 Breakfast
is important meal of the day so do not skip it. But it should be
light, just enough to make you charged till lunch. Fresh
fruits,
sprouts, milk, whole grain cereals etc serve excellently as breakfast.
Lunch,
which is the most important meal of the day, should be the largest.
According to Ayurveda, our digestive fire or Agni works
best during
this period of day hence food is easily digested. It should include
lentils, whole wheat breads, grains, vegetables and
other
food items
that provide protein, and fuel your activities throughout the day. The
ideal time for lunch is from 12 Noon to 2:00 p.m.
Dinner the
last meal of the day should be light and must consumed at least three
hours before bed. It should be preferably relaxing
without too heavy curries or gravies.
Do not try
to gulp your food, eat at a moderate pace and chew the food thoroughly. It
is important to remember that digestion begins
in the mouth, and the stomach has no teeth.
Do not over
or under eat, as both are harmful for your health. Overeating cause
heaviness, lethargy and obesity while under eating
lack you from requisite nutrition and cause many health problems.
Keep a
healthy gap between two meals. Eat when the previous meal is digested.
This usually takes 3-6 hours.
Ayurveda
explains 6 tastes of foods: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and
astringent. It recommends the use of all tastes in a meal
as each taste nourish the body, mind, senses, and spirit in its own
unique way.
Eat in a
settled, calm atmosphere and avoid reading, T.V., or driving while eating.
Let your mind and body enjoy the flavors, textures,
and aromas of food.
Try to avoid
consuming liquids with your meal. If you want to have, then take warm or
room temperature liquids only. The chilled, cold
liquids suppress your digestive fire and disturb the digestion
process.
After
finishing your meal, sit comfortably for some time. It ensures the
uninterrupted digestive process.
Take a short
walk after a meal helps your body to digest the meal more efficiently.
There should be ten minutes gap between meal
and walk. Traditionally it is recommended to take at least 100
steps.
Milk is
important part of a healthy diet. It should be taken either alone or with
other sweet tastes. Boiling milk with a pinch of spice,
such as cinnamon, ginger, or turmeric, add extra taste and values to it.
Milk should be consumed warm. Never take milk with meat,
fish, sour foods, vegetables, salt, or eggs.
Include
freshly prepared fruit and vegetable juices in your daily diet. While raw
vegetables can aggravate Vata, juices are an excellent
source of nutrition for all doshas, and Prana (vital life energy) as
well.
Ayurveda
generally recommends a lacto-vegetarian diet for most people, which
include dairy products but not eggs. However,
modifications can be made according to your personal desire. You
can choose completely vegetarian diet.
To get rid
of those heavy fatty snacks switch to sweet juicy fruits such as pears,
plums, or grapes for snacks. You can also have
some dry fruits to suppress that in meal hunger.
Avoid using
refined white sugar. Instead, use other natural sweeteners such as, Agave
(from cactus), Rapadura, Sucanet, Date
sugar, Pure Maple sugar, etc.
Avoid cold
foods, drinks as they suppress digestive fire, and disturb digestion and
increase toxins in the physiology.
Avoid the
consumption of carbonated beverages as they aggravate Vata and diminish
“Ojas” (the basis of immunity).
Caffeine
should also used restrictively as it considerably aggravates both Vata and
Pitta. The overuse of caffeine can significantly
imbalances the physiology. Coffee contains highest caffeine,
followed by black tea. Coffee and black tea can be replaced by Green
tea or white tea that are lower in caffeine and provides the other
health benefits of tea in general. |
