Self-ordained 'Mother of the Nation' got it all wrong

SELF-ORDAINED Mother of the Nation Auxilia Mnangagwa has called for three days of national fasting.

"May I, as the Mother of the Nation, call upon all women in Zimbabwe and all those abroad who may so wish, to join in fasting and praying to Lord the Almighty from tomorrow (yesterday) 21 to Saturday January 23, 2021 for our nation to be spared from further calamity and suffering," she said in a statement.

Muckraker does not care what she calls herself but would like to say this is not the time for fasting but for eating healthily to boost the immune system. Fasting, a foreign concept borrowed from Eastern religions, has become the bane of local cults that mislead people into believing that starving oneself will make God hear their prayer.

Originally, according to these foreign religions, fasting is a way to regain or refocus spirituality or for believers to redirect their attention back to God; it doesn't seek to elicit God's intervention.

The superstitious belief that if one starves oneself for a number of days that will make God hear his/her prayers, is as dangerous as encouraging people living through an epidemic to steam three times a day in the hope that the hot water vapour will kill the coronavirus even with what-not herbs added. Those who read the science know that a virus cannot be killed by steam at 70°C.

In fact, nothing kills a virus because a virus is not a living organism. A virus begins to work or to be alive only when it finds a host. And this point is very important to understand; the only way to avoid death from Covid-19 is to prevent it entering one's body. The virus is in the air and the only way to be safe from it is to bar it from finding a host; from making oneself its host, hence all the guidelines people are told everyday through the mass media.

So, this is not the time for fasting, instead eat good food, get enough sleep and take vitamin supplements. Eating good food as (opposed to junk food) will give one's body the tools it needs to fight infection. This is the time to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Experts recommend we eat loads of citrus, red bell peppers, broccoli, garlic, ginger and leafy greens. These are immune-boosting foods. The more colourful the veggies and fruits we eat the better because it's in the colour that the nutrients live.

Scientists encourage everyone to get between seven and nine hours of sleep every night because this helps you feel clear and focused and gives your immune system time to reboot and recharge.

Taking vitamins also boosts immunity. Experts say three immune-boosting vitamins worth taking are vitamin C, vitamin D and Zinc. While everyone knows about the benefits of vitamin C in fighting infection, it's also important to recognise the role vitamin D and Zinc play.