eating well according to ayurveda

8/7/2019 Eating Well according to ayurveda

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/eating-well-according-to-ayurveda 1/31



choose foods from each category for complete, balancednutrition. Just in the category of fresh vegetables and herbs,for example, you could choose fennel bulb or carrot for thesweet taste, fresh lemons for sour, arugula or endive for

bitter, radish or white daikon or ginger root for pungent andcabbage or broccoli or cilantro for astringent.

The amalaki rasayana, made from the amla fruit, offers five of the six ayurvedic tastes--all except salty.

2. Choose foods by balancing physical attributes

In ayurveda, foods are also categorized as heavy or light, dryor unctuous/liquid and warm or cool (temperature), anddifferent qualities balance different doshas. A balanced mainmeal 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, dryand heavy foods, and to balance kapha, try more of light, dryand warm foods.

If you live in cooler climes, you'll want to gravitate towardswarm comfort foods, and vice versa. Similarly, in winter,

when vata dosha tends to increase in most people'sconstitutions, almost everyone can benefit from includingwarm soups and nourishing dhals, fresh paneer cheese andwhole milk in the diet. In the summer, plan on eating morecool, soothing foods to help keep pitta dosha in balance.



3. Choose foods that are sattvic

A third ayurvedic classification of foods is by the effect theyhave on the non-physical aspects of the physiology--mind,

heart, senses and spirit. Sattvic foods have an uplifting yetstabilizing influence, rajasic foods stimulate and canaggravate some aspects of the mind, heart or senses, andtamasic foods breed lethargy and are considered a deterrentto spiritual growth.

Everyone, whether actively seeking spiritual growth or not,can benefit by including some sattvic foods at every mealbecause they help promote mental clarity, emotional serenityand sensual balance and aid in the coordinated functioningof 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.

4. Opt for whole, fresh, in-season, local foods

Authentic ayurvedic herbal preparations are made byprocessing the whole plant or the whole plant part, not byextracting active substances from the plant. Similarly, fromthe ayurvedic perspective, the most healthful diet consists of whole foods, eaten in as natural a state as possible, the onlyexception being when removing a peel or cooking helpsincrease digestibility and assimilation for certain types of constitutions. If the digestive fire is not strong enough, even

wholesome foods can turn into ama (toxic matter) in thebody.

Foods that are frozen, canned, refined so as to denude thefood of its nutritive value, processed with artificial colors,flavorings, additives or preservatives, genetically altered, or



grown with chemical pesticides or fertilizers are notrecommended by ayurvedic healers, because such foods arelacking in chetana--living intelligence--and prana--vital life-energy--and will do more harm than good in the physiology.

For the above reasons, it's best to choose foods and producethat is locally grown or produced, foods that are in-season,and foods that are organic, natural and whole.

5. Rotate menus and experiment with a variety of foods

The sages that wrote the ancient ayurvedic texts would behorrified by our current fascination with the low-carb diet or

the no-fat diet or the juice diet--from the ayurvedicperspective, any diet that is exclusive in nature is bydefinition incomplete in its nutritive value and ability tobalance all aspects of the physiology. Eat a wide variety of foods for balanced nutrition--whole grains, lentils andpulses, vegetables, fruits, dairy, nuts, healthy oil or ghee,spices and pure water all have their roles in the balancingprocess.

If you find yourself eating the same dishes several times aweek, or you gravitate towards the same produce or foodsevery time you shop, resolve now to start making your mealsan adventure. Every week, try at least a few new foods or fixfamiliar foods in new ways, so that your taste buds and your digestion are constantly exposed to some new stimuli inaddition to the familiar.

According to ayurveda, each meal should be a feast for all of your senses. When your plate reflects an appealing variety of colors, textures, flavors and aromas, your digestive juicesstart freely flowing in anticipation and your body, mind andheart are all fulfilled by the eating experience.



6. Include spices and herbs in your daily diet:

Spices and herbs are concentrated forms of nature's healingintelligence. They are particularly revered in ayurveda for

their ability to enhance digestion and assimilation, helpcleanse ama (toxins) from the body and their yogavahiproperty--their ability to transport the healing and nutritivevalue of other components of the diet to the cells, tissuesand organs.

Spices, in ayurveda, are generally eaten cooked. Sautéspices in a little olive oil or ghee (clarified butter) and pour the mixture over cooked foods, or simmer spices with foodslike beans or grains as they cook. Fresh herbs such ascilantro or mint are generally added at the end of the cookingprocess, just before serving.

