The science of feeling good

An ayurveda practitioner speaks of the importance of knowing your food and how and when to eat.

A visit to an ayurveda practitioner can be shockingly good. You will feel shocked at what you find out, but will feel good about it later. You’ll also be amazed to find out that what you thought was good for you actually isn’t.

“Ayur” means “life” and “veda” is “knowledge”. Ayurveda is a traditional treatment that addresses your entire person. According to its practitioners, the three pillars of life are aahara (diet), sayana (sleep) and abrahmacharyam (relationship or healthy sex). Good health results from a balanced diet, sufficient sleep and harmonious relationships.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out all that, and it seems simple enough. So why aren’t we practicing even one of these pillars?

According to Dr CD Siby of the Ayur Centre in Petaling Jaya, the physical body is energised and built from food. Sleep is the rejuvenator, and relationships connect us with the world outside.

“The proper diet is the greatest medicine there is, and one is capable of making a person disease free just by the use of diet suited to that individual,” he says. While we are aware that food is important in maintaining health, some of us might not know how crucial it is to have a diet based on the needs of one’s body and mind.

Ayurveda deals with food extensively and Siby says it gives knowledge about not only the properties of different kinds of food, but also the various associated factors, like how they are prepared, when they are taken and how they are taken.

“One of the biggest mistakes people make in relation to food is that they will reheat leftovers and have them again the following day,” he said. Guilty as charged.

“Food should always be eaten the day it is prepared. You can cook a meal in the morning and have it throughout the day. Don’t freeze and reheat it.”

Siby explains that when food is reheated, it causes thamas (inertia), resulting in the mind becoming lazy. Self-control is the key to good food habits, and in ayurveda, one should eat only after considering these seven factors about food: swabhava (natural qualities), samyoga (admixture), samskara (processing), mantra (quantity), desa (habitat), kala (time) and upayuga vyevastha (mode of using).

It is prudent to be fully conscious about the foods we eat. And here is something you can start doing from today—know what you’re buying and why you’re buying it. This sense of consciousness should extend to planning your week’s meals. This will prevent overspending and stop you from cooking too much or too little.

While grocery shopping, take a good look at what’s on the shelves and what’s in your grocery cart. In ayurveda, chicken is said to be heavy and hot in nature, therefore causing constipation.

So pick up some red or brown rice, wheat, atta flour (for making chapattis), honey (don’t cook or heat this), pomegranates, grapes, black raisins, brown sugar, rock salt and milk. Milk is a great anti-aging food. It should be taken very hot because it is then easily digestible.

Rejuvenating a tired body

When it comes to cooking, there’s a little bit of Nigella Lawson in every one of us—or so we’d like to think—and this makes us get carried away with kitchen experiments. Be cautious when it comes to food combinations. Certain foods are healthy choices on their own, but can be deadly when combined with others. They can negate each other and produce toxins. Examples are:

• Curd or honey with hot (not spicy) food

• Honey and ghee in equal quantities

• Fish or chicken with curd

• Leafy vegetables with milk

• Butter with curd and bread

A combination of honey and milk will help you gain weight. But mixing a tablespoon of honey with room temperature water will help you lose weight. Take this before meals and it will help to break down food and ease water retention. Mixing banana, honey and fresh milk is great for rejuvenating a tired body and serves as an aphrodisiac.

To decide on the quantity of food you eat, imagine that your stomach is divided into four parts. Fill two parts with solid food and one part with liquid. Leave the fourth part empty. Remember that your stomach is no larger than your fist. Practically speaking, you should stop eating at a point when you get the feeling that a couple more mouthfuls will really fill you up.

Five-minute walk

When you decide to include a new food type in your existing diet, it is advisable to consider the origin of this food. Dr Siby gives this example: tofu and a variety of mushrooms are a common diet in Malaysia, which a person who is not from the region would find heavy to digest. In other words, what might be nutritious to Alaskans may not offer you the same health benefits.

Where time is concerned, it is not advisable to eat heavy meals at night. In ayurveda, there are ideal times for eating—for example, when hunger is well manifest, when the mind is devoid of emotion and when the body is light. In this practice, time not only refers to the time of the day, but also the year, the age of the user, and the stage of an existing illness.

But when eating light, Dr Siby says, yoghurt shouldn’t be taken at night because “it encourages phlegm and weight gain. In the long run, it can lead to diseases that interfere with your metabolism.” If you love yoghurt, take it during the day, and the plain variety is best. Combine it with apples, mango or guava, adding a pinch of salt or sugar. That would be a healthy lunch.

Ayurveda also requires that food be prepared and served with respect and love and that it should never be abused. Al fresco dining may be appealing, but food should not be eaten in an open place, in sunlight, in darkness or under a tree. There goes your weekend picnic plan, but it’ll pay off in the long run.

They say cleanliness is next to godliness. Ayurveda practitioners agree. Clean yourself up before a meal. When at home, have a bath first. Never eat after physical exertion or when you are depressed, angry or bored. And refrain from eating before first giving the food to invited and uninvited guests.

Be grateful for the meal presented before you even if it’s something you don’t fancy. It will carry the harmonising power of gratitude inside you. Honestly, it works. Concentrate on your meal. No TV, radio or too much conversation should distract you. There’s always time for a chat after you’ve eaten.

Once the meal is over, clean your hands and mouth well and take a slow five-minute walk. Ayurveda recommends that you avoid heavy labour, exercise or mental work at least 30 minutes after eating. As tempting as it is to curl up after a nice dinner, avoid sleep for at least three hours after eating as this will encourage the formation of toxins. A yoga posture known as varjasana, done for three to five minutes, is a sitting position that aids digestion.

By now, you would have realized that the practice of ayurveda not only encourages better health, but also instils a holistic sense of living. It is truly a wonderful balance of eating well, living well and becoming a better person overall.

As you try to eliminate bad habits, perhaps you could consult a certified ayurveda practitioner and get a proper cleansing done. Starting out isn’t going to be easy, but things get better sooner than you think.