Vedic eating-style tips
Jangam, Sandeep
More details: http://mgdas.com/2010/04/general-h-advice/#more-21
Dear devotees,
Many devotees ask me about how regulated life should be and how to implement basic principles of lifestyle according to Ayurveda.
So I am writing this passage for the benefit of whoever wants to take advantage of this.
I am giving some easy to follow lifestyle changes for overall better health.
About drinking water –
Don’t drink ice cooled water or anything of that temperature. Water cooled by mud pot is maximum cold one can take.
Avoid Mineral (Bisleri or reverse osmosis) water totally. Normal tap water is recommended and if needs, you can filter and boil normal tap water.
Water should not be taken at least ½ hour before meal and 1-1.5 hours after meals. If while meals, there is thirst, little water sip by sip is suggested.
Please take water whenever you are thirsty, as much as required till we feel satisfied. In winter season, warm water can be better.
Around 6-8 glasses per day is fine. In essence – drink what your body demands but allow your body to express.
Variety in Meal –
Add grains other than rice and wheat in your diet. They can be jwara, bajara, millet, vari, rajgira, barley etc.
Avoid these vegetables – Tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, capsicum, lady finger, brinjal, carrot, French beans, potato.
In India (tropical) and also in world these vegetables cannot be grown without heavy pesticide use.
These are the vegetables which naturally / normally have insects compared to other group of vegetables.
There are many other vegetable than above mentioned and if we look for them, we can find them.
For e.g. we can have pumpkin, dudhi, all leafy vegetables, white guard, suran, gavar, chawali, karela, drumstick, raddish, salgam, padwal, pattol, galka, turiya, tondli, arabi, raw papaya, jackfruit, banana etc.
Sabji can be made from pulses. For those in west, go for all types of gourds and leafy vegetable.
For most of us who are not working physically as hard as construction laborers then grains twice in a day are sufficient. Our either breakfast or dinner can be of fruits, salads, milk etc. non grain.
Try to use silver plates for regular dinning. It is affordable. In value of one TV, you can get 4 silver plates for family.
Seasonal fruits –
Eat only seasonal fruits. Avoid packed food products and non-seasonal fruits. For e.g. don’t get attracted to mango in winter etc.
If you don’t know which fruits are seasonal and look for the fruits that are cheap.
The fruits are produced in more quantity in their natural season and are so at cheapest price in their season.
Also try to get local fruits. Better a local banana than one imported from 5000 miles across globe.
Fruits should be had either empty stomach before sunset or atleast 1/2 hour before meals. But generally not after meals.
The logic and reason as follows. Fruits are digested in 30 – 45 min. Grains take 3 hours. when we take mixed types of food then one of them is not digested properly.
So once grains go inside, the digestion of 3 hours starts. So fruits get over-digested along with that. But if we take them 30 – 40 min before then by the time we take grains fruits are digested.
Detoxification –
Cow urine is good detoxifier. No side effect or damage –
If you have even little faith then try to take little quantity of cow urine (tablet / ark available in stall is also fine) daily in morning or any other time of day.
This will help detoxify your body in big way and also thus increase immunity.
Ghee is best medium to cook; but as original ghee is nectar, anything other than that in name of ghee is poison.
In present kali yuga scene, I would recommend Til oil. Try to get filtered oil and not refined one.
Eating an exclusive activity –
Avoid doing other activities while eating; even watching video or telephoning or chit chatting. Concentrate on eating and chewing. Proper chewing is very important for proper digestion.
If one chews nicely and enough then his requirement of food will automatically decrease as proper chewing will result in efficient digestion and so we will get required quantity of nutrients in less quantity.
Eat while sitting cross-legged. Never eat while standing and sleeping. The food should be chewed so much that it becomes liquid by mixing of saliva and it should be like smooth paste.
Don’t burden the stomach – Give it what it can handle. It’s just like filling our suitcase. Don’t load bag where it is bulging on all sides.
Keep it light. If our stomach is filled to twice the capacity then how will it mix food with various digestive juices and move the food up and down.
Avoid many varieties in one meal – limit the number of items in one meal. All though all items may be good and healthy but limit the number of items to 3-4.
Dinner should be before sunset, at least 2-3 hours before you sleep. Ideally dinner by 6 pm and rest by 9 pm. We should try to come as close as possible.
In Ayurveda the people are classified as per their prakruti i.e. Kapha, Vata and Pitta. So there will be difference in instruction for them.
But here I’ve only mentioned few basic points which are applicable for almost all.
YS, Madan Gopal Das
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