Ayurveda recommends spices/herbs to stimulate thedigestion before a meal, during a meal and after a meal.Eating a bit of fresh ginger and lemon about 30 minutesbefore a main meal helps kick-start the digestion. Eating

dishes cooked with a variety of spices and herbs helps theprocess of digestion --absorption--assimilation--elimination.Chewing fennel seeds after a meal helps digestion andfreshens the breath naturally as well.

Ayurvedic rasayanas such as amalaki and triphala offer additional ways to help nourish and cleanse the digestivesystem. Amalaki rasayana helps enhance digestion, helpsbalance the production of stomach acid and nourishes the

body tissues. Triphala rasayana helps tone and cleanse thedigestive tract and helps nourish the different tissues.

Note: this information is educational, and is not intended todiagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you have amedical concern, please consult your physician.



Ayurveda & natural healing

Ayurveda weighs in on the obesity epidemic

I was paging through the new yorker recently when a cartooncaught my eye. In my memory, it¶s a stenciling of pedestriansambling down a metropolitan street. They are almostspherical, like blimps about to lift into the air. A tubby boyand his mother are standing across the road, watching theherd of roly-poly people (whose clothes, incidentally, are so

tight that their buttons are about to pop off). But one womanstands out in the crowd: a thin, leggy young lady stridingalong in high heels and a pencil skirt.

The fat boy tugs on his mother¶s pant leg, gesturing withwonder. "look, mom," he blurts. "a skinny lady !"

The cartoon is a twist on last year¶s breaking news: for thefirst time in u.s. history, people who are not overweight are in

the minority. Two-thirds of americans are carrying aroundtoo much weight, and half of those are obese. In the lastthree decades, obesity rates have doubled, and thepercentage of pudgy kids has tripled. Today, even our petsare packing on the pounds: 25 percent of cats and dogs areoverweight.

Last year, medical authorities like the surgeon general, thenational institutes of health, the centers for disease controland prevention, and the american heart association releasedominous warnings about the future of our country¶s health,including the prediction that obesity might soon overtakesmoking as the no. 1 cause of preventable death in theunited states. Our nation¶s weight problems are draining



both our economy (racking up an annual $117 billion inmedical bills) and our lives (killing 365,000 people a year).

In an attempt to reverse this trend, overweight americans

who are sick of the consume-fewer-calories-and-exercise-more equation are darting in other directions, searching for greener (less fattening) pastures. They¶re popping bogus"fat-trapping" pills full of shellfish skeletons (a.k.a.Chitosan). They¶re eating ungodly amounts of bacon onatkins. They¶re paying $30,000 to get their stomachs stapled.And in the field of genetics, the situation has become sobizarre that stem cell researchers at ucla and the university

of pittsburgh predict that in five or ten years, you may beable to use the plethora of stem cells embedded in your midriff¶s "spare tire" to help treat the medical complicationscaused by obesity.

These developments are disturbing. How²and when²did weget so out of control? So far removed from nature? Socomplicated and high-tech and absurd? I¶ve been followingthe media hype about our nation¶s weight problems for more

than a year, and i¶ve contemplated the purported causes, theproposed solutions, the people and the industries nominatedfor blame. After a while, i began to wonder: what wouldayurveda say about our eating imbalances?

In search of answers, i spoke to three of the most articulate,knowledgeable experts in the field. Robert svoboda, davidfrawley, and vasant lad are the trailblazers who, over the pastfew decades, have introduced ayurveda to a wider audiencearound the world and have collectively written more than 15books on the subject. These experts²scholars, teachers,and practitioners who are grounded in the ancient texts andin the lineage-based tradition of ayurveda²reveal the real



causes behind america¶s weight problems and offer naturalsolutions (that don¶t cost $30,000).

Problem #1: material abundance often adds pounds. We¶ve

tried to compensate with erratic dieting, which slows downour metabolism and makes us even heavier.

Thousands of years ago, ayurveda classified obesity as adisease of affluence, because only the rich had the luxury of becoming fat. As lad points out, "the fact that two-thirds of americans are overweight shows that there is greatprosperity in this country. This is a land of milk and honey."but interestingly, one out of every four adults who live belowthe poverty level is obese. How could this happen? Is the oldayurvedic principle outdated? Yes and no, say lad andsvoboda. On one hand, bad-quality food is cheap and readilyavailable, while high-quality food is expensive and harder tofind. So poor people often get more bang for their buck inweight-producing junk food than in fresh whole foods, eventhough the former promotes weight gain and ill health.

