The Balanced Diet - An Ayurveda View

इष्टवर्णगंधरसस्पर्श विधिविहितमन्नपानं प्राणिनां प्राणिसंज्ञकानां प्राणमाचक्षते कुशला: _चरक 

_{The food is one of the most essential commodities needed for sustenance. And looking around the world, one realises that most of the sufferings of mankind are mostly due to food. Before financial boom in India, relative proportion of life style disorders were much lesser than now. As per WHO Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are estimated to account for 53% of all deaths in India. It means that 53 people out of 100 in India are dying of life style disorders that includes hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, cancer etc . Further, prevalence percentage (2008) of hypertension is 32.5% and raised cholesterol is prevalent in 27.1% of population. These numbers are enough to demonstrate dismal state of health maintenance in India. Since urbanisation, we have witnessed mass migration of rural population towards metros. Probably, this is also one of the causes of increasing life style disorders for the reason of adopting cheaper foods for sustaining life and compromising on the nutritional aspect of the diet. Migrating youth generally does not get an access to the home made food and relies on street food, cheaper mess diet and consumes trans fatty acids in excess.  By the time this generations gets settled, side effects of unhealthy food habits already are grouted. This could be one of the reasons why risk of Coronary Artery Disease is much higher in India in early 40’s of the age.} 

_{It is relevant to understand that when it comes to life style diseases, food is considered to be the primordial culprit as a root cause. Although it is one of the reasons but cannot be considered as the only ghost, in fact it is not the ghost. As it is evident from the quote above, “The food which is gratifying to sensory experience (colour, smell, taste, and touch), cooked and consumed as per standardised guidelines, is called as life”. It essentially sustains life of living beings. It is a comprehensive definition and also negates the false believes about food. Food definitely is not bad, but the method of cooking and consuming are bad that result into undesired effects of food when these habits are practiced over a prolonged period.  It is already known and believed that if food is consumed in appropriate dosage it works like a medicine. And those who realised the fact stated, “Let food be your medicine”. In traditional and indigenous system of Medicines-Ayurveda food in fact is used as a medicine. It comprehensively teaches about food and methods of consumption which is essential to sustain healthy life. As per Ayurveda, contrary to common belief and teaching, dosage of food cannot be standardised. Also, to sustain a healthy life only balanced consumption is not going to help. Selection of food, it's processing, consumer, and rules of consumption are essential components to get maximum benefits of food. Therefore ‘eight rules of food consumption’ is an essential tool of healthy living. It includes Natural Qualities (of food/of consumer), Processing, Time (Seasonal/Age), Geographical conditions, Combinations of food, Quantity of food, Rules of consumption, and Consumer. In Ayurveda dietary planning is not limited upto standardised calorific consumption of food. This standardisation is also, in my opinion, is one of the reasons of increasing life style disorders in urban rich population.  Because we have failed to educate the mass that standard prescription of 2600 Kcal of diet is meant for those who are engaged in heavy labour. And calorific prescription of food also changes with the kind of life style we live. Ironically, those who need 2600 Kcal of food do not have an access to the food and those who do not need it has an access in excess.} 

_{Since Ayurveda believes that dosage of the food is proportionate to the digestive capacity of an individual, it is difficult for the second person to decide the appropriate dosage of food. Therefore, an individual only can decide how much food should be consumed by him/her. But we witness the subject being confused about the quantity of food to be consumed voluntarily and continues to complain of hunger if following a specified diet plan. One needs to be educated properly that stomach is an elastic organ and its size tends to increase over the period of time if constantly given large amounts of food. On the other hand, it may also shrink if served measured quantities and given the condition that one trains itself mentally to sustain hunger pangs during the period of dieting for some time. Now even research has established that intermittent fasting turns out to be good for health. As per Mark Mattson, ‘You probably know that too many calories aren’t good for your waistline, but as it turns out, they aren't good for your brain either’. Mark Mattson is a professor of neurosciences in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicines and is working on effects of fasting to ward off neurodegenerative diseases. As a principle, Ayurveda categorises diseases into two groups — due to over nourishment and due to malnutrition. Life style disorders are categorically mentioned under diseases of over nourishment. And treatment to such disorders is Apatarpan or Langhan which is synonymous to fasting. Fasting does not necessarily mean abstinence from food, however, it is a judicious permutation and combination of multiple activities that restore health. It entirely depends upon an individual to find the most suitable form of fasting and seek help from the professionals to decide the approach to follow the same. The easiest methodology is taught and practiced in traditional Indian Culture in which people are made to fast on religious grounds as an offering to their choice of deity. The science behind it is to restore the primordial deity of the body — digestive system.} 

_{Another aspect relating to food which is absolutely essential but mostly ignored — ‘one should never eat unless the previously eaten food is completely digested’. It is one of the most common practices we observe in daily living. People tend to eat back to back unaware of the fact whether previous meal is digested or not. Indigested food when gets mixed with fresh supply, it results into fermentation of the whole mix and becomes very slow acting and quotes mucosal lining of the digestive system. Further, it leads to poor absorption of digestive juices and impairs nutrition. It is called as Ama - Toxin in Ayurveda. How does one understand if previously eaten food is digested or not? Simplest methodology, when you feel hungry, drink a cup of tea like hot water sip by sip. It will induce burp. If in the burp, taste relating to previously consumed food still appreciated, it is not the appropriate time to eat and one shall allow this remedial hot water to digest the food. Once the food is digested, eat relatively lighter meal at next meal time. This method not only restores digestive enzymes but allows the system to deplete the glucose stored in liver in form of glycogen. Once the glycogen is depleted, body starts burning fats which gets converted into ketone bodies which is used as energy. This small and intermittent phase of fasting may also help in clearing cholesterol from the arteries, if practiced judