~ History of Ayurveda … A Heritage Of Healing ~

[MysteRy]

FUNCTIONS OF DIET (food)

1) Instantly satisfying.
2) Gives strength/energy.
3) Maintains the body & maintains the functions of the body .
4) Increases longevity.
5) Increases the Digestive fire , Vitality , Recollecting Power , & Oja .

[MysteRy]

TYPES OF DIET(food)

There are four types of diet
i) That which can be drunk
ii) That which can be licked
iii) Easily chewable e.g. Rice etc.
iv) Hard food substances which need to be chewed e.g. Sugarcane,meat.
Some have given 6 types in addition to the four stated above :
v) which should be sorryed e.g. Mango.
vi) Which needs mastication by teeth, these include very hard food materials e.g.
various nuts.
Some have stated 8 types / forms of food / Diet. In addition to the above 6.
vii) Those which can only be eaten after being grinded into powder, various pastes etc.
viii) Food substances like Sugar candy etc.


According to Nature – Diet has been classified into 2 types Heavy Diet & Light diet.
Rain water, Raktashali (Red rice), Sathe Sali (Old rice), Mudga, Eina (black deer) &  lava
(kind of bird und in airid regions) are light / laghu.


Milk, sugarcane, fresh Rice, Udad( black gram) & meat of the animals from Anoop Desh –
land with abundant water & plantation (Marshy lands, equatorial Rain forests) are considered
to be Guru (Heavy)

[MysteRy]

Seven Concept of Diet

The following points are important in the making the Diet complete – (promoting health) or
improper- (giving Rise to various diseases).
1) Basic nature / properties of the food
2) Combination of 2 or more food material changes the qualities / properties of
food material.
3) Due to boiling, roasting etc. there is change in the properties of the food.
4) Quantity of food we take.
5) Region has 2 meanings – the  region where the food is being taken &
Secondly region means the area the food is been produced affects the
properties of food material.
6) The time when one takes the food.
7) The order in which one takes the food.

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TIME OF TAKING DIET

It is decided according to digestive capacity of Agni. If Agni is weak then one should take food
only once or should take food in less quantity.


Food taken once i.e. at one time which gets digested completely & properly , is said to be
Matra/Quantity of food to be taken.


Considering four parts of the Stomach, one should take food such that 2 parts of the Stomach
get filled by the food taken, one part to be filled by water or other liquid matter & one part
should be kept free for the ‘Vayu’ / Gas to move .


One should take diet in proper quantity. The quantity of diet to be taken depends on the
digestion capacity of the person which varies from person to person & so does the Matra.


The amount of food, which without disturbing the equilibrium of dhatus & doshas of the
body gets digested as well as metabolized in proper time is to be regarded as the proper
quantity.


The proper quantity of food does depend upon the nature of food articles. If the food article is
heavy only three fourth or half of the stomach capacity is to be filled up. Even in the case of
light food articles excessive intake is not conducive to the maintenance of the power of
digestion & metabolism.

[MysteRy]

IMPORTANCE OF FOOD TAKEN IN PROPER QUANTITY

Taken in Appropriate quantity, food certainly helps the individual in bringing about strength,
complexion happiness & longevity without disturbing the equilibrium of dhatus & doshas of the
body.


Indicated Food :-
One should regularly ( can take everyday) take Shastika (a kind of rice harvested in sixty
days), Sali (oryza sativum), yellow gram , food cooked in Rock Salt, Amalaka (emblica
officinalis), Rain Water, Ghee, Meat of animals dwelling in arid climate & Honey.


Contradicted Food :
One should not regularly take heavy articles such as dried meat, dry vegetables, lotus
rhizomes & lotus stalk. One should never take meat of a diseased animal. Moreover, one
should not regularly take boiled buttermilk, inspissiated milk with pork, beef, meat of buffalo
with fish curd, & barley

[MysteRy]

ORDER IN WHICH ONE SHOULD TAKE THE DIET

First, one should eat food of sweet taste for the purpose of Vata Pitta pacification. Sweet taste
is helpful for pacification of vata dosha present in the digestive tract or intestines.
Then one should take sour & salty substances for they do the function of increasing the
digestive juices. Lastly one should take food of bitter and pungent taste for the purpose of
pacification of ‘Kapha’ .
One should take fruits like pomegranate first in the diet. Then one should take liquid material
& then lastly semisolid & solid food.

