Destroying all sorrows of life becomes easier for one who eats well, but not too heavy, sleeps adequately, work enthusiastically and lead a life in a regulated manner. Too much or too little of any of these aspects disturbs the body. Among these several aspects, food is the vital part of vitality.
In Ayurveda, food is given more importance and it has laid down many principles about what, why, how, when and which, related to foods. Eating foods with Prana, called life, destroys all miseries, both in physical and psychological context.
Ayurveda diet and nutrition
Why food is considered the driving force?
The relation to the food we eat indicates our relation with other aspects of life. For instance if you eat too little your sleep is disturbed. If you eat heavy unhealthy meals, you will suffer from many health complications.
Foods not just meant to give energy, but also influence everything. What you feed through your mouth to your body has its effect directly on the physique. Also, it has great influence on the mind and even the soul. Certain foods cause emotional instability and a many foods or groups brings happiness.
Simply, you can lead a potential life with great powers and happiness if you eat foods that carry life. When the food cooked is sourced from natural and fresh ingredients, cooked with love and care, contain Prana, it not just tastes delicious on your taste buds. Besides, it nourishes the body, mind and soul, give you a divine sensation, improve your energy, imparts positivity, creativity and longevity.
So, it is all about the food you eat, that decides how you live, rather how your life will be.
Principles of Ayurveda in Foods and Eating
Merely eating the healthy foods or wholesome nutritious foods isn’t sufficient to attain the divine and soulful phase with happy life. Ayurveda laid down several principles to impart the nourishment through foods. Giving here is the 12 principles of Ayurveda in eating.
Six Tastes:
The primary principle of Ayurveda is incorporation of all six tastes in foods, every meal, at least in the major meal. The six tastes, sweet, sour, salty, pungent, astringent and bitter, carries its own health benefits. The six tastes in a meal not just make the foods tastes more flavorful, but also makes it very healthy.
Eat according to the constitution:
We are made of combination of five elements of the universe, earth, water, air, fire and sky! Combination of these elements, called as Doshas, influences the physical and emotional traits of every human. You should eat according to your constitution, to maintain the balance in your body.
Sattvic Food:
Foods are divided into three groups in Ayurveda, Sattvic, Tamasic and Rajasic! While the third groups make no harm and do no good to health, Tamasic foods are unhealthy. Sattvic foods made of whole ingredients and fresh produce, are light, easily digestible, less oily, easy to cook and impart refreshment. Ayurveda always recommend eating Sattvic foods for vitality.
Avoid Tamasic foods:
As mentioned above, these foods have negative qualities like arrogance, laziness, pessimism, criminal mind, etc. Toxic foods like carbonated beverages, foods cooked with artificial preservatives and chemicals, alcohol, etc are tamasic foods.
Balanced Foods:
Ayurvedic principles of eating never prohibit eating any food group. Rather, it insists on eating well-balanced foods catering to all needs of body and mind. There is no prohibition to eat cheese or ghee or fats and carbs. Combination of all nutrients makes the food well-balanced in terms of nutrition fulfillment and flavor.
Seasonal foods:
It is crucial to sync with the natural changes as seasonal routine influence the body and mind. Called as Ritucharya, seasonal changes, Ayurvedic principles of eating insist on eating seasonal foods to keep the health intact. What are seasonal foods? The answer is simple. Any kind of fruits and veggies that is available in abundance and at cheap rates is seasonal foods. For instance, mango and watermelon in summers, sugar cane in winter, etc. Eating off-season foods causes digestive problems.
Variety:
Ayurvedic principles talk about eating a variety of foods. The incorporation of all six tastes in a meal automatically brings in variety.
Flavors and Aroma:
No other food or diet regime other than Ayurveda can bring you the flavorful foods. A simple dish can be tossed with several herbs and made quite delicious. Each food can be flavored in many ways. Flavors in this context don’t mean artificial flavoring agent or chemicals, rather fresh or grounded or dried herbs. To name a few, black pepper, cardommom, ginger – raw and dry, fennel seeds, oregano and many more. More than 10,000 varieties of tea can be made with Ayurvedic herbs.
Portion:
This is called mindful eating, where you should control the quantity of foods. Too much of nectar becomes poison.
Fresh:
Fresh eating is another core principle of Ayurvedic eating. Eating fresh doenst just means cooking with fresh ingredients, but never allows frozen, packaged, and stored foods. Also, it eliminates eating re-cooked foods or re-heated foods. If you cook now, eat it now.
Cooking Utensils:
Already, we have seen about how to setup Ayurvedic kitchen and what the vessels to use are. Always stick to cooking with natural utensils and avoid chemical infused utensils.
How the food is cooked
Obviously, the psychological effects of the person who cook the food reflect in how the foods taste. If you cook with love, care and affection, it tastes the world’s most delicious foods.
Follow these simple regimen to attain the optimal health.