On the other hand, says svoboda, "although there are a lot of poor people in this country, when you compare them to poor people in india, for example, it¶s a little ridiculous to say thatyou¶re poor because you can¶t afford high-quality food.Granted, the food that is available to poor people in americais often undesirable, but still, the kind of poverty that wehave here is much richer poverty than there is in other partsof the world."

Svoboda thinks that america¶s obesity problem is mostly "aproblem of excess." he says: "there¶s too much food, there¶stoo much entertainment, there¶s too much leisure, there¶s toomuch of everything. As a result, people are not trained toevaluate for themselves what is the best way for them to live,and nobody teaches them. . . . When you add all of these



factors together it¶s surprising that anyone in this country isthin."

Standard american behavior²overeating (especially junk

food) and underexercising²makes you fat, svoboda says.Crash dieting does, too. Ninety percent of dieters return totheir original weight or even add pounds. That¶s because, ashe explains, "when dieters go back to their normal eatinghabits at the end of the diet, they burn off fewer calories andstore more fat than they did previously. Their metabolic rateshave dropped, and their bodies are now wary of starvationand want to store even more just in case such an episode is

repeated. Crash dieting therefore increases the body¶s fatideal and makes you fatter." frawley says that in addition tosuppressing your agni (digestive fire) and slowing down your metabolism, dieting also disturbs or increases the vatadosha and aggravates "nervous-type obesity," which is verycommon in our culture. [see "problem #6: emotional eating"for more.]

Solution

Your body has adapted to your eating patterns²even if someof them are unhealthy. "and it tends to hold onto its habitstenaciously," explains svoboda, "so you need to be patientabout reeducating your body." ayurvedic texts recommendreducing the amount of the unhealthy foods you eat byfourths, he says, instead of shocking your body by going ona strict diet for a short period of time and then reverting backto your old ways because you can¶t maintain the austerity.

In the old days, overweight patients would slowly eliminateunhealthy foods over the course of seven days. As svobodaexplains, "on the first day, they would eat one-fourth lessthan normal, on the second and third days eat one-half less,and on the fourth to sixth days eat only one fourth as much



as they were accustomed to eating, so that by the seventhday they are free of the addiction. . . ." nowadays, svobodasays, "the modern body often needs more than a week toadjust, but the principle of gradual removal is, when feasible,

far better for the system than the sudden, cold-turkeymethod."

Problem #2: we overeat poor-quality, lifeless food.

Another problem, according to frawley, is this: "we¶reovereating food that is too heavy, too greasy, too oily, tooprocessed, and too weight-producing. We use poor-qualityoils and eat too much refined sugar, refined flour, fast foods.We have a diet that according to ayurveda increases not onlykapha, but also ama, or toxins, because of its lack of freshness and its lack of prana. And we don¶t cook anymore;we microwave processed food. This food tends to be heavyand tends to accumulate as fat instead of being built up intobetter-quality tissues."

Ayurveda¶s list of "dead foods" includes frozen, canned, and

microwaved foods; processed foods that come in a bag or abox; overcooked or undercooked food; unripe or overripefood; stale or burned food. These foods have less prana thanfresh food, says frawley, and often contribute to the buildupof toxins in the body, which can lead to diseases of ama, likearthritis. As he explains, "the goal of eating is to absorb theprana of the food. If food doesn¶t have prana in it, it doesn¶thave a vitalizing effect on the body. Instead, it makes usheavy and sedentary."

Solution

The yogic rule of thumb is to eat "living" food: fresh fruits,veggies, rice, and beans that have been ripened by the sunand harvested as recently as possible. These whole-foods



ingredients have a more nourishing, vitalizing effect on thebody and mind, offering more satisfaction in smaller quantities and fewer calories than the more conventional fastfoods. [for more, see "phony foods" by dr. Carrie demers,

page 00.]

Problem #3: our digestive fire is weak.

According to ayurveda, properly functioning agni, in the formof digestive fire, is one of the keys to healthy body weight(and to vibrant health in general). Agni helps us assimilatenutrients and eliminate wastes, or ama. When agni isbalanced and burning brightly, we¶re blessed with efficientdigestion, minimal toxic buildup, healthy body weight, and asense of energy and vitality. But when agni is weak,digestion is incomplete and leaves behind toxins thatinterfere with the flow of blood, lymph, and energythroughout the body. When we¶re unable to rid ourselves of these wastes, ama accumulates and can lead to weight gainand, eventually, disease.

Unfortunately, says frawley, we do a lot of things thatsuppress agni (overeating; eating too frequently; eating toomuch heavy or cold food, sleeping too much; and notexercising enough) and very few things that strengthen it.

Solution

Stoke your digestive fire with these simple ayurvedictechniques.

