How to eat according to Ayurveda-Part I
How often have you delayed lunch until evening just so you could complete your boss’s assignment? Or how many times have you had a heavy dinner only to wake up groggy the next day? Well, we are all guilty of doing these things.
In the fast-paced digital age that we live in, productivity takes precedence over personal pleasures and self-sabotage is seen as a measure of success. Therefore, it can be almost unimaginable to postpone every task at hand and eat or sleep just when your body feels like it.
Unfortunately, the body doesn’t tolerate that for too long. Every time you choose to ignore Mother Nature’s rhythms and decide to go by your own clock, your body bears the brunt of it and over time, this accumulates, giving rise to doshas and diseases.
How to eat according to Ayurveda?
Thankfully, Ayurvedic scriptures dating back to 5000 years ago have laid down specific guidelines for how to eat at different times of the day, and even what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
In this post, we’ll attempt to shed light on these principles. I strongly recommend you take this quiz before moving over to read the full post because only when you know your particular body type (Vata, Pitta, or Kapha), can you fully comprehend this post and use it to your advantage.
Best Ayurvedic morning drinks
Time: 7:00–9:00 am, Active dosha: Kapha
The morning time is the most precious time of the day, according to Ayurveda. Whatever you eat empty stomach is likely to be absorbed best by your body. Yet, since morning is the time of Kapha, the digestive fire (Agni) is low, hence small, light meals are recommended
The adage that “Have breakfast like a king” doesn’t hold true!
Consider the following:
According to Ayurveda, soaking seeds in water overnight makes their nutrients more bioavailable and easier to assimilate into the body. Consider the following seeds for your morning drink:
- Fenugreek Seeds
Recipe: Soak 1 tsp of fenugreek seeds in half-glass water overnight and drink the water the next morning
Benefits: Anti-inflammatory, balances female hormones, promotes digestion and blood sugar control
Best for: Reducing hair fall, high-fiber diet, recovering from a chronic ailment, restoring skin glow
2. Coriander seeds
Recipe: Soak 1 tsp of coriander seeds in 2 cups water overnight and boil the mixture over low flame. Strain and sip slowly
Benefits: Rich in immune-boosting antioxidants, reduces anxiety and improves memory
Best for: Balancing thyroid dysfunction, fighting foodborne allergies, reducing bloating/acidity
Diseases/conditions: Hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, hypothyroidism
3. Fennel seeds
Recipe: Soak 1 tsp fennel seeds in 1 glass of water overnight and drink it the next morning. DO NOT BOIL
Benefits: Promotes healthy bowel movement, calms down seasonal allergies, regularizes menses
Best for: Eye health, purifying blood to increase skin glow, reducing period pain
Diseases/conditions: Obesity, PCOD, acne, constipation
4. Triphala
Recipe: Soak two tsp of Triphala powder in 1 glass of water overnight. Strain and sip, or wash your eyes with this water
Benefits: Boosts liver function, cleanses the lungs, strengthens immunity, calms strained eyes
Best for: liver detoxification, reducing sugar cravings, weight loss, healing mouth ulcers, and eye infections
Diseases/conditions: Bacterial infections, obesity, gingivitis, acute constipation, glaucoma, or computer vision syndrome
Fruit-Infused Water
Drinking water soaked in fruits is a great way to get nutrition on the go. Not only is it rich in vitamins and minerals but also keeps your system hydrated and nourished. When taken in the morning, it revs up your metabolism and induces a feeling of satiety, thereby helping in portion control.
Caution: Ayurveda recommends drinking water at room temperature only, especially in the morning when metabolism is already low. Hence, do not refrigerate your fruit-infused water, rather you can keep it in a small earthen pot by your bedside and drink it right after waking up.
Fruits to add:
- Tropical fruits like watermelon and mango
- Lemon, limes, and oranges for a boost of freshness
- Kiwis, pineapple, and coconut for good fats
Do take a look at this fruit-combining guide below to understand which fruits are compatible and can be eaten together
Ayurvedic morning teas
In Ayurveda, the purpose of morning tea is to energize you and equip you to meet the rigors of the day. Additionally, you should feel hydrated and your digestive fire should feel well-supported to renew its metabolic action.