[MysteRy]

EIGHT FACTORS DETERMINING THE UTILITY FOOD

The Eight factors which determine the utility or otherwise of various types of food are.
1) nature of food articles
2) method of their processing
3) combination
4) Quantity
5) Habitat
6) Time
7) Rules governing intake of food.
8)Wholesomeness to individual who takes it.

[MysteRy]

RULES FOR TAKING FOOD

Healthy individuals as well as patients should observe the following:
While having food articles which are most wholesome by nature; one should eat only that
food in proper quantity which is hot, unctuous & not contradictory in potency & that too after
the digestion of the previous meal, food should be taken in proper place with all the
accessories, without talking & laughing with concentration of mind & paying due regard to
oneself , not too fast or too slowly.

[MysteRy]

Important Rules
And
Regulations Related to Diet

1) Eat to live but don’t live to eat.
2) Eat food which is beneficial.
3) Eat food in a moderate quantity.
4) Don’t eat food, properties of which are not known to you. 
5) Don’t eat food in a hurry or when you are in a disturbed state of mind, full of tensions,
strains, and emotional outbreaks. Regain peace of mind and then enjoy food with happy and
hearty mood.
6) Wash your hands, feet and mouth, using clean utensils in a clean place which is well
lighted and well-ventilated.
7) Fill half quantity of stomach with food, one fourth quantity with water and liquid
substances and keep the remaining one fourth for air.
8)A person who takes only one full meal a day is called Yogee (or Yoga – practitioner). He
takes light breakfast in the morning and the healthy and happy life.
9) A person who takes two full meals in a day is called ‘Bhogi” i.e. a lusty and greedy
person who lives mostly to eat and suffers from illness and or ill health from time to time.
10)  A person who takes full meals more than two times is called Rogee or a sick person. He
a gluttonous person and lives only to eat. He is always sick and away from health.
11) Don’t do yogic exercises immediately after taking food. It is safe to do them three hours
after taking food. It is better therefore to do Yogic exercise  early morning or in the evening
when the stomach is empty.
12) Don’t take food immediately after doing yogic exercises, but one hour after doing them.
13) Don’t go to bed immediately after taking supper wait for  a minimum of  one hour after it.
14) According to Ayurveda well balanced diet consists of food stuffs having six tastes namely
Sweet, Sour, Salty, Pungent, Bitter and Astringent.

[MysteRy]

Diet and Mind :

Yogic and Ayurvedic aspects. Modern Dietetic consideration is only related to body. But it is a
uniqueness of Yogashastra and Ayurveda which shows intimate relationship between diet and
mind. Both the sciences assert with proofs that diet affects mentality of a human being. Satva
(virtue), Raja (Aggressive desire) and Tama (Ignorant sloth) are the basic qualities of mind.
Satvaguna is always strengthening, invigorating and vitalising. Satvaguna expresses
essence, understanding, purity, clarity, compassion and love. Rajoguna implies movement,
aggressiveness and extroversion and it operates on a sensual level. Tamoguna manifests
ignorance, inertia, heaviness and dullness.


Satvaguna is a positive virtue and it strengthens and stabilizes mind. Rajoguna and
Tamoguna are negative attributes which destabilise and weaken the mind. Yet all the three
attributes are required of course in a balanced state and having a strong control of satvaguna
are necessary for normal functioning of the mind.


As the final goal of yoga practitioner is elevation and uplifting of mental faculties to attain
eternal bliss or moksha he/she should do everything to go on increasing his satvaguna
through proper diet and good behaviour. Yoga becomes the destroyer of all woes and sorrows
and can be accomplished only by him who is regulated and moderate in diet and recreation,
regulated in speech and actions, and regulated in thinking and sleeping too.