Solar work

In the human body, the seat of agni is the solar plexus.Strengthening this area will kindle your digestive fire. So inaddition to regular exercise, include abdominal



strengtheners such as sit-ups, crunches, or leg-lifts for 5-10 minutes a day. And under the guidance of an experiencedyoga teacher, learn the hatha yoga kriya practice of agni sara.

The 12-hour fast

According to ayurveda, the body is programmed to direct itsenergy toward cleansing and assimilation in the hours justbefore midnight, when agni is the weakest. To support thisprocess, ayurvedic physicians recommend refraining fromlate-night snacks and going to bed around 10 p.m. Theyrecommend fasting for 12 hours every night²between dinner and breakfast (7 p.m. To 7 a.m., for example). This frees thebody from the burdens of meal-related digestion so it canconduct mental, emotional, and cellular cleansing in a moreconcentrated way.

The 12-hour fast also respects agni¶s daily waxing andwaning cycle which, according to ayurveda, corresponds tothe rising and setting of the sun. That¶s why it is wise to eat a

healthy breakfast in the morning, eat your largest meal atnoon when the sun is the strongest, eat a lighter dinner asthe sun is waning, and then allow your stomach to rest untilthe sun comes up the following day. This fast supportsmetabolism, prevents ama accumulation, normalizes weight,and, according to frawley, is especially recommended for people with kapha imbalances.

Other quick tips

avoid taking cold drinks like ice water, milk, or coke withyour meals. They suppress agni and increase weight in thebody.



add some mild spices such as ginger, black pepper, garlic,cinnamon, and clove to your food. This will also kindle agni.

make sure that your right nostril is open. According to the

ancient texts, nostril dominance has subtle effects on your energy and can help or hinder your digestion. When the rightnostril is dominant, the energy in your body is warm, active,and ideal for digestion.

When you finish eating, keep your right nostril open for a bitlonger by taking a stroll for 5 to 10 minutes, or by lying onyour left side in a quiet room. Don¶t fall asleep, though²napping after a meal will impede the digestion process andencourage weight gain.

fast for at least three hours after eating. This gives the bodytime to digest most of the previous meal before it beginsdigesting a new meal or a snack.

Problem #4: mindless eating.

Lad points out that most americans eat anywhere but at the

kitchen table. We eat while we are watching tv, driving towork, walking down the street, talking on the phone,checking our e-mail. This is a bad idea, he says. How can youdigest your food if you¶re not paying attention to it?

Solution

It is much healthier to sit down at the table and give fullattention to your meal. "before eating, ask yourself, µam ireally hungry, or not?¶" lad advises. Here are a few more tipsto bring you into the present moment with your food.

Before you eat, do 5 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing.This activates the body¶s rest-and-digest response, relaxingthe nervous system and enhancing blood flow to the



digestive organs. It also helps you tune into your body sothat you eat only what your body needs.

Say a prayer of thanks. Svoboda believes this is the most

important of all the ayurvedic rules of eating (and there aremany) because "food is the prana, the life force, of all livingbeings." in ayurveda for women, he writes, "eating is asacred act, an offering made into the internal digestive fire inmuch the same way that offerings are made into externalsacrificial fires." [for more about food and prayer, see pointsof practice, page 00.]

Eat in solitude or in pleasant company with a cheerful mind.Strong emotions distract your attention. Efficient digestionwill take place when you eat at a relaxed pace, pay attentionto the sensations of eating, and chew each bite of food 32times.

Problem #5: we have become couch potatoes.

Only 24 percent of americans work out vigorously at least

three times a week, even though everyone knows that regular exercise is one of the main keys to weight loss (and tooptimal health in general). Why, then, don¶t we exercisemore?

Frawley believes our couch potato habits reflect deeper social problems. "we don¶t have enough physical or mentalmovement in our society," he says. "we¶re too dependentupon entertainment and stimulation. People are becoming

more passive. It shows a basic lifestyle imbalance, and wehave many."

Lad agrees. "some people will sit on the couch with a bigbucket of popcorn drenched in salt and butter and a largecan of coca-cola and watch a football match²and that¶s their



exercise!" but people who want to lose weight can¶t afford tobe sedentary. As lad points out, "american food is rich incalories, proteins, fat, and carbohydrates. But to digest richfood, you have to do rich exercise. Otherwise, the unburned

calories add to the adipose tissue, and you become chubby."

