Doctor, I only eat at home. I don’t eat outside at all. Even at home, our meals are regular. We eat all the proper kinds of food. In spite of this, I experience problems such as a tight stomach, gaseous feeling and indigestion. Why is this happening? There are a lot of patients complaining about such problems. Actually, there is nothing wrong with the food or the dishes they eat. They are still facing problems related to digestion. In such cases, we need to consider their dietary habits. We also need to study their basic Prakruti (basic body type in Ayurveda) and eating habits. The outside rutu(season), the region we live in, the way the food is cooked, the color and appearance of food also need to be taken into consideration. All these factors affect our digestion and the nutrition we get from the food we consume. Thus, after talking about the science behind diet, we are going to discuss the factors that affect our diet.
Many people do not leave a gap between meals. They are accustomed to eating something after their meal, before the allotted amount of time has passed. By then, the food that was consumed first is not even fully digested. Due to this new stress on the digestive system, neither the first nor the present food get digested. Therefore, the problem of indigestion starts even if you are consuming the right food. It is therefore recommended to eat the new food only after the previously consumed food is digested.
There are certain indicators that can be used to confirm whether the previously consumed food is digested. These include a light stomach, feeling enthusiastic, a good bowel and urine movement. Also, the burp that occurs sometime after the meal should be free from any unpleasant odour. Symptoms like actually feeling hungry and thirsty appear only when the first food is digested properly. In fact, it requires three to four hours of time to generate such symptoms.
Therefore, it is compulsory not to consume any food between this suggested minimum time between meals. Even after this, if you feel hungry, do not eat as much to fill your stomach. If you are unable to control hunger, it is recommended to consume fruit or breakfast foods like Pohe and Upma in less quantities. If you feel hungry immediately after a proper meal, then most of the time it is just fake hunger. Therefore, everybody should consume the food only after making sure the previous meal has been completely digested.
Just as it is not appropriate to consume food one after the other, it is also not good to eat food at the wrong time, in excess or in less quantities. Many people have the habit of eating the meal just because it’s lunch time or dinner time. Also, many people avoid the meal even if they are actually hungry, giving excuses like heavy workload . Both these cases are harmful for our health.
We should analyze our daily schedule in order to bring regularity to our mealtimes. Therefore, we must manage our mealtime considering the time when we feel hungry, our workload and the available time. We have already discussed this in our Prime Lunch time article.
There are a few specific foods, which when mixed and consumed are considered harmful for our health. These include dishes mixing fruit with milk such as fruit salad, Shikran(milk with banana), milk and fish and honey mixed with hot water. When we mix these foods, it can create properties that are harmful to our health. Consuming such foods for long periods of time can create diseases like fever, skin diseases, swelling on the body and piles.
Therefore, it is advised that rather than mixing such foods, it should be consumed separately keeping sufficient time interval. Many people have the habit of consuming hot and cold foods together or one after the other. Habits such as consuming coffee and ice cream together, drinking cold drink or buttermilk after tea are very harmful for our health. Many a times we unnecessarily drink water before tea or immediately after drinking tea.
When we consume two different foods having totally opposite properties, it can create a harmful mixture when it enters our stomach. This is very harmful for our body. This gradually starts creating diseases. Friends, all of us are doing such things unconsciously. The purpose of this article is just to make you aware of it.
Dr Mayuresh Aagte