NewsX was recently joined by nutritionist Dr Harpreet Pasricha for an exclusive conversation as part of its special series NewsX India A-List. She shared her views on immunity, common mistakes by people to get rid of excessive weight, and how India fought the Covid-19 pandemic better than the rest of the world.
Reflecting upon the significance and ways to attain immunity, Dr Pasricha said, “immunity is like our first line of defence which we always should have taken care of but most of the times people ignore immunity when it comes to their weight or other things. And now they’re doing all the possible things they have to do for the immunity so when it comes to healthy meals or having all the decoctions people are all doing it right. My question here is that you’re doing something to strengthen your immunity? But what about things that are weakening your immunity.”
“Whether it’s processed food, alcohol, smoking, not being active, not exercising, not sleeping on time or following a sleep cycle because people are awake for long hours of the night and binge on Netflix or other digital media, all these weaken your immunity. What’s the point of strengthening when there’s a hole in the bucket, if your immunity is falling or it is getting affected,” she added. Dr Pasricha stressed on avoiding things which weaken one’s immunity. According to her, in order to strengthen the immunity, one must “eat right, balanced food, exercise, and do breathing exercises.” Addressing the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Harpreet said, “Being in India, I think we are very lucky as we have all these herbs and spices. All the possible spices and herbs we consume, including chia, curry leaves, tulsi, and turmeric, is probably one of the reasons we Indians have fought this pandemic much better than the entire globe.”
Dr Pasricha spoke about Superfoods, “People think if it’s expensive then the food is a superfood. Something which is locally available, seasonally available, is a powerhouse of nutrients is called a superfood. For example, in Delhi, there’s a season of black carrots and people make kanji out of it which is probiotic and excellent.