How to eat according to Ayurveda-Part II
Ayurvedic scriptures dating back to 5000 years ago have laid down specific guidelines on how to eat at different times of the day, and even what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
This article is a continuation of a two-part series, with the first part linked below:
Having discussed Ayurveda guidelines for breakfast and mid-morning snacks in the previous post (link above), I proceed to shed light on lunch and dinner recommendations in the following post.
Before that, I strongly recommend you take the quiz (link below) 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.
What to eat for lunch according to Ayurveda?
Lunchtime, i.e. around noon (10 am to 2 pm) is the time of Pitta, i.e. when the sun is at its prime. This is when, you are recommended to have your heaviest meal of the day because your stomach has, by now, fully woken up to secrete the digestive enzymes necessary to fully support the process of assimilating the nutrients.
The guidelines for having lunch according to Ayurveda are:
1. Take an appetite stimulant: Appetite stimulants like fresh ginger roots, rock salt, and lemon juice induce the release of digestive enzymes in the stomach, leading to better digestion, especially if you are anticipating a heavy meal ahead.
Sprinkle a pinch of rock salt on a freshly cut slice of ginger and chew it well, 10 minutes before lunch to stimulate appetite and facilitate digestion
2. Have something bitter: Starting lunch with the bitter taste greatly boosts appetite; you can chew carom seeds (ajwain). In some cultures, eating bitter-tasting seasonal veggies such as bitter gourd is part of the lunch regimen.
3. Lunch: While it’s true that heavy meals are easy to digest when taken during this time, you should ensure to eat only compatible foods together. This is the only way to ensure that you don’t feel drowsy after lunch!
Food combining rules for lunch
- Do not have starch and protein together: This means having rice (starch) and chicken (protein) or eggs (protein) together will put an excess load on the gut.
- Have starch with fats or other starch: This means having rice with dal (lentil) with ghee (fat) is allowed. Similarly, having rice with vegetables is also recommended.
- Curd should be taken after a meal: Having curd along with your main meal slows down the digestion of food, mostly because curd is cold-natured and has a dampening effect on the stomach’s agni.
- Milk and curd are incompatible: This means having buttermilk or yogurt dips (raita) with milk-based curries is not recommended.
Cow ghee, according to Ayurveda, nourishes and lubricates the organs of the viscera; thus including it with your lunch is highly recommended, especially for Vata people who have a dry constitution, i.e. dull skin and constipation.
- End meal with something sweet: Ayurveda recommends including all six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and astringent in your main meal to fully satiate the palate.
End your meal with a piece of organic jaggery. Another option is caramelized banana sprinkled with cinnamon or freshly grated coconut mixed with jaggery.
- Post-lunch digestion booster: People who are prone to bloating post-lunch or have low stomach agni (Vata/Kapha people) should take a digestive aid post-lunch to stimulate the process of digestion.
According to Ayurveda, the best digestive aids are fennel seeds and Rasayanas like Triphala or Amalaki
- Postpone drinking water: When taken soon after lunch, water slows down digestion greatly, and causes the accumulation of ama (toxins) in the system. Scriptures have clearly specified that water should be taken only 1 hour before and 1 hour after lunch.
Mid-afternoon snack (4:00- 5:00 pm)
After 2 pm when the Pitta ends, the Kapha time begins and continues until 6 pm. During this time, the sun sets and the stomach’s fire fizzles out. As this is the time of Kapha, when the sluggish, cold constitution prevails in the form of cool breeze and twilight, there is an innate tendency to reach out for hot, spicy, or salty snacks.
However, Ayurveda advises against snacking. Eating in between meals causes the production of ama, and leaves the stomach with no time to heal and detox itself. If, at all, you’re hungry, consider the following options:
· Blanched/peeled almonds
· Sprouts
· Sunflower/pumpkin seeds
· Unsalted popcorn
· Boiled eggs
What not to eat: Fried foods, fruits, refined sugar
Dinner (6:00- 8:00 pm)
Eating after sunset is vehemently prohibited in Ayurveda, as it leads to the generation of tamas (ignorance) within the body. However, dinners are an integral part of our culture as it’s the only time when we get uninterrupted time for ourselves and our families.
Consider the following guidelines for dinner:
1. Eat cooked, warm meals: Hot meals consisting of cooked carbohydrates such as whole moong khichdi, lentil soup, quinoa porridge, and mashed sweet potatoes are recommended
2. Include whole spices: Cooking dinner with whole spices such as bay leaf, cardamom, and cinnamon warms up the digestive system, preparing it in advance for the ushering meal and allows 70% of the digestion to complete before you hit the bed
3. Have protein and fats: Swap high-carb meals for protein and fats, if you can.
That means eating quinoa or cauliflower rice instead of white rice and opting for white fatty fish. However, red meat is a strict no as it gives rise to ama and takes away your prana.
4. Replace table salt with rock salt: Having dinner cooked with rock salt is easier to digest, according to Ayurveda. Not just that table salt has water-retentive properties, making your belly appear larger and bloated the next morning.
5. Replace grain-based dinners with milk: Night is when the stomach produces enzymes necessary for milk. Cow milk when taken with herbs like ginger, turmeric, and/or ashwagandha has enormous benefits, ranging from balancing hormones to inducing a good night’s sleep.
6. What not to eat for dinner: Raw, cold-natured foods such as vegetable salads, fruits, curd, nuts
7. End your day with a soothing bedtime drink post-dinner to balance your hormones as you sleep. The recipe is given below!
Thank you for reading!
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