From an ayurvedic point of view, says svoboda, exercise hascountless benefits. In ayurveda: life, health, and longevity, hewrites, "exercise . . . Enables more prana to reach the tissuesby« clearing all channels, promoting circulation and theexcretion of wastes, improving lung efficiency, destroyingfat, and increasing stamina." it also improves immune

function, he says.Solution

Ayurveda recommends that you exercise daily until sweatforms on the forehead, under the arms, and along the spine.This signals your breaking point, which comes when youreach 50 percent of your capacity. Stop here. Exercise thatcauses discomfort or strain is considered harmful because it

gives your body extra repair work to do.

A few other ayurvedic principles:

exercise outdoors when possible.

exercise alone or in pleasant company.

don¶t distract yourself by listening to music, watching tv, or talking excessively while you exercise. Ayurveda urges us tobe mindful when we exercise; when you¶re grounded in your body, you¶re less likely to overdo and injure yourself.

choose enjoyable activities that are suited to your nature, or prakriti. Your prakriti is composed of three doshas (humors):vata, pitta, and kapha. In most of us, one or two predominate.



Vata types need exercise that is low impact (to protect their joints) and stabilizing. Because they tend to overdo it, theyneed to pay particular attention to their bodies and stopbefore they reach their breaking point.

Pitta-dominant people will reap more benefits from activitiesthat cool their fiery nature (like swimming) and encouragethem to enjoy themselves instead of competing againstothers (like hiking).

Kapha types gravitate toward laid-back sports like golf butthey benefit most from hard, sustained exercise that makesthem break a sweat.

Problem #6: emotional eating.

According to svoboda, loneliness and fear can make yougain weight because these emotions will drive you toovereat. Lad has a similar opinion. "there is a very importantrelationship between love and food," he explains. "food isthe food of the body, and love is the food of the soul. When

individuals are missing love, they may try to seek lovethrough food, but if their agni is not strong enough toassimilate, digest, absorb, and metabolize what they eat, theygain weight."

Svoboda has another take on the underlying causes of emotional eating. "we live in a very unstable world," he says."political and economic forces are encouraging us to beuneasy. Unease creates anxiety, and anxiety creates vata.

When there is plenty of vata, the organism experiences asensation of danger, and this tells the mind to encourage thebody to do all sorts of things to make it feel more stable. Oneway to create a greater sensation of stability is to increasethe amount of mass in your system." so according to



svoboda, people overeat in an attempt to create a sense of stability and calm their fears.

Solution

If emotional eaters want to lose weight, says svoboda, theywill need to re-create a sense of stability for themselvesthrough activities other than overeating. Lad recommends aregular routine of asana, pranayama, and meditation. Thesebasic yoga practices are the best remedies for loneliness andfear, and, according to lad, "they will help you drasticallylose weight."

Lad also recommends including an ayurvedic dish calledkitchari, a one-pot meal of seasoned rice and mung dal, inyour diet. "kitchari is the sanskrit word for µfood of god,¶" ladexplains. "ki also means µspace,¶ and chari means µmove,¶ sokitchari helps you move into the inner space, the inner sky of consciousness. It¶s a wholesome, sattvic, balancing foodthat promotes cleansing and detoxification. Also, kitchariimproves clarity of perception and promotes a calm, quiet,

loving, and compassionate state of mind.

"when people are eating emotionally, the foods they choosedon¶t satisfy their cellular needs. This leads to more desire toeat, which leads to bingeing and other eating disorders.Kitchari, on the other hand, gives the body cellular satisfaction."

An empowering way to lose weight

Ayurvedic experts have always been skeptical of quick-fixweight-loss tactics because there is no magic pill, no perfectdiet, no flawless surgery to make our excess flab disappear.It takes a long time to become clinically overweight, and it



takes a long time to whittle our way down to a healthy weightagain.

While pill popping, crash dieting, and gastric bypass

procedures may produce dramatic, short-term weight loss,the risks are high and the benefits illusory. Yet in spite of allthis, the demand for quick fixes continues to skyrocket. Half of all herbs sold in the united states are geared for weightloss, and the federal trade commission estimates that annualrevenue from sales of diet foods and beverages is awhopping $40 billion. Entrepreneurs everywhere are sellingthe new american dream: "lose weight, burn fat, and build

muscle effortlessly and become healthy, happy, and sexy."but selling the dream is not the same as offering a solution.For that, we need to look to the wisdom of ayurveda.

If you¶re struggling with your weight or know someone whois, you may want to consider the weight-loss strategies thatfrawley, lad, and svoboda offer here. These low-techsolutions²making gradual dietary changes, eating prana-rich food, stoking digestive fire, eating with full attention,

exercising regularly, and practicing yoga²can help us shedpounds in ways that enhance our health instead of harmingit. But the excess weight will gradually melt away²never toreappear.

