shares how she decided to take her health in her own hands after not having much relief from medications. She also applied the same principles for her 8-year-old daughter…

In February 2024, I got a throat infection back-to-back in a week's time so I consulted a physician who prescribed antibiotics and paracetamol although I didn’t have a fever then. He also prescribed a blood thinner. I only took the antibiotics but after completing the course within a period of 15 days I got a throat infection again! It was then that I took my health in my hands and treated my sore throat without any medicines. It has been four months now and the infection has not recurred.  

For the throat infection I did salt water gargles followed by one rinse with baking soda water. This worked wonders and by the next morning my infection was cured. To be on a safer side I repeated the gargles twice the next day. I also had a stomach infection and I simply had coconut water, banana and vegetable soup throughout the day. Towards the end of the day, I was feeling better however I got chills and fever. I immediately wore my winter jacket and went to sleep. After one hour I was sweating and there was no fever. I was completely alright the next day although there was weakness due to stomach infection and fever but it subsided on the third day and I was absolutely fine. 

Recently my 8-year-old daughter was down with a cough and cold. She had a runny nose followed by fever. I didn’t give her anything for a runny nose but for fever when I put her to sleep, I made her wear her winter jacket and kept an eye on her fever. Within two hours or so, she was sweating, and her fever was gone. She just had fruits, a vegetable soup and rice kanji. She was alright the next day with no fever and no running nose. In fact, I have no paediatrician for my daughter and even when she was a baby, I would heal her cough/cold/fever with natural home-made remedies. I have learnt to always give time to my body to heal by itself rather than forcing some medicine down my throat.

Tomato Mint Soup 

Tomato Mint soup makes you feel so comfortable. This light & warm soup will ease you if you are feeling low and even otherwise; it's a lovely soup to have along with a salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
   
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
   
• 2 tsp chopped fresh red/green chillies
   
• 2 tsp chopped mint
   
• 4 cups roughly chopped tomatoes
   
• 4 cups vegetable stock or dal water
   
• Unrefined salt to taste
   
• 2 tbsp roasted seeds (watermelon, sunflower, etc.) for the garnish

Method:

In a heated pan, add cumin seeds and let them crackle. Add chopped garlic and sauté until light brown. Add the chopped red/green chillies and sauté. Add roughly chopped tomatoes and sauté. Add vegetable stock or dal water and bring to a boil. Add salt. Simmer until tomatoes are cooked. Check for taste. Add seasoning, if needed. Garnish with roasted seeds and chopped mint. Serve hot.

Serves 4

Food For The Mind

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Dos and Don’ts for fever

We have been taught to believe that a fever is bad. Instead, we need to thank our body for having the energy to build up a temperature so that the invading organism cannot multiply efficiently and that we are aware that we have to assist the body to heal by giving it ample rest, plenty of fluids and only simple food if any. Here are some tips to handle any fever.

1. Take plenty of rest When you are unwell the body automatically asks for the rest so that it can divert all its energies into healing. Taking rest at this time is the best thing that you can do to help your body heal.

2. Eat only if hungry When we are unwell our body automatically tells us not to eat. The tongue gets coated, food doesn’t taste good anymore, and there is no appetite. This is so that the body doesn’t have to divert any of its energies into digestion and can use all the energies for healing. All too often our family members tell us to try eating just a little. This is bad advice.  Always listen to your body.

3. Drink plenty of fluids Our body often indicates thirst.  Fluids help to cleanse the body.

4. Get a diagnosis Different infectious diseases have different symptoms that doctors use to diagnose. Instead of getting rid of them, careful observation of all the symptoms will help in diagnosis. Blood tests can also help in diagnosing.  If we have a diagnosis then we have an idea of what to expect in terms of duration, intensity, and prognosis. And if it’s something that can definitely be helped with certain treatments it may even be wise to take them. A good example could be malaria or typhoid fever or encephalitis or meningitis or certain pneumonias.

5. Avoid antipyretics This is a golden rule. Bringing down the fever is always counter-productive. Our effort should be towards bringing down the infection or problem and not the fever which is only a symptom.

6. Make yourself comfortable The body will tell you how. It will tell you whether you need blankets or open-air, light or darkness, activity or inactivity. Listen to the advice of your body.

7. Avoid medicines Medicines are great when absolutely required but most of the time they are overused. In general, doctors’ hand out a long prescription for any fever which consists of an antipyretic, an antibiotic or two, a probiotic, a vitamin or two, an antacid, and perhaps some symptom specific medications like a painkiller. A fever treated this way often takes just as many days as a fever that is treated entirely by listening to your body. The advantage of the latter is that you will have long-standing immunity and no side effects.