By-Dr kavita vyas [M.D.ayurveda]
Food and health
In English language there is saying “ prevention is better than cure” Ayurveda describes same theory that it is more important to protect the health of relatively disease treatment Ayurveda described several methods for health care ,We will see those methods one by one through our series of articles in this blog
. This time we have chosen Food and health. Ayurveda considers three pillars of health 1.food,2. Sleep 3. And celibacy. Food is important because you can treat yourself 80% diseases of body if you correct your diet.
A. Right time to take food.
According to Ayurveda .The three to four hours after sunrise, our digestive system works very well, So one should have breakfast around 9-10 am and in more volume because that timeour digestive enzymes gets secreted in more quantity.
One should take moderate amount of lunch and dinner should be light ,As After sunset our digestive fire is not very strong, as sun affects our body system too so after sunset light meal is appropriate for our health .
B. What kind of food one should eat
According to ayurveda [as per Indian climatic conditions] After cooking Within 40 minutes of eating the food is good for health.
Freshly made food for two to three hours after, remains sattvik [pure] food, later on it slowly turns to taamsik [brings lethargyness].
food after cooking Twenty-four hours, is not worth eating for animals too.
Food kept in refrigerator is very harmful because the gases cools the food are very toxic.
C. Things to keep in mind regarding food .
Try to eat food at same times every day because our digestive system secrets the digestive juices at same time as per body clock.
Never eat cold and hot food items together. eg ice -cream and samosas.
Never eat onions and milk together as they are apposite in nature, one is sattvik and other is tamasik.
One should not eat jack fruit and milk together as It increases too much phlegm.In the same way black gram [urad dal ]and yogurt should not be eaten together.
Eating and drinking milk should be between one-half hour apart.
According to charak samhita [ayurvedic text] One should not eat yogurt in night and in day time also never eat yogurt without sugar[jagerry] or black pepper.
If food is taken Sitting on the ground, food is digested very well ,but food taken on seating the chair is not that much easy to digest.
Seat for five to 10 minutes in Vajrasana [ a yoga posture]after eating food, food is well digested and one never gets indigestion acidity etc. diseases.
Sleep two hours after dinner , after dinner a little walk is good .
Digesting food is equally important as eating food, because undigested food produces Ama[toxins],that causes the blockages in diffeternt parts and produces diseases like rheumatic arthritis, hyper cholesterol, heartattack etc.
If constipation is continue for the long time then it produces same diseases as mentioned above and may cause piles, fistula etc.
Food if chewed properly then our saliva in the mouth gets mixed with food and helps in proper digestion. If one eat little less then what stomach desires then it is good for health.
One should drink water one hour before and one hour after the food. In between the food one can drink one or two sips of water just for cleansing the throat. Drinking water Immediately after eating food reduces the heat of digestive fire which leads to indigestion.
One can drink buttermilk between meals is very good for digestion.
Just after too much oily food, one should drink warm water not cold water otherwise it may increase kapha[phlegm] and harshness of throat. Other times also like early morning empty stomach and during day times it is good to have warm water, it cleanses the system.
By keeping these small things in mind we can reduce the bills of doctor and medicines.
D . In what pot meal should be cooked and eat.
If in the ceramics pot meal cooked Mostly excellent in terms of the health.
In the Jagannathpuri Temple [lord Vishnu temple] for cooking food for God offering, they use ceramics[mud] vessels After research It is found out that in ceramics vessels cooked food micronutrient of the food are100 percent protected.
In the food cooked in pots of brass or bronze, micronutrients decreases to five percent only but still useful for health comparison to alluminium vessels.
Food cooked in Aluminum pots is harmful to health because 70 percent micronutrients is lost, and by eating that food cooked in Alluminium vessels working capacity of our brains gradually decreases. Stainless steel pots are better than aluminum.
While cooking food, air and sunlight touch with food is required. If the food is cooked in pressure cooker then cooked food , does not gets sunlight and do not touch the air during cooking and in this way of cooking 90 percent of the nutrients are eliminated.while cooking food in pressure cooker If we remove the upper whistle of the pressure cooker then some nutrients can be saved.