Abano.it - Nutrition according to Ayurveda: advices for an healthy life style

Another fundamental recommendation of Ayurveda to maintain the balance and the natural order of the being, is correct nutrition. Food permits us to maintain the Dosha balance and consequently our health.

Therefore, digestion is very important because it allows us to absorb the food and to use its properties. What’s also important is the method of ingesting a meal: in other words is not only what you eat, but how you eat it.

Ayurveda suggest a useful decalogue to follw to improve our digestion, and consequently our health

	Eat according to one’s capacity, neither too much nor too little;
	Eat only when one feels hungry;
	Don’t eat before having digested the previous meal;
	Avoid cold food and drinks;
	Eat in a quiet environment; avoid distractions (TV, reading, etc.);
	Don’t eat when having strong emotions;
	Avoid preserved, tinned or frozen foods;
	Make lunch the main meal;
	Don’t eat heavy foods in the evening;
	Don’t mix incompatible foods together;

Ayurveda considers that the different nutritional components can be combined in a meal without problems, but with due proportions and provided that the digestive and metabolic systems is efficient. The foods are studied according to their properties related to flavour and this provides a general idea about its nutritional value.
Ayurveda distinguishes six main flavours or Rasa:
• Sweet
• Sour
• Salty
• Spicy
• Bitter
• Astringent

Every one of these six flavours has the following characteristics and effects: sweet flavour induces the tissue’s growth; sour improves the circulation; salty flavour is a laxative and an antispasmodic; spicy flavours stimulate the digestion; bitter boosts the metabolism and detoxifies; astringent flavours are antiseptic and anti-diarrhoeic.

Here are some examples of foods for every Flavour:

	Sweet: Milk, rice, wheat, corn, grapes, figs, sugar, honey, carrots
	Sour: Yogurt, lemon, vinegar, meat, cheese, tomatoes.
	Salty: Salt and the foods that have salt in it.
	Spicy: Pepper, hot pepper, ginger, garlic, radishes.
	Bitter: Chicory, spinach, long leaf vegetables, rhubarb, coffee.
	Astringent: Legumes, lentils, barley, unripe bananas and persimmons, turmeric.

A balanced diet should contain all six flavours in the right proportions, as the excess of every one of these flavours has negative consequences: for example the excess of sweet flavour can cause obesity and fatigue; spicy flavour, burning and haemorrhages; bitter flavour, weight loss.

In an ideal diet, the sweet flavour and therefore cereals (rice, wheat) should prevail . The other flavours should be present but in gradually smaller quantities, including spicy (e.g. spices), bitter (e.g. long leaves vegetables), and astringent (e.g. legumes).