When to drink: Morning teas should be taken empty stomach but preferably after emptying your bowels
Basic recipe: A combination of whole spices, such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon with seeds like fennel, and herbs such as basil and mint.
You can choose the following options for a refreshing start to the day:
- Vata tea
- Herbs: freshly grated ginger
- Whole spices: ground cardamom and cinnamon
- Seeds: ground or whole carom (ajwain)
- Recipe: Boil the abovementioned ingredients till the water is reduced to half. Strain and sip slowly
- Best for: Vata dosha people
- Best season: Kapha months when stomach agni is low, i.e. from November to February
2. Pitta tea
- Herbs: Fresh cilantro, rose petals
- Seeds: Cumin, coriander, fennel
- Recipe: Boil together all the ingredients for 15 minutes. Strain and serve cool for maximum benefits
- Best for: Providing instant relief from acidity/indigestion
- Best season: Pitta months when stomach fire is high, i.e. from March to June
3. Kapha tea
- Herbs: freshly grated ginger, turmeric
- Whole spices: clove, cinnamon, black pepper
- Seeds: Fenugreek seeds
- Recipe: Add boiling water to the ingredients in a glass; let it steep for 15 minutes, then strain and sip
- Best for: People who feel tired and sluggish to wake up
- Best season: Autumn/winter, i.e. months of Vata and Kapha
Additional options: Fresh vegetable juices- Ash gourd juice; Cucumber-mint-coriander juice; Watermelon juice
What to eat for breakfast according to Ayurveda?
According to Ayurveda, the stomach’s digestive capacity runs parallel with the intensity of the sun throughout the day. In the morning, between 8:00 to 10:00 am, the sun has not yet reached its peak hence the digestive fire in the stomach is low.
You can think of your stomach as a furnace. Your breakfast should be such that it ignites the fire to an extent that it keeps burning like a slow flame through the day yet not so much that it goes out of control. Eating cold, uncooked breakfasts like smoothies, juices, raw fruits, and unsoaked nuts would be like throwing water into that furnace.
Eating cold, uncooked breakfasts like smoothies, juices, raw fruits, and unsoaked nuts would be like throwing water into that furnace.
A good breakfast should fulfill the following characteristics:
- Warm and well-cooked
- Mushy and soft in texture
- Made with minimum ingredients
- Devoid of milk or fortified cereals
Ayurvedic breakfast ideas:
- Alkaline foods, such as beetroot-yogurt, pomegranate, citrus fruits (single fruit serving)
- Hot oatmeal with bran flakes/oat bran or jowar flakes
- Mono-fruit meals
- Probiotic fruits such as apples or bananas are taken singly
- Vegetable soup cooked with seasonal vegetables and whole spices
- Ragi malt
- Barley soup
- A handful of pre-soaked, lightly roasted, and peeled nuts
Which foods to avoid?
- Raw food combinations, such as vegetable salads
- Meat
- Dairy products with the exception of yogurt
- Eggs
- Roasted nuts (unsoaked), dried fruit
In short, you should avoid eating any food that is dry in texture, raw, and has animal origins to ensure proper assimilation of nutrients from your breakfast.
Mid-morning (11:00 am to 12:00 pm)
Between breakfast and lunch, there should be a minimum 4-hour gap. If, in between, you feel the urge to snack, opt for positive prana foods only. Positive pranic foods are high in life-giving energy, as they are living foods, e.g.: fresh fruit, sprouts, honey, and coconut.
Having these foods at 11:00 to 12:00 pm greatly boosts their absorption into the system because that’s when the sun’s intensity is closest to its peak. Tea and coffee are negative pranic foods. However, having one cup in mid-morning and one in the evening is acceptable. Spicy tea blends and acidic fruits like pineapples and limes are easiest to digest when taken at this time. Another option is to drink coconut water or sugarcane juice during this time of the day, especially in the months of Pitta (July to October).
Coming soon: How to eat according to Ayurveda…Part II!
Originally published at https://thehealthshreks.com on October 13, 2021.
