Food & Health

                                                             "Nourish & Relish"  

                                                

   

                                                  "If food is right, medicine is not needed,

                                           And if food is not right, no medicine will work."

Diet

• Timing
• Quantity
• Quality

• Timing : 

Digestive system is connected with Manipur chakra, and Manipur chakra is connected with sun. You must have observed in rainy season when sun is not active, our digestion is not proper.Therefore maximum fast are kept in rainy season (shravana somwar etc). As far as timing is concern it is said that take breakfast as king,lunch as common man and dinner as papaur. When food is take during day it is properly digested as the influence of sun is more.If dinner taken before sunset is ideal or take just after sunset.Eat at least 3 hours before sleeping. So that when you physically move or walk (shat pavali) the food will be properly digested. Eating late at night causes lots of digestion problems. This undigested food causes lots of problem. Lots of toxins are produces causing various diseases. Therefore timing of food should always be taken care of.

• Quantity :

When you eat food the energy of the body is used. Always take Satvik Aahar. as it is easily digested. If you take stale,oily, spicy food ,junk food the body has to waste lot of energy to digest it. And its outcome is very poor. You do not gain Prana Shakti (or energy). With food one should get lot of energy so that all the organs works properly. If the quality of food is not good you won't get the energy and you will feel dull throughout the day. The efficiency of your work will be reduced.Your patience will also be reduced. Vegetarian food is ideal. Take one lemon daily. Kadha  increases immunity. Garlic and ginger are immunity boosters,

• Quality

The food should be taken little less than your appetite. So that the digestion takes place properly. Food should be well chewed as the process of digestion starts from the mouth.

Introduction

Assessment of food values is largely based on measurement of chemical constituents of food in lab settings.Its appreciation of the importance of  bio-asssilation and its variability across different pheno or geno type is under played. In respect to bio-assimilation, it is not only the choice of quantity of food but its proper assimilation that is critical, because only when it is assimilated will food result in tissue nutrition. Therefore food and nutrition is not only a matter of proper choice of diet but equally important of good metabolism. (explore the concept of 13 agnis in ayurveda)

Black Lentil

Modern medicine has fairly detailed knowledge of of chemical components of food materials. for example, we know that Black Lentil /or  urad dal (vigna mungo) is rich in proteins and also contains good amounts of vitamins (B complex, C, E and K) and minerals (iron potassium, calcium) etc. However even if we consume in adequate quantities of this pulse, it is not certain how much will be assimilated and how it will affect the biological system. This is because  there is insufficient understanding of its biochemistry and bio-assimilation  and further more its systemic effects after metabolism. 

Myth :  The chemistry of food analysed in laboratory will generally translate into equivalent nutrition in the living body. This is in fact not the case.

While Ayurveda nutrition has no knowledge of the chemistry of food because it evaluates food differently, it employs "dravya-guna-shastra" the indigenous pharmacology. It assist the biological  effects of food on parameters. like rasa (biology of taste), virya endothermic or exothermic property), guna (biophysical effect), dosha karma (systemic effects), dhatu karma (tissue nutrition), and so on. For example the rasa (taste) of food is important because as per ayurvedic understanding, the sweet, sour and salt taste stimulate anabolic (constructive metabolism) activity while bitter taste, pungent taste and astringent taste stimulate the catabolic (breaking down) activity. Similarly parameters like  guna, virya, dosha karma and dhatu karma are very important to understand the nutritive potential of food. Alongside the indigenous pharmacology, there is also profound knowledge of physiology of different pheno-types.

To illustrate the proposal for integrative nutrition, lets go back to the example of urad dal: Ayurvedic nutrition science has discovered that while Urad is mamsa vardhak (contributes to building of muscle tissue), it is also at the systemic level endothermic and hence creates acidity (pitta karak) and more over difficult to digest. (guru). Therefore, it cannot be consumed on a daily basis without side effects. Thus the chemistry of Urad dal which is similar to that of moong dal is inadequate to make a holistic choice. Moong dal on other hand while having similar chemistry as urad can be eaten every day all your life as it is light, easy to digest and nutritious.

The only region in India that has developed an expertise for gaining the benefits (mamsa vardhak) of urad dal without suffering its side effects (pitta karaka and guru) is South India through the excellent invention of idli which uses Urad and rice (generally in a proportion of 1:3) and processes it through fermentation and steam to make a product that can be consumed on a daily basis. The fermentation process not only helps in partial digestion, but also adds probiotic with multiple health benefits.

The mental effects of food is yet another key dimension completely unknown to modern nutrition.. As per Ayurvedic understanding food may influence three mental states viz: rajas (aggresive), satvik (calming), or tamsik (destructive). Complex study-designs are needed to validate the mental effects of food food understood in Ayurvedic literature.

Nutritional science advocates nutrient sufficiency but also the value of food diversity and even more complex, the need for personalisation.

As society is plagued by Nutritional deficiencies & Chronic health diseases, ironically caused by uniformized commodity food resulting in a huge health cost burden over time. Diabetes, obesity, cancer, cardiac disorder,  are examples of health conditions partially impacted by food. Food instead of solution, has become the root cause of  the "health problem" of society.

Restoring diversity of food on the plate is  an important step for any 'food first' solution to health. This needs to be coupled with food personalisation. This personalized prospective of food forms one of the  foundational elements of Ayurveda.

                                                   "Diet needs to be individualized"

The food one takes is personalized by one's 'Prakruti' current dosha's, special needs, age and practices in  the context of seasons and daily cycles. Holistic, as it weaves together aahaar and vihar, diet and lifestyle  into a continuum; and a practicable system because it pulls together principles, products and practices into daily and seasonal rituals to embed in the lives of people. Also it provides the basic tools such as Prakruti analysis to type the individual and Rasapanchaka to type the food and mapping algorithms for the individual type and the food type.

There is a scientific realization that genotype plays an important role in determining nutrition needs and therefore food and nutrition needs to be personalized who genotype variation. Additionally, the emerging area of epigenomics is suggesting that the  molecules food can effect what part of our genome is expressed by interacting with our epigenome. This is important because while our genome or prakruti, are "What  we are born with" , and suggest  "What can happen"can be modulated by input such as food.

Personalized nutrition from metabolic prospective.

Individuals glucose response to any food. Therefore integration between prakruti and diet is important. Integrating the effect of food on doshas, subsequent proteomic and metabolomic changes.

Key takeaways

• The food that we eat is an important contributor to our health.
• There is no such things 'One diet fits all'. Our nutritional needs are different from that of others. A personalized nutritional approach to food may be important for our long term health.
• Prakruti based diet  has been suggested as approached to personalized nutrition in Ayurveda. Geno-type based recommendation are also possible today.
• The diversity of food in our plate is as important as the quantity of food. We should attempt to include  as many different food ingredients in our diet as possible.
• Keep a food diary is an important first step  to personalize our nutrition.

 

https://madhuchhandacdmo.blogspot.com/2021/03/food-health.html