Exercise facts

people who walk for 30 minutes a day are healthier thanthose who opt for high-intensity workouts.

studies show that people who exercise regularly feel moreconfident, capable, and able to handle life¶s challenges thanthose who don¶t.



every additional daily hour that you spend in a car (insteadof walking, biking, rollerblading, etc.) Will increase your obesity risk by 6 percent.

How to make diet kitchari

(serves 4)

1 cup basmati rice

1 cup mung dal

1 tablespoon ghee

1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/4 teaspoon brown mustard

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon rock salt

4 cups water

1. Rinse the rice and mung dal until the water is clear.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the ghee and addthe mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Stir a moment until theseeds pop.

3. Add the rice, mung dal, turmeric, and salt, and stir untilwell blended with the spices.

4. Add the water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes,uncovered, stirring occasionally.



5. Turn down the heat to low and cover, leaving the lidslightly ajar. Cook until tender, about 20±25 minutes.

(adapted from ayurvedic cooking for self healing by usha lad

and vasant lad)

Did you know?

although 64 percent of americans are overweight or obese,only 30 percent realize they are too heavy.

25 percent of all vegetables eaten in the united states arefrench fries.

american teens drink nearly twice as much soda as milk.Twenty years ago, the ratio was reversed.

30 percent of kids between 6 and 19 years old are obese,overweight, or in danger of becoming overweight.

86

percent of kids who are obese get that way before their 6th birthday. According to ayurvedic expert robert e.Svoboda, "children who are overfed poor diets are sure todevelop a large number of fat cells, and until the ends of their lives they will find it easy to gain weight and difficult to takeit off again. Fat babies make for fat adults."

in the 1970s, kids were exposed to about 20,000 tv ads ayear. Today they see about 40,000. Researchers estimate that

up to 70 percent of those ads are for food. According to time, "ads for high-fat, high-salt foods have more than doubledsince the 1980s, while commercials for fruits and vegetablesremain in short supply."



for the first time in history, there are as many overfed,overweight people in the world as those who are underfedand underweight.

Playing with fireMid-day is the time when your digestive "fire" is at it's most

potent and that's why ayurveda advises making lunch the

main meal of the day. Allowing 4-6 hours between lunch and

dinner and eating a light evening meal helps reduce acid

reflux because you're not settling down for the night on a full

stomach.

Get water wiseSip room temperature water with meals. According to

ayurveda, ice cold drinks weaken the digestion. Milk doesn't

mix with meals either. Hot water or herbal tea is good to sip

when eating and if your digestion is sluggish you could make

a simple ginger tea by grating some fresh ginger and adding

it to a cup of freshly boiled hot water. This is very good for

digestion, thirst quenching and cleansing to the deeper

tissues of the body.

Eating habits



y Food should be full of nutrients having an ideal mixtureof all the six tastes (sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter andastringent).

y Healthy food should be taken regularly twice a day only.y The gap between two meals should not be more. Hence,

ayurveda recommends that one should fill-up his bellydaily at least twice with small quantities of snacks so asto remain active. Such a small meal is known as antar-bhojan.

y After eating a full course of meal, neither should weallow our stomach to remain empty for more than 6 hours, nor should we fill it up again before at least 3

hours are passed. It means as long as we are activeduring the day we should take something at an intervalof 4 to 5 hours.

y A meal should neither be taken too hastily nor tooslowly. It should be masticated well before swallowing.

ayurvedic medicines and weight loss

ayurvedic medicines are designed, taking into considerationmind-body relationship. According to ayurveda, imbalance of vata, pitta, and kapha systems leads to health problemswhich include being overweight or underweight. Differentayurvedic body types are treated with different medicines.Here are some of the best ayurvedic medicines for weightloss.

Triphala: triphala benefits include weight loss, improveddigestive system, improved eye health, detoxification,improved heart health, clear skin, etc. Triphala means threefruits and the triphala choorna (powder) is a mixture of amalaki (emblica officinalis), bhibitaki (terminalia chebula)and haritaki (terminalia bellirica). It contains antioxidant



vitamin c. It stimulates the production and release of bile. Ithelps lower excessive water content of body tissues and italso lowers hunger pangs.

G uggul : guggul extract benefits include improved rate of body metabolism and healthy weight loss. Guggul helpslower cholesterol and triglycerides levels and ensures hearthealth. It enhances the function of liver as well as thyroidgland. This helps improve the rate of metabolism which inturn leads to weight loss.

