Recommended Diet: Those desirous of safeguarding their digestive system in this season should use old barley, wheat and rice. Saragwa, suran, parval and white gourd among vegetables along with a weekly intake of bitter gourd and vishkhapra (saati) are also recommended. Kulthi and moong among pulses sesame seeds oil among edible oils can be consumed in this season.

Insalubrious diet: Potatoes, cauliflower, cluster beans, ladies' finger among vegetables, pigeon pea, kidney beans, urad and sprouted grains should not be consumed. One should not consume milk and green leafy vegetables in shravana, while avoiding buttermilk and white gourd in bhadrapada.

Note: Rainy season marked by a rampant spread of diseases. The ailments that crop up during this period flare up in autumn. The reasons for such wide-spread proliferation of diseases during this time of the year are as follows:

   1.In this season, the sky is predominantly overcast, whereupon the flow of vital energy from the Sun to the earth is diminished and harmful pathogens are not destroyed. thus diseases proliferate. It also takes more time to recover from an ailment in this season due to the deficiency of vital energy.
  

    2.Stagnant water accumulated in pits and low-lying areas is a breeding place for mosquitoes that spread Malaria, etc.
  

 3.The low vital energy impairs digestion and even a little over-indulgence in eating leads to diseases like indigestion, gastric disorders, cholera and typhoid. When such patients defecate in open places, flies swarm the excreta and carry the harmful bacteria on to the food items that they then sit on, thus causing rapid spread of diseases.

According to Naturopathy and Ayurveda, we should enhance our vital energy to safeguard ourselves from such diseases.

Measures for boosting the vital energy:

   1. In rainy season digestion is generally weak. Therefore one should eat less. It is essential to fast once in a week or fortnight.
   2. In rainy season fruits and vegetables like jamun, and apples (of the Kashmiri variety) are available in abundance and one should consume them judiciously.
   3. It is highly beneficial to walk barefoot on green grass. This allows a kind of give-and-take between the grass and the nerves at the soles of our feet, which is extremely good for health.
   4.  In rainy season organs of the excretory system, viz. the intestines, kidneys and lungs become overloaded. Therefore one should take deep breaths during a morning walk and at the time of taking a bath in the morning as well as in the evening. It is highly beneficial to have a bath twice in rainy season. One should take a bath using normal tap water. In this season one should go to bed around 10:00 P.M.

To read in Hindi go to this link www.ashram.org/Publications/ArticleView/tabid/417/smid/991/ArticleID/598/reftab/414/Default.aspx