According to Ayurveda, it is essential to understand how to eat properly. Combining foods carefully can dramatically improve the quality of digestion, nurture, and the positive impact our overall health.
In Ayurveda, every food has its own taste (rasa), a heating or cooling energy (virya), and a post-digestive effect (vipak). When more than one food item of different taste, energy, and post-digestive effect are combined together, the Agni(gastric fire) can become overloaded inhibiting the enzyme system and resulting in the production of toxins in the system. Here are some food combinations that must be avoided in our everyday life.
Conflicting Foods
- Do not eat fish and meat at the same time.
- Don’t mix curd and chicken to eat.
- Never boil honey and or consume with hot food. Because boiling honey will change it to poisonous.
- Don’t consume wheat with sesame oil.
- Don’t eat jaggery , black gram, honey, ghee with curd.
- Don’t combine honey, sesame, black gram with goat meat or beef.
- Don’t mix different kinds of meat to eat.
- Never allow blending uncooked meat in cooked meat. It has poisonous nature.
- Never cook foods that have both ingredients as Mushroom and Mustard oil.
- Honey, ghee, fat, oil, butter –Don’t mix 2 or 3 of the above items equally. It is poisonous.
Good eating Habits
- Maintaining a proper time for eating.
- Clean your hands, legs, and eyes before a meal.
- Sit down properly and have food.
- Avoid snack eating frequently.
- Drink water at the right time.
- Eat foods freshly when available.
- Eat seasonal and locally available fruits.
- Try and include all six tastes- sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
- Eat neither too slow nor too fast.
- Avoid cold food and liquids especially in summer season.
- Soak and sprout nuts and seeds to increase their nutrient content and digestibility.
- Include spices that enhance digestion and reduce gas and bloating, such as cumin, coriander, and fennel.
