DIET

Our diet is an essential factor for the formation of our body.According to the ayurveda ,there are both positive and negative attributes of diet.In ancient Indian scriptures food has been compared to god,since it is the main factor which sustains life.Since ayurveda deals with a holistic approach of healing,it covers the diet factor in detail.It is clearly mentioned in'charak samhita' that consuming improper diet in improper way is the main cause of diseses.
WHEN DIET IS WRONG MEDICINE IS OF NO USE
WHEN DIET IS CORRECT MEDICINE IS OF NO NEED.
Personalised diet:The old saying "one man's food is poison for another",is perfectly applicable in ayurveda because every food contains doshas and the five elements in the different proportions,our injestion will effect our elemental balance in a positive or negative way.The benefits of personalised diet are:- better health, youthfulness and better memory - more energy, endurance and strength - a gradual decrease in existing diseases - prevention of colds, flu's and other diseases - greater ability to handle stress and anxiety- improved sleep and concentration- better digestion, metabolism and elimination- healthier skin, complexion and slowed down aging- increases intelligent - healthier progeny - stronger immune system - weight loss or gain and better sense control
Types of Diet
Knowing the importance of the diet and diet planning lets explore the different types of personalities you encounter and it's connection with the food they eat. Ayurveda has categorized personality traits into three different types,based on the food we eat;the Satvic or the spritual personality ,the Rajasic or the active personality and Tamsic or the material quality, depending on the effects they exert on the mind.Satvic diet:Satvic food is elevating and it keeps the body lean and agile and mind calm and quiet.Fruits like apples,banana,oranges;grains like basmati rice;wheat in smallquantity , dairy products like milk and clarified butter,fresh green vegetables likespinach,green beans and green grams are examples of satvic food.Although mild sweet taste is considered satvic,a strong sweet taste as in cholcolates and sweets increses tamsikquality.Rajasic diet:The activating rajasic diet may combine with the other two qualities to form different mentalqualities in man;spritual active ,intellectully active or materially active . It consists offood recepies of spicy ,salt and sour taste.Vegetables like onions ,garlic and spicy and sourpreparations like ketchups and vinegar have rajasic quality.Wines ,pickels ,meat and stimulating drinks like coffee and tea and types of alcoholic drinks are rajasik in nature.Tamsik diet:These foods increse kapha and lethargy ,ignorance and apathy.Rajasic food lead man to amaterialistic,selfish way of living .This food comprises of stale,over-heated ,oily heavy to digest,canned meat and fish productscontaining lot of preservatives as well as cold pasturised dairy products .The bane of today's generation is that they are tamsik personalities.Self-centered,insecure and ailing,they are reaching a point of no return
Your food style
Now you have learnt about diet ,it's importance and types let's apply the knowledge in planning your food style. Notwithstanding the individualized approach to choosing foods for balance, there are some universally applicable principles that are important to follow if you are living an ayurvedic lifestyle:
1. Include the six tastes at every main mealIn ayurveda, foods are classified into six tastes--sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent. Ayurvedic healers recommend that you include all of these six tastes at each main meal you eat. Each taste has a balancing ability, and including some of each minimizes cravings and balances the appetite and digestion. The general North American diet tends to have too much of the sweet, sour and salty, and not enough of the bitter, pungent and astringent tastes.2.Food should eaten at proper time intervals.Take the next meal when the previous meal is properly digested .The main meal should be taken between 11 to 1 in the afternoon.3. Choose foods by balancing physical attributes.In ayurveda, foods are also categorized as heavy or light, dry or unctuous/liquid and warm or cool (temperature), and different qualities balance different doshas. A balanced main meal should contain some foods of each physical type. Within this overall principle, you can vary the proportions of each type based on your constitution and needs for balance, the season of the year and the place you live.To keep Vata dosha in balance, choose more heavy, unctuous or liquid, and warm foods, and fewer dry, light or cool foods. To help balance Pitta, focus more on cool, dry and heavy foods, and to balance Kapha, try more of light, dry and warm foods.If you live in cooler climes, you'll want to gravitate towards warm comfort foods, and vice versa. Similarly, in winter, when Vata dosha tends to increase in most people's constitutions, almost everyone can benefit from including warm soups and nourishing dals, fresh paneer cheese and whole milk in the diet. In the summer, plan on eating more cool, soothing foods to help keep Pitta dosha in balance.4. Choose foods that are sattvic.A third ayurvedic classification of foods is by the effect they have on the non-physical aspects of the physiology--mind, heart, senses and spirit. Sattvic foods have an uplifting yet stabilizing influence, rajasic foods stimulate and can aggravate some aspects of the mind, heart or senses, and tamasic foods breed lethargy and are considered a deterrent to spiritual growth.Everyone, whether actively seeking spiritual growth or not, can benefit by including some sattvic foods at every meal because they help promote mental clarity, emotional serenity and sensual balance and aid in the coordinated functioning of the body, mind, heart, senses and spirit. Almonds, rice, honey, fresh sweet fruits, mung beans and easy-to-digest, fresh seasonal vegetables and leafy greens are examples of sattvic foods. To get the full sattwa from sattvic foods, prepare and eat them whole and fresh.