Food for monsoon and cold

Monsoon food

The arrival of Monsoon is of course the prettiest thing. Apart from selecting the monsoon attires and the umbrellas, choosing healthy diet for this season will help out to get rid of cold Knowing your food to avoid and include will make you as your doctor.

The chemistry of Lysine and Arginine

Lysine and arginine are amino acids, which are the basic building blocks of proteins. They have an antagonistic relationship with one another that results in lysine being able to reduce arginine's ability to help synthesize certain proteins.

Ø  Avoid certain foods, especially the ones high in arginine and low in lysine. Lysine does not promote cold but if you take a diet rich in arginine, the lysine will get discarded, in order to store the former.

Ø   Since arginine will support the production and multiplication of virus, your cold will get worse. So, you should concentrate on a diet that is high in lysine and low in arginine,

Ø  Lysine appears to help the body absorb calcium, and it plays an important role in the formation of collagen, a substance important for bones and connective tissues including skin, tendon, and cartilage. It plays an essential role in the production of carnitine, a nutrient responsible for converting fatty acids into energy and helping to lower cholesterol

Dietary sources

Foods rich in protein are good sources of lysine. That includes meat (specifically red meat, pork, and poultry), cheese (particularly parmesan), certain fish (such as cod and sardines), nuts, eggs, soybeans (particularly tofu, isolated soy protein, and defatted soybean flour), spirulina, and fenugreek seed. Brewer's yeast, beans and other legumes, and dairy products also contain lysine. Many nuts also contain lysine along with arginine (lysine counteracts some of the effects of arginine).

Food not to be taken during cold

• All types of nuts
• All types of seeds
• Beer
• Brown rice
• Carob
• Chick peas
• Chocolate (in any form)
• Coconut
• Coffee and Tea, Cola
• Eggplants
• Fruits and berries, including grapes, grapefruit and oranges
• Gelatin
• Mushrooms
• Oatmeal, Soya beans, corn (in any form)
• Vegetables like onions, peas, pumpkins, tomatoes, carrots and broccoli
• Red wine
• Seafood with shells (such as oysters and shrimps)
• Sugar, artificial sweeteners
• Wheat 

Foods to Have During Cold

Given below is a list of foods that are rich in lysine. You should include them in your diet if you have cold. 

• Dairy products like milk, cheese, curd, butter, yogurt etc.
• Lysine-rich animal foods include chicken, fish, eggs and beef.
• Fruits like apples, papaya, mangoes, bananas, pear and summer squash.
• Figs, almond nuts and avocados can also be taken to fight cold sore.
• Vegetarians can also go for lysine supplements. The supplement is safe to eat and does not have side effect. 

Smriti Mishra

www.smritimishra.com