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A properly functioning
digestive system is crucial to having a healthy body. Since every
single cell within our bodies is made up of the food which we have
ingested, the health of those individual cells is dependent upon
our digestion. Therefore, it is important to eat healthy food to
begin with, and to set up the conditions to facilitate the digestive
process.
1. Only eat
when hungry.
This may sound
obvious, but we often eat due to our emotions--anger, stress, sadness,
or boredom.
2. Focus on
the food.
Do not watch
TV, do not read, do not work on the computer, do not drive your car
and do not talk excessively while eating. If we are doing other things
while we are eating, then our energy is not in our abdominal area,
but up and out and not able to help with digestion. Doing two things
at once is also dividing to the mind. Then we are in our heads and
not in our bodies. It becomes difficult to know when to stop eating.
It could be those one or two bites too many which could affect digestion.
3. Always eat
sitting down.
Apana vata,
the downward moving vata located in the lower abdomen is disturbed
if we eat standing, moving, or if we get up in the middle of the
meal. It will then flow upward and blow out our digestive fire.
4. Avoid cold
food and drinks with meals.
We want a sharp
digestive fire to burn our food. Putting cold foods into our bodies
will dampen or put our the digestive fire.
5. Have some
warm water or ginger tea with your meals.
There is a proper
balance of having enough liquid with our meals and having taken too
much liquid with our meals. If the food you are eating is dry or
dense, you will need more fluid with your food. Drinking ginger tea
with meals aids digestion.
6. Lunch should
be the main meal of the day.
The digestive
fire is at it’s highest between noon and 1pm. We will more easily
digest our food at this time. If you feel sluggish after a big lunch,
it may be because you ate too much or ate heavy food and aggravated
kapha.
Reprinted with
the permission of Bazaar of India Imports
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