Home-made recipes to avoid getting baked

Doctors ask people to keep themselves hydrated to protect themselves this summer.

KARACHI:

As the temperature slowly climbs, the lines of patients  lengthen outside the out-patients department at Civil Hospital Karachi. Dr Aziz Khan Tank, a senior general physician, receives two to five patients suffering from heatstroke or dehydration each day. Small wonder as the temperature has been hitting the 40-degree range. As a preventive measure, the doctor asks the majority of his patients, who are mostly poor, to use home-made remedies to counter the heat. “It is the best way,” he says. “I know that these people won’t use the medicines I prescribe since they cannot afford it.” That said, medicines must be used for severe conditions. For instance, if a patient has suffered a seizure or severe palpitations then the prescription must be followed.

Dr Aziz feels that drinking lemonade is the best and cheapest way of preventing heatstroke and other illnesses associated with the severe temperature. “But I cannot always suggest home-made remedies to my patients. Otherwise I’d have to pack up and sit at home,” he says jokingly.

Doctors complain that people do not drink enough water in the summer months which results in dehydration and other illnesses.

Water, as banal as it may sound, can be made interesting during the summers, says Shaheen Jillani, a home-maker in her 50s, who lives in a modest house near Shahrae Faisal. For her buying expensive soft drinks for her children is out of the question. However, she has a few tricks up her sleeve to keep her children hydrated.

Adding a bit of salt to water helps a lot as it “assists the body to absorb the water quickly,” says Jillani. “But the point is not to go overboard with it. Just a small amount is enough for when you come back from work or from a rigorous workout,” she says. (Note: Please consult your physician before using these remedies).

Freezing citrus juice in ice-cube trays, to then add them to a glass of water is also interesting, says Jillani. “My children had stopped drinking water and this is the only way they drink it, if it is either colourful or tastes different.”

The addition of ginger in water is also helpful as it cures sore throats and adds a bit of “spice.” In one recipe, people can boil slices of ginger till the water changes colour, cool the tea and drink  it with honey and lemon. Cucumber slices, vinegar and mint can also be added separately to water to give it that extra taste. Soda water is also fun to add to juice syrups.

When it comes to homemade summer drinks, the people in rural Sindh trump fancy restaurants and cafes in the cities.

Take the traditional sherbet of Thadal for example. It’s the choice of drink for Sarfaraz Nawaz whenever he comes in from the heat. Some people in Khairpur add bhang to it, which makes you feel numb and relaxed for a short while, he says. “We are a completely different lot,” he jokes.

Thadal is a drink made of water, small amounts of milk, black pepper, cardamom and poppy seed. “But these days not many people drink it because its ingredients have become pricey,” says Sarfaraz. People have been leaning more towards keri or unripe mango juice which is far cheaper, easier to make and therefore more popular.

“In our family, we cook raw mango on a low flame until it goes soft and then add water and sugar,” explains Sarfaraz. “We drink it when it cools off. This is the best prevention against heatstroke,” he claims. People in the villages also swear by a tall, cool glass of Lassi to replenish the body’s electrolyte balance.

In the fields another brilliant way to protect yourself is to cover your head with a damp turban properly or apply Multani Mitti  (mud masks) that ‘absorb the heat’. Henna (mehndi) is popular with women who use it for their scalps to keep cool. However, they warn that henna should not be applied to both the head and feet at the same time. It’s an old wives’ tale with the reasoning that as the absorbed heat needs an outlet to escape, applying henna to both the head and feet increases the amount of heat in your body as it can’t escape from anywhere.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2011.