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Immunity-enhancing Foods to Prevent Dengue Fever
Dengue, probably the most popular(for all the wrong reasons!) mosquito-borne viral infection, is a common disease that affects thousands of Singaporeans every year. While the main focus is on prevention, and efforts are geared towards controlling mosquito-breeding to avoid being bitten, we must also pay attention to adopting an immunity-boosting diet to fight the deadly virus.
Singapore has been hit by a double whammy in recent times. We have been presented with quite a few cases of COVID-19, and an alarmingly high number of dengue cases as well. It has been a little over two months since the start of the new year and Singapore has already witnessed 3640 dengue cases as of 7 March, 2020. In addition to the steps we should be taking to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes in our own homes, we can also look into strengthening our immunity by consuming a healthy diet of food for dengue prevention.
Ensure a diet full of foods to boosts your immunity to help prevent, and better manage a dengue infection. Photo: iStock
Food for dengue fever prevention
List of foods to prevent the disease and boost your immunity
Dengue is transmitted through the bite of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, and despite concentrated efforts by authorities such as the National Environment Agency (NEA), Inter-Agency Dengue Task Force (IADTF) and Town Councils island-wide, the potentially fatal viral infection continues its rapid spread.
NEA’s main prevention strategy includes active monitoring and the breaking of breeding cycles. They have also requested the public to be vigilant and check for mosquito-breeding corners in our homes, and to use insect repellents to avoid being bitten.
However, there’s more we can do to prevent contracting the disease. We can certainly improve our immunity against the disease by incorporating several effective food for dengue prevention into our diets.
Here is a list of immunity-boosting food for dengue that can help you fight the virus:
Food for dengue – Citrus fruits
Citrus fruits are a rich source of Vitamin C and antioxidants. Photo: iStock
Fruit like orange, lemon, grapefruit, and kiwi are not just tasty, but also a rich source of Vitamin C. These foods are loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C which increase the production of white blood cells in the body in order to fight infections that come into our systems, thereby boosting our immunity.
Food for dengue – Spinach
Spinach is high in vitamin C, antioxidants and beta-carotene. Photo: iStock
Another rich source of vitamin C, antioxidants and beta-carotene, is spinach. It is one of the healthiest green vegetables around and is vital to be included in your diet. This leafy green vegetable can do wonders for your health by boosting your immune system and improving your digestion.
Ginger and Garlic
Garlic and ginger are useful in boosting immunity. Photo: iStock
These commonly used foods, especially in our Singaporean cuisine, boast of amazing medicinal properties that can boost immunity and help in treating symptoms of dengue. Ginger is an immunity-enhancing food and is extremely helpful in easing sore throat, nausea, inflammation and other dengue symptoms. Garlic, on the other hand, has sulphur which helps in fighting infections and strengthening immunity, and has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties as well.
Turmeric
Turmeric is the golden wonder-child of the spice world that improves the functioning of your immune system. Photo: iStock
Any list of food for dengue prevention will be incomplete without this golden spice which is loaded with medicinal properties, and which is touted to improve the functioning of your immune system. Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties as well that are extremely helpful in treating symptoms like joint and muscular pain.
Yogurt
Yogurt contains strong probiotics to improve both digestion as well as your immune system. Photo: iStock
Yogurt is another food for dengue that you can easily incorporate in your daily diet, without any preparation (it is as easy as peeling open a tub of store-bought yogurt) or with minimal preparation (making home-made yogurt is actually astonishingly easy but requires patience!) on your part. It is a strong probiotic that ensures good digestive health and improves the functioning of your immune system. Make sure you eat yogurt at least once a day. You will observe a difference in your body within a few days.
TCM herbs
Traditional Chinese herbs tackle dengue via prevention and treatment of symptoms. Photo: iStock
Apart from these easily available foods, there are many herbs that are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine to tackle dengue through the prevention and treatment of symptoms. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), dengue fever belongs to the category of warm diseases. There are many herbs in TCM that are used against warm diseases such as honeysuckle, weeping forsythia, peppermint, raw licorice root, cape jasmine, raw rehmania root, etc. A concoction of some of these herbs are an effective way to detoxify the body and help in fighting infections – Consult a specialist before brewing up your own home remedy however, for safe results.
We urge all parents to try to incorporate these healthy food options in your family’s daily diet, in order to strengthen their immune systems against not only dengue but many other diseases as well.
