Over the course of the past year, the lives of millions of people worldwide got immensely affected due to a new variant of coronavirus, popularly known as COVID-19. Although the origin of the virus was very strange, i.e., it is believed to come into existence in the city of Wuhan, China when a person supposedly consumed ‘Bat Soup’. Soon after, the virus spread exponentially and caused a domino effect in us humans.
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What is COVID-19 and How does it Spread?
CO – Corona
VI –Virus
D – Disease
This is the etymology behind the abbreviation for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that we today commonly refer to as COVID-19. This virus was a new mutation from the same family of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus. This virus causes an infectious disease that is most commonly spread when a person coughs or sneezes. Just like any other communicable disease, it is easily transmissible and tends to affect a person’s respiratory system along with the sense of smell and taste. Although this virus originally spreads through oral transmission, studies show that the most recent mutation of the virus makes it possible to spread via the air we breathe.
Natural Measures to take if you are Covid Positive
Although there is no natural home remedy that can completely cure a person of this disease. There are a lot of preventive measures and home remedies that a person can undertake in order to boost their immunity and health and increase their chances of survival in case they ever contract the virus and are covid positive.
Hydrate yourself after every few hours
Since this disease is known to cause fatigue and tiredness, water is very important to keep your body hydrated. At least 3 litres of water should be consumed.
Increase Vitamin C and Zinc Intake
While foods high in Vitamin C do not prevent you from getting the disease in any way, Vitamin C has been seen as an immunity booster for the past year. During the start of the pandemic, chemists noticed an increase in the sales of Zinc and Vitamin C. These two nutrients are believed to have nutrients that work together to supercharge the immunity of the human body. And as a strong immune system is very important in these times and also the first defence against the virus, it’s considered to be good if people increase the Vitamin C and Zinc intake.
Indian gooseberry (Amla)
A balanced and healthy diet is another essential. One of the cheapest and most convenient ingredients for that diet is Amla. Amla first and foremost helps the heart, the main organ that pumps blood in our body. It contains chromium that helps reduce the percentage of bad cholesterol in the human body.
Since COVID-19 is a respiratory infection, many people have a runny nose as one of the major symptoms. Amla can provide you with various antioxidants and anti-bacterial properties that help detoxify your system as well as relieve the symptoms of runny nose and dry cough, which often causes congestion of the lungs. In addition to all this, Amla is a Vitamin C rich food and as seen above, Vitamin C is one of the foods taken to improve immunity during these times.
Amla can be consumed raw with salt and if that is too tangy for your taste buds, it is also available in the form of jams, pickle, chutney and Murabba in the market.
Include Homemade Kadha in your diet
Kadha is an ancient, year-old Ayurvedic home remedy that improves your immunity and helps fight the various seasonal flu and infections, thereby making you stronger. Kadha essentially contains a number of ayurvedic herbs and spices that are available in powder form. The powder is boiled in water in order to extract all the benefits. According to doctors, Kadha recipes derived from Ayurveda go back to around 500 years and thus Kadha can be considered to be one of the oldest forms of medicines invented by humanity.
In case you don’t have Kadha powder readily available to you, you can simply ground up herbs from your garden and boil them in water. Some of the herbs that you can use are Tulsi Leaves, Black Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon Powder, Giloy (Indian Tinospora).
Use a steam inhaler after every few hours
Steam inhalation is one of the most popular home remedies used to clear blocked nasal passages. It helps you clear your nose and throat in order to get relief from cold and cough. The warm steam from the inhaler helps remove any feeling or irritation in the blood vessels and nasal passages.
Perform salt water gargles
Another way to provide relief to your nasal passage is through saltwater gargles. It acts as a nasal lavage and helps clear sinus and other cold and stuffy allergies. According to researchers, 95% of people who perform saltwater gargles, can reduce the duration of being infected with the virus by nearly 2 days.
Incorporate Golden Milk into your routine
Golden milk, which is basically turmeric milk is also one of the drinks being consumed by Indians all around. Other than antioxidants, turmeric milk also helps reduce inflammation and joint pain that often is associated with fatigue and weakness that takes over a person’s body when he or she gets infected with the virus. Moreover, Golden Milk also has antiviral properties that help fight the normal viral infections of the common cold and cough that a person often gets while contracting this disease.
The list of home remedies is simply endless. While none of these remedies will actually kill the virus and free you of the disease, all of them help build your strength and immunity which is needed to fight the virus. In case your body is weak and does not have proper immunity, you’ll be left feeling weak, with low oxygen levels and whatnot. Considering how many lives have been affected around us, it is very important to keep oneself safe during these tough times by not just wearing double masks, hand sanitising and maintaining a distance of six feet. We need to go the extra mile and be extra cautious!
Common Symptoms of COVID-19
The most commonly reported symptoms of COVID-19 are:
– Loss of taste and/or smell
– Persistent dry cough
– Fatigue and tiredness
– Fever
– Shortness of Breath
– Headache
These are some of the most common symptoms that are noticed in patients who contract the disease. However, it is important to note that the severity of each of these symptoms varies from one person to another depending upon the various types of factors like their health, lifestyle, eating habits, etc.
Nonetheless, if you start to notice any of these symptoms for a prolonged period of time it is best to go to a clinic and get yourself tested and take advice from a professional doctor. Just like the degree of severity, the rate of recovery also varies from person to person. The usual time span for which people isolate themselves and take complete rest to recover from the disease is somewhere between 7 to 14 days.