[MysteRy]

The Taste Process

The first subjective experience of a substance on the tongue is taste (rasa). A short time later,
one feels heating or cooling energy (virya). Finally the substances have an action on urine,
fasces and sweat (vipak). For instance, for hot chilli peppers, one immediately experiences
its pungent taste (rasa) and heating energy (virya) , observing a burning sensation in the
faces and urine (vipaka) .


Virya – Heating or Cooling Energy
When any medicinal herb or food substance is put in the mouth, the first experience is its
taste. Later, and in some cases immediately, you feel its heating or cooling energy, either in
the mouth or stomach. This change is all due to its action or potent energy called Virya.
By experience, one can form general rules about what a taste "feels like" in the body. For
example, the sweet taste has a cooling energy, due to its heaviness. This action provokes
kapha and is pleasing to pitta and vata. But there are occasional exceptions to this rule.
Honey  is  sweet but have heating energy. This unexpected effect is termed Prabhav. In this
same way, sour taste is usually heating expect in the instance of lime, which is cooling.


Vipak – Post-Digestive Effect
The final post-digestive effect of the taste on the body, mind and consciousness is called
Vipak. While sweet and salty taste have a sweet vipak, sour taste has a sour vipak, but that
of pungent, bitter and astringent tastes are all pungent. Knowledge of the energy and postdigestive effect of food or medicinal herbs makes understanding of its action on bodily system easy. This knowledge being essential for both healing and cooking.


Prabhav – Specific Unexplained Action
When two substances of similar taste, energy and post-digestive effect show entirely different
action, it is called prabhav. There is no logical explanation for this.  All gem stones, crystals
and mantras aid healing due to their prabhav.
Prabhav is therefore the specific, dynamic, hidden action of the awareness present in the
substance.

[MysteRy]

THE THIRTEEN CHANNELS OF CIRCULATION

The body contains numerous channels through which the dhatus, doshas and malas
circulate, known as strotas in Ayurveda, these consist of both gross channels, such as the
intestinal tract, lymphatic system, arteries, veins, and the genitor-urinary tracts, as well as the
more subtle channels, such as the capillaries.( mentioned earlier in ‘malas’ as
mootravahastrotas etc).


In Ayurveda, a complex system of diagnosis is employed to trace the root cause of disease.
The diagnosis of all diseases is based on which of the individual doshas are compromised
and which channels are obstructed. An excess of any one dosha can create a spill-over effect
in the body. Thus, a disease originating from one vitiated dosha is able to travel through the
channels to the site of another dosha. Dosha excesses can also create blockages in the
channels, thereby obstructing their normal flow.


Men have thirteen groups of channels, and women have fifteen. Of the thirteen common
groups of bodily channels, the first three are the channels through which the air (or breath),
food, and water travel; these are governed by Vata, Pitta, Kapha, respectively.

[MysteRy]

Air Channels-   pranavahastrotas

The body’s air channels originate in the heart and the alimentary tract and conduct pranic
force and vitality through the respiration and circulation systems. These channels become
impaired by the suppression of natural bodily urges, by ingesting dry or stale food, and by
excessive physical exertion. Symptoms expressed by vitiated air channels are shallow and
restricted breathing, fear, anxiety, and nervous tension.

[MysteRy]

Food Channels-  annavahastrotas

Food channels originate in the stomach and carry food through the digestive system.
Untimely or indiscriminate eating, unhealthy foods, and low digestive fire cause vitiation of
these channels. The symptoms of afflicted food channels are loss of appetite, indigestion,
vomiting, anorexia, greed, and possessiveness.

[MysteRy]

Water Channels-   udakavahastrotas

Water channels originate in the palate and pancreas, and regulate the body’s fluid.
Obstruction of these passages is caused by excessive exposure to heat, excessive use of
alcohol or other addictive substances, and ingesting very dry foods. The symptoms of vitiation
are excessive thirst, dryness of lips, throat, tongue and palate, as well as selfishness and
dullness.


The following seven groups of channels service each of the body’s seven dhatus. Like the
dhatus, the nature of these channels range from the most gross (megascopic) to the most
subtle (Microscopic cellular level).