FOOD ACCORDING TO AYURVEDA

Have you ever wondered why do we consume rice with lentils, why is it advised not to consume seafood with milk, why is it said by our grandparents not to eat more of onions at night?

This is because of Ayurveda. Every meal that we consume is based on the principles of Ayurveda which is beneficial for us. Each meal is so well planned that we unknowingly meet the nutritional requirements needed by our body in exact quantities which make our meals “complete meals”.

The term Ayurveda comprises two words – Ayu (life) and Veda (knowledge), therefore it deals with various aspects related to health and wellbeing in their diverse aspects, such as happy life, sustainability, and longevity. According to Ayurveda, there are three fundamental states of a being - physical (including physiological), mental, and the spiritual. Health is a balance of all three states and their relationship with the outside world. The “being” constantly interacts with the outside world through its senses (senses of knowledge and senses of action) and the cognitive functions. At the same time, the outside world is constantly influencing the being. Both the outside world and the being are understood on the basis of the ‘pancamahabhuta’ or the five element theory. The categorization in terms of the five elements - including earth, water, fire, air, and space corresponds to each of the five senses - smell, taste, vision, touch, and sound, respectively. This is a fundamental precept of all knowledge traditions in the subcontinent.

But in Ayurveda for ease of understanding of physiological and pathological aspects, the five elements are further grouped into three called the tridosa–vata (a combination of space and air), pitta (fire), and kapha (water and earth). Body and mental types, metabolic processes, biological rhythm, seasonal variations, various other physiological and pathological processes, etc. are understood in terms of innumerable permutations and combinations of these elements and the tridosa in the body. According to Ayurveda this forms the basis of understanding of materials (Dravya guna sastra), such as food or medicine, therapeutic approaches, and dietary or lifestyle changes in order to stay healthy.

Svasthya, “to be established in one’s self or own natural state” is optimal health according to ayurveda. In order to achieve this, one has to have a balance of structural and physiological factors, metabolic and excretory processes, body tissues, senses, mind, and attain a state of self-awareness and contented self. Ten factors (dasa vidha pariksa) are used to determine the state of health of an individual per Ayurveda namely, body tissues (dusya), residing location (desa), physical strength (bala), seasons/time (kala), digestive and metabolic processes

(agni or anala), genetic and phenetic constitution (prakriti), age (vaya), mental strength or temperament (sattva), habituation (satmya), and food (ahara). It is interesting to note that sattva is said to influence health. While these are mainly used for diagnostic purposes, these can also be used to measure the wellbeing of an individual.

Ahara, a Pillar of Life

Ahara is one of the three pillars of life according to Ayurveda; the other two being sleep and regulated sexual life. The classical texts of Ayurveda of 300 BC–700 AD dedicate elaborate sections on foods. Unique aspects include detailed descriptions of food and beverage, food classification based on their taste, therapeutic qualities, etc., food safety and measures for the same, different incompatibilities of food based on their tastes, processing, dose, time, place, etc., prescriptions of consumption, food qualities and intake based on the digestive ability of an individual, and the nature of food that is being consumed. Primary classification of food is based on its appropriateness to body and mental constitution based on the five elements and the tridosa theories. Five elements combine and dissociate in the natural transformation of any material, living or non-living.

Taste, Health indicators

One of the ways of food classification in Ayurveda is based on rasa (taste). There are six major tastes according to Ayurveda i.e., sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. There are primary and secondary qualities (guna) that increase the properties of a material. This is further augmented by potency (virya), post digestive effect (vipaka), and therapeutic action (karma). According to Ayurveda, the classification based on rasa, guna, virya, vipaka, and karma is not only applicable to foods but also for all materials, including medicines, and is dealt with under Dravya guna sastra (the science of materials’ properties), the Ayurvedic pharmacology.

Food Can Alter Moods

Another interesting taxonomy of foods is based on their effects on psychological dispositions of individuals. According to Ayurveda, there is a subtle link between disease manifestation and the six psychological expressions, such as lust, anger, greed, desire, attachment, and ego. These psychological states are closely linked to foods. This connection is further discussed in terms of three states of being including sattva, rajas, and tamas. Sattva is the contented state, rajas an excited state whereas tamas relates to a lethargic disposition, i.e., foods can induce these states of mind.

This was a brief about what Ayurveda is and how food is classified on basis of Ayurveda.

A second part of this will also be posted in which I will talk about personalize diet and Virudhha Ahara. Tell me in comments section below did you liked my article or not and is there is anything which I missed tell me in comments section below.