Food — A complex subject
There are some foods that are beneficial for some people but bad for others. Thus, it is exceedingly challenging to choose a single food that is generally good. As diet affects Tridosha^, Ayurveda places a high value on it. Foods are classified in the Sushruta Samhita as either wholly good, wholly harmful, or a combination of both.
Foods like clarified butter, water, milk, and cooked rice fall under the category of completely healthy foods due to their positive effects on the body, whereas poison is completely harmful to the body. Certain foods can be beneficial in some circumstances while being hazardous in others. For instance, beans help the body’s Vayu, or gas, derangement, even though they may cause Pitta imbalance.
Shastika Shali or Njavara rice (a type of red rice), Godhuma (wheat), Kanguka (a type of corn), Panduka (Trichosanthes dioica Roxb. or pointed gourd), and Pitaka (barley) are some examples of completely healthy foods. There are specific sorts of meat specified under this category, and the majority are the meats of protected wild animals in India, hence those are not mentioned in the articles.
The main pulses that fall under the category of completely healthy foods include mudga (green gram), vana mudga (moth bean), kushtha (kidney beans), chanaka (chickpea), kalaya (peanut), and harenu (green peas). The most popular vegetables in this group include Vastuka (Chenopodium murale), Sunishannaka (Marsilea minuta), Tanduliyaka (Amaranthus spinosus), and Jivanti (Leptadenia reticulata). This group also includes Saindhava (rock salt), Dadima (pomegranate), Amalakam (Indian gooseberry), and ghee (a form of clarified butter).
There are several foods that, while harmless on their own, can behave just like poisons when mixed in unfavourable combinations. Examples of foods in this category include karira (Capparis decidua), amla (Indian gooseberry), kulattha (horse gram), pinyaka (sesame seed paste), curd, goat’s flesh, mutton, and varaha (wild boar) flesh consumed with milk. According to Sushruta Samhita, no animal’s meat, whether domestic, aquatic, or found in marshy terrain, should be consumed with boild paddy that has been sported or that has been made with honey, milk, Masha (black gram), or lard (animal fat especially pork).
Black pepper and Pippali (long pepper) shouldn’t be consumed with kakamachi (Solanum nigrum). Honey should not be consumed immediately after drinking warm water. Consuming Krishara (khichdi dish made with split grams, rice, salt, turmeric, and asafoetida), Payasa (a dish prepared with cereal and milk), and Sura (wine) together is not advised. Avoid eating fish with milk, bananas with Tila (sesame indica), milk, or whey. In addition to not being used with anything that has been heated by fire, honey should also not be consumed in the spring or fall.
Along with these limitations, mixing two oily substances in equal amounts is not advised, such as oil and ghee or honey and other oily substances. Combining substances that are incompatible in terms of rasa* (flavour), potencies, or chemical effects is not advised. Both in terms of flavour and chemical reactions, Madhura (sweet) and Kasaya (astringent) as well as Madhura (sweet) and Tikta (bitter) are incompatible. The gastrointestinal or chemical modifications, as well as the potencies and flavours of amla (sour) and tikta (bitter), are incompatible.
In short, watch what you eat and prioritise your health over taste.
Reference
Sushruta Samhita
Food Notes
^-https://medium.com/illuminations-mirror/tridosha-is-it-really-harmful-f52906ab6a6e
*- https://medium.com/illumination/rasa-is-more-than-just-a-sensation-on-the-tongue-aadb77938e99