Herbal medicines: doctors and dietitians recommend natural

herbs for weight loss. Herbal medicines are prepared bymixing various herbs. G uduchi (tinospora cordifolia), shilajit ,aloe vera, gotu kola, trikatu (a combination of equal parts of black pepper, ginger, and pippali or indian long pepper),barberry are used to make weight loss medicine in ayurveda.

A number of herbs help get rid of obesity but you need tofollow an ayurvedic diet and yoga exercises regularly.Sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, genetics, eating oily andgreasy foods, consuming highly processed foods, etc. Aresome of the main reasons of excessive weight gain. Toachieve desired weight loss, you need to follow a weight lossdiet and improve your eating habits. According to ayurveda,improper mixing of food items in one meal can result inseveral health problems. Take a look at the following tips if you want to take ayurvedic medicine for weight loss.

Ayurvedic weight loss: tips

y Use hot water for drinking. Avoid caffeine, sodas,alcoholic drinks.

y Mint promotes weight loss. Include mint tea or mintchutney in your diet.



y Drinking amla juice regularly is beneficial if you arethinking of losing weight naturally. Read more on amla juice benefits.

y Avoid foods rich in fat, for example, cheese, butter, meat

products. Avoid rice, potato, sugar which are high insimple carbohydrates. Avoid too much of salt also.

y Benefits of cinnamon and honey are well known. Bothpromote weight loss. You may read more on cinnamonand honey diet. You may take ayurvedic medicines withhoney.

y Include more number of pungent (spicy), bitter, or astringent spices and herbs in your diet. For example,

turmeric, cumin, ginger, mustard seed, cayenne, andblack pepper.y Include lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Bitter

gourd and bitter variety of drumsticks promote weightloss. Keep a list of low calorie fruits and vegetableshandy.

y Opt for a juice fasting plan or a liquid diet once in aweek. You can have fruit or vegetable juices, warm skimmilk, light soups, herbal teas, etc. Regular intake of carrot juice promotes weight loss.

Traditional ayurvedic medicines are being used in india,

since six thousand years. These medicines are available in

various forms such as juice, powder, infusion, paste, tablet,

decoction, etc. Medicated ghee and oils are also taken

internally or applied externally (massage therapy) to attain

desired weight loss. Some of the medicines may exhibitlaxative properties. It is better to consult a doctor before

opting for new medicines. I hope you find the above

information regarding the best ayurvedic medicines for



doesn't mean you're restricted to locally grown foods; youcan supplement with foods harvested around the world inthat same season. Northern states, for example, don't growmuch produce in winter months, but northerners can eat

grapefruits, which are harvested in winter in other parts of the world.

Knowing a little about growing seasons makes it easy tochoose the right fruits and vegetables for each time of year.But to figure out when to eat foods like fish, poultry, and rice(which don't have an obvious growing season), it helps tounderstand some basic ayurvedic principles. Practitioners

classify foods according to the way they affect your body,and one way they arrange them is by their warming or cooling energy. Some foods warm you up, and others coolyou down. Dairy products, for example, are consideredcooling foods that are best eaten in the summer to balancethe heat of that season. Chicken and fish are warming, soyou should eat them most often in winter. Foods like rice arenaturally balanced, meaning they fall somewhere betweenhot and cold, so you can eat them in more than one season.

For more examples, see "the right foods for each season,"page 126.

The summer season stretches from july to october, so rightnow, naturally cooling fruits and vegetables should make upthe bulk of your diet. Sixty to 70 percent of what you eatshould be carbohydrates, and the rest should be split evenlybetween fats and protein. The carbs will give you energy for

the last of summer's long, busy days.In november, begin the winter diet, which emphasizeswarmer, heavier foods, including good fats from nuts andcold-water fish. Foods like these may lead you to gain extrapounds in winter, but douillard says you'll lose them easily



because the spring diet ignites your body's ability to burn fat.(if you skimp on heavier foods in winter, you'll craveinappropriate foods the rest of the year, he says, leading tomore weight gain.) Your diet should be 40 percent protein, 30

percent fat, and 30 percent carbs.

The spring diet, followed from march to june, is low-fat andlow-calorie to detoxify your body and help you shed winter'sexcess. Plan meals around foods like sprouts, berries, andbitter greens. Douillard says you should shoot for about 60 percent of your diet from fats, 60 percent from carbs, and 30 percent from protein.

These dates for the seasons are approximate. Pay attentionto the length of each season in your area. If you live in thesouthwest, for example, where winters are short, adhere tothe winter diet for just four to six weeks and move to thespring diet sooner.

