|
How to Eat
Following Ayurvedic routines for good
digestion is accorded equal importance in maintaining
good health in Ayurveda. Just as choosing improper food
for your constitution can lead to imbalances, following
improper routines and habits can wreak havoc on your
digestion, turning even carefully chosen and prepared
foods into ama or toxins in your system rather than
ojas, the biochemical essence that supports all
aspects of life, health, bliss and longevity.
Here, I shall elaborate on some universally applicable
principles of eating that Ayurveda recommends for
keeping your digestion working efficiently.
Take Three Course Meals a Day
Fasting and skipping meals are not
recommended in Ayurveda because they disturb the
digestion rhythm. A light breakfast, a substantial lunch
and a light dinner allow you to keep in tune with the
ebb and flow of the digestive fire, which builds up
during the morning, peaks around noon and then ebbs
again in the evening.
As soon as you get up, drink a cup of hot water to which
a tablespoon of lemon juice has been added. This will
help elimination, get the digestive juices flowing, and
cleanse out the digestive tract. Caffeinated beverages
are not recommended in Ayurveda.
 A light breakfast is essential to kick-start digestion
as it provides energy necessary to get through the
activity of the day. Have a stewed apple or pear, and
then follow it up 30 minutes later with some warm cereal
or a whole-wheat flatbread spread with a little honey or
almond butter. Warm cooked foods are preferred as
breakfast items over cold cereal, cold milk and cold
juice,
all of which are harder on the
waking digestive
fire.
For a mid-morning snack, choose fresh fruit—an apple for
Kapha, a sweet pear for Pitta and a mango
or some strawberries for Vata. Fruit is best eaten in
the morning, and on its own.
The ideal Ayurvedic lunch includes two or three kinds of
vegetables, one of which should be a leafy green one, a
lentil or bean dish or a paneer dish, a whole grain, a
chutney or relish, a small helping of a warm salad or
soup, and lassi—a beverage made by blending together
fresh yogurt and water. All the dishes should be cooked
with dosha-appropriate spices. Use a dosha-appropriate
healthy fat as medium; ghee for Vata and Pitta
and olive oil for Kapha are good choices. This
may seem like a huge meal, but portions can be kept
small to moderate—the variety is crucial for wholesome,
balanced nutrition.
If you need a mid-afternoon snack, eat a small helping
of soaked nuts (almonds should be blanched) if you are
trying to balance Vata, or some sunflower or
pumpkin seeds if you are trying to balance Pitta
or Kapha. Popcorn in moderation without salt or
butter is also fine for Kapha, and soaked
blanched almonds for Pitta.
For dinner eat a small and light meal. For example, a
one-dish vegetable/grain casserole or a vegetable/lentil
soup with a whole-wheat flatbread can be an ideal
dinner.
Drink lots of pure water through the day, but limit your
water or beverage intake at meals. Do not drink iced,
carbonated or caffeinated beverages and avoid alcohol
and milk with meals.
At bedtime, drink a cup of warm milk spiced with nutmeg
for Vata, cardamom for Pitta and ginger
for Kapha.
Fresh food is easier to digest, so cook only what you
think you can finish in one sitting. To enhance your
appetite, have a slice of fresh ginger root spiked with
some rock salt and fresh lemon juice about an hour
before a meal. Chew fennel seeds after a meal to enhance
digestion and freshen up the breath naturally. Taking
rasayanas such as Amalaki and Triphala
after a meal also boosts digestion and assimilation and
helps the system flush out Ama regularly.
Train Digestion to Start at Set Times
Like your sleep-wake cycle, digestion also
benefits from a regular routine. Pre-programme mealtimes
into your day so that you have the time to take care of
sustaining yourself. Try to do as much as you can to
stick to the routine.
When your digestion is habituated to start at those set
times through regular practice, it functions efficiently
to build more ojas from the food you eat.
Nutrients from the eaten foods are absorbed and
assimilated to the maximum extent by your body, and the
wastes are flushed out effectively, leaving little room
for Ama—digestive toxins—to build up in the body
and act as a breeding-ground for imbalances and
disorders.
Avoid Incompatible Food Combinations
Ayurvedic texts outline some food combinations that
overburden the digestion and lead to increased Ama
build-up. Milk and cream, for example, should not be
combined with salty or sour tastes. Melons should not be
eaten with heavy foods like cheese, deep-fried foods or
the heavier grains. Fruit, in general, should be eaten
on its own because it is very quickly digested. Meat or
fish should not be taken together with milk. Honey
should never be heated or cooked.
In general, if you follow the meal guidelines and food
suggestions given above, you will avoid most
incompatible food combinations. One general rule to
follow is to not eat foods with different digestion
times at one sitting.
Cook and Serve Food with Love
Health is beyond just eating the right food. For the
eaten food to become ojas, you have to prepare it
with attention, a positive attitude, care and love. Many
traditions hold the acts of cooking and eating sacred.
In the Vedic tradition, the cook should bathe and offer
thanks to agni—the fire—before beginning the task
of preparing the first meal of the day for the family.
Do not prepare meals (or eat) at times when you are
upset or stressed. This is because your liver and
digestion are adversely affected by negative emotions
and will not digest that meal efficiently.
Eat in the area or room designated for eating in your
home or place of work, and not in front of the
television or at your workstation. Diffuse a pleasant
aroma blend in your dining area about an hour before
eating—lemon, coriander, sweet orange and mint are good
choices to whet the appetite and to get the digestive
juices flowing. Dress up your dining table with fresh
flowers or a pretty tablecloth. Make sure everything you
need for your meal is at hand before you sit to eat so
that you do not have to get up or be distracted from
your meal once you start eating.
Practise Mindful Eating
Since nowadays people have a very busy
schedule, it is easy for them to extend “multi-tasking”
to the act of eating. This habit causes many avoidable
health problems. People are often tempted to perceive
the time taken for eating as “lost”. On the contrary,
setting aside some time solely for lunch or dinner can
be more beneficial as the relished, well-digested meal
would provide more energy and productivity to your work.
Eating in silence, with all the senses focused on the
aromas, flavours, colours and textures on your plate is
best for getting an all-round benefit from food. Eating
with muted, pleasantly relaxing conversation or soft
music in the background too is an ideal way of creating
more and more ojas from food. Arguments, highly
stimulating discussions and disciplining children are
activities not suited to mealtimes.
There are a few other good eating habits listed as
under:
-
Do not work or speak on the telephone
when you eat.
-
Do not read or watch television while
eating.
-
Offer thanks or sit in silence a
minute before you begin eating.
-
Do not gulp down your food; savour
each mouthful and chew well before you swallow.
-
A few sips of warm water during the
meal will help digestion, but do not drink too much of
any beverage.
-
At any meal, do not eat until you are
very full. The ideal Ayurvedic portion is what you could
hold in your two cupped hands joined together. Leaving
some room in the stomach when you are done enhances
digestion.
-
After you are done eating, sit
quietly for a few minutes; do not immediately rush off
to do the next chore of the day.
The above was a sketchy roadmap to
healthy food in abidance with the Ayurvedic principles.
I am sure my readers should find it easy now to follow a
few suggestions given above and thereby make their lives
a lot healthier and happier.
Back >
Archives
|
