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Black pepper & Cloves can boost your immunity and helps you to fight against Viruses

If you are being advised to chew on black peppercorns and clove to stay safe from covid-19, then you might want to read this.

Covid-19 has jolted everyone’s life. While Mumbai has already surpassed Wuhan’s tally of cases, Delhi is on the verge of becoming the next New York. The sheer spike in the number of coronavirus positive cases has led to uncertainty and panic among people. And so, almost daily we come across a “magic trick” that will help us stay safe from the infection. While earlier, garlic was the touted remedy, nowadays it’s raining black pepper and cloves. 

But do these spices really work? You’re about to find out .

Peppercorns and cloves can boost your immunity—there is no doubt about it
According to a study published in the journal of Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, black peppercorn has antioxidant, antimicrobial, and gastro-protective properties that help in building our immunity–especially when it comes to our throat.

Clove also seems to have similar properties as suggested by a study published in the Journal of Immunotoxicology which claims that consuming whole cloves can help boost the immune system. Plus, the spice has benefits for your oral health. 

But does this really mean these spices will help us prevent SARS-CoV-2? Well, that still remains a mystery with all health agencies staying mum on the subject.

So, we went to a medical expert to know the whole truth.

According to Dr Kunal Shah, these spices will boost your immunity but can’t prevent a covid-19 infection“There is no denying that certain spices can bestow better immunity. Even in Ayurveda, it is considered that consuming spices like black peppercorns and clove or laung can help in dealing with some throat ailments,” explains Dr Shah who is an MD and a homoeopathy expert.

He adds: “This virus hits our throat first, maybe that’s why people are considering these two to be “THE” ingredients to help them with covid-19. But unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.” 

Dr Shah clearly mentions that there is no written literature or research that says consuming black pepper or cloves will help you stay immune to coronavirus. But yes if your immunity is good and your throat is healthy then you can recover from a covid-19 infection faster.

He says:

If you have strong immunity then there will be no major symptoms of covid-19 in you and you will deal with less complications. In fact, people with strong immunity can tame covid-19 in home isolation as well. 

So, the bottom line is…Clove and black pepper might not prevent a coronavirus infection, but they can help boost your immunity. So, if your parents are making you drinking that spicy kadha, do yourself a favour and gulp it down.