Diet has long been a primary means of achieving health in the body and mind in Ayurveda. Food choice, meal timing, and level of attentiveness during meals either improve ojas (vitality) or decrease ama (fatigue) (toxicity). The ten rules that follow will help you tap into Ayurveda's ancient wisdom and use it to produce health, vitality, and energy through food.
1. IDENTIFY CORRECT DIET FOR YOUR DOSHA TYPE :
- VATA DOSHA : By its very nature, the Vata dosha (air and space elements) is chilly, dry, light, and rough. Balance is created by eating foods that balance those features. Foods that are warm (in terms of warmth and spice), hydrating (such as soups and stews), rich of healthy fats (such as olive oil, ghee, organic cream, and avocados), and grounding will help those with excess Vata energy restore balance (think dense, healthy comfort food.
- PITTA DOSHA : Pitta dosha (fire and water elements) has traits that are hot, greasy, light, and sharp. As a result, eating cool (particularly in terms of internal cooling, as seen with peppermint, cucumber, cilantro, and parsley), astringent (beans, legumes, pomegranate, and green tea), substantial, and gentle foods will help to reduce Pitta aggravation.
- KAPHA DOSHA : Heavy, cold, oily, and smooth features characterise the Kapha dosha (earth and water components). Kapha will be restored in no time if you eat foods that are light, warm, dry (like beans and popcorn) and rough (think "roughage" like veggies).
2. ELIMINATE SNACKS :
According to the principles of Ayurveda, digestion occurs in three stages. The kapha dosha is strong in the first hour after a meal. The body is heavy, full, and lazy. Pitta governs digestion after 2 to 3 hours. Internal heat and HCL levels rise, assisting in the transformation of meals into many chemicals. Vatta dosha is prominent four to five hours after a meal. This period is marked by a sense of lightness and space, which stimulates the appetite once more.
If we eat an unfinished or heavy meal during digestion, there is an imbalance and ama is generated, resulting in indigestion, hence it is best to avoid snacks to keep the doshas balanced.
3. EAT UNTIL SATISFIED NOT FULL :
Aside from the apparent effect of weight gain, overeating causes the body to produce more free radicals, which accelerates the ageing process. By putting down the fork when you're full but not stuffed, you may avoid overeating and ensure that your body gets the nutrition it requires without the added stress of processing and storing excessive calories.
4. CONSUME WHOLE, FRESH FOODS :
The greatest technique to boost ojas, the body's life force provider, according to the Ayurvedic diet, is to increase prana. Foods that are high in prana come directly from the source. Their prana was created by combining the powers of the sun, water, and earth. As soon as food is selected, its prana begins to diminish. As a result, eating foods as close to harvest time as practicable will enhance prana more quickly than eating the same foods later in the season.
5. INCLUDE ALL SIX TASTE IN DIET :
Ayurveda acknowledges six tastes, each of which sends to the body a distinct combination of energy and information. So, for a balanced and healthy physique, one should adopt the following six tastes.
6. REDUCE COLD FOOD AND BEVERAGES :
The digestive power of the physical and energetic body is known as agni, or inner fire. Agni like a roaring bonfire. It is hot, bright, and capable of digesting food, thoughts, emotions, and experiences when it is optimally operating. To ignite one's inner fire, one must avoid ice-cold meals and beverages that dull agni's intensity. If a continual stream of cold food or liquids is ingested, the agni of all doshas can get exhausted. Warm foods and teas are recommended for Vata and Kapha doshas, while chilly (but not frozen) beverages and foods are recommended for Pitta doshas. The digestive power will be maintained in this manner.
7. ELIMINATE DISTRACTION DURING EATING :
Sit calm and solitary to avoid distraction annd it helps to balance the dosha .
8 . STOP EATING THREE HOURS BEFORE MEAL :
The body repairs, heals, and restores itself while the mind digests the day's thoughts, emotions, and experiences. The physical healing and mental digestion processes are slowed when the body's energy is diverted to physical digestion. To avoid this imbalance, Ayurvedic medicine recommends that the last meal of the day be light and consumed three hours before bedtime. As a result, during sleep, the body's prana is free to relax and repair at the deepest levels.
9. FAVOUR HERBAL TEA DURING MEALS :
Teas can be consumed freely in between meals and can be used as herbal remedies. Between meals, drinking tea supplies the body with "liquid medicine," which helps to control snack cravings, facilitate detoxification, and stoke the digestive fire.
10. EAT YOUR LARGEST MEAL DURING LUNCH TIME :
When the sun is at its highest, Agni is at its most powerful. The body can use its tremendous inner fire to breakdown and assimilate nutrients with less energetic output than at other times of the day by eating the largest meal of the day at noon. The greatest time of day to incorporate heavier or difficult-to-digest foods is during lunchtime.