Golden rule #2

Adjust your diet for your body type.According to ayurvedic teaching, each of us has one of threedoshas, or body types. These types are based in part on your body shape, but they also take into account your temperament, sleep habits, and dietary preferences.Ayurvedic practitioners know these types as vata, pitta, andkapha, but douillard prefers to think of them in terms of seasons; he says you can be a winter, summer, or spring

type. Most of us possess characteristics from all three types,but one or two usually predominate. Which of the followingprofiles best matches you? (for more help determining your dosha, take the quiz "what's your type?" next page.)



Vata/winter you feel cold even when the mercury rises. Youtend to have a thinner build and to perform tasks quickly. You're intellectual, and you're prone to worry when under stress.

Pitta/summer you often feel hot, even in winter. You have amedium build and perform most tasks at a moderate speed.A driven competitor, you appear self-confident and are agood public speaker. Stress makes you irritable or angry.

Kapha/spring if you tend to retain water, this could be you. You have a larger frame and are sociable, easy-going, andless vulnerable to stress. You usually move slowly, but youhave high endurance. You're a go-with-the-flow type, with aslower metabolism.

To get the best results from the seasonal diet, you need tofine-tune it according to your body type. That's wheredouillard's names for body types come in handy. If you're awinter type, you need to pay close attention to the winter dietand try especially hard not to eat out-of-season foods in

winter months. The same goes for summer and spring types.The second way to fine-tune is to extend the diet for your personal season, starting it a month early and ending it amonth late.

Golden rule #3

Eat your biggest meal of the day at lunch.

"one of the best ways to end cravings is to have a full tank of gas," douillard says. Ayurvedic experts recommend eatingyour big meal at midday, which will give you long-lastingenergy to power past prime craving time in the mid to lateafternoon. If you're voracious at dinner, douillard adds, youhaven't eaten enough lunch.



Ayurvedic practitioners believe your body digests a big mealbetter in the afternoon than at night. And if you eat too muchat dinner, your body will be so busy digesting that it won't beable to detoxify, a process that should occur around

midnight.

Douillard recommends starting your day with a lightbreakfast so you're ready for a big meal at lunch. Dinner should also be a light meal, like a bowl of soup or a salad.

Douillard acknowledges that a big lunch isn't alwayspossible, but he suggests practicing the 51 percent principle:eat this way most of the time and you'll benefit. Try to have alarge lunch twice during the work week, and on both days of the weekend.

Ayurveda teaches that when you eat a meal, you should bedoing just that, not working on a crossword puzzle or watching television. "make mealtime a ritual," says virender sodhi, m.d., n.d., an ayurvedic physician and naturopath inbellevue, wash. Create an inviting atmosphere and prepare

your own food when possible. Your body digests food bestwhen you relax, so eat slowly and make an effort to use your entire lunch break. Douillard adds that if you sit quietly for 10 minutes after you eat to aid digestion, you won't get sleepy.

Relaxation and mindfulness have other mealtimeadvantages, too: you will notice when you're satisfied and beless likely to overeat. "in ayurveda, we encourage people tohonor those signals by not putting anything in their mouth

unless they are getting strong hunger signals from thebody," says david simon, m.d., medical director of thechopra center for health and well-being in la jolla, calif., andco-author of grow younger, live longer: the 10 steps toreverse aging (harmony books, 2001). He uses an appetitescale of 0 (empty) to 10 (what you might feel on



thanksgiving) and suggests that you stop eating at aboutlevel 7.

According to john douillard, ph.d., d.c., an ayurvedic

physician in boulder, colo., vatas can also be thought of aswinters, pittas as summers, and kaphas as springs.

The right foods for each season

To ward off cravings and weight gain, here are some of thefoods ayurvedic practitioners say you should emphasize ineach season. (fall is divided between summer and winter.)

Summer (july through october)

* cooling summer vegetables like asparagus, cucumbers,lettuce, and zucchini

* juicy, sweet summer fruits like cherries, grapes, andmelons

* light white rice, especially basmati

* wheat, soybeans (including tofu), and ice cream

Winter (november through february)

* sour citrus fruits like grapefruits and lemons

* autumnal root vegetables like carrots, beets, and sweetpotatoes

* warming whole grains like brown rice and wheat

* filling fruits like avocados, bananas, and dates

* healthy-fat foods like nuts and cold-water fish (such assalmon)



* protein-rich and warming tofu and chicken

Spring (march through june)

* detoxifying bitter greens like kale, mustard greens, parsley,and spinach

* all legumes, including chickpeas, lentils, and mung beans

* warming whole grains like buckwheat and millet

* dried fruits such as apricots and raisins

eating well according to ayurveda

Documents