Maharishi Charak, the father of Indian medicine, mentioned in Charak Samhita the importance of a balanced diet in for one's overall well-being. Every meal plays a crucial role in keeping our health and immune system intact. One should consume food which promotes health and doesn't invite or cause diseases.
When food is consumed according to individual prakruti and food according to the season, it helps to promote good health. There are three tridoshas: Vata, pitta, and kapha. Every person's physical and mental health is determined by one dosha. Each dosha requires special types of food. For example, vata dosha being air dominant requires easy-to-digest and cooked food. Pitta dosha, being fire dominant, requires alkaline and anti-inflammatory food like fruits and vegetables. Kapha dosha requires low-calorie like whole grains and raw food as it is heavy and dominates water and earth elements.Our daily meal should comprise all the six shad rasas or tastes — sweet, sour, salt, bitter, pungent and astringent.
Each taste has a dominant panch mahabhuta. For example, madhur ras (sweet) is dominant with water and earth elements, which nourish ras dhatu or lymph or plasma, muscles, bones, fats, etc. in our body. Salt is dominant with water and fire elements, which nourishes kapha and pitta. Amla ras is rich with earth and fire, which is pro kapha and pitta. Katu ras dominates air and fire which aggravates vata and pitta. Tikta ras is dominant with air and ether which is pro vata. Kashaya ras or astringent taste dominates air and earth elements which is pro vata and should be consumed in small quantities as it triggers digestive fire and can increase vata that causes serious body tissue damage, dryness, muscle emaciation, and weakness.
Season too plays a vital role in our overall well-being and, hence, food should be prepared in accordance with the season (ritu). Every season has its dominant dosha, which influences our health. Like, during summer and monsoon seasons vata dosha is dominant, pitta during autumn, and kapha during during winter and spring.
One must eat according to the movement of the Sun as our digestive fire follows the solar activity. In the morning, as the Sun is strong, our metabolism is at its peak and the Sun sets, our digestion and metabolism becomes weak. Hence, avoid eating after sunset or late in the evening.Today, most of our problems or diseases are aggravated by late-night eating habits. At night, our digestive fire is the resting phase and the food isn't easily digested. The undigested food then converts into a poison called AMA. Our emotions too impact our digestive system — fear, grief, anger, etc., destroy digestive fire. Ensure that you are in a calm environment and in a relaxed mood while eating. Allow your previous meal to be digested before moving on to the next one.
(The writer is a qualified internationally renowned Ayurveda consultant, expert in pulse diagnosis, and holds 15 years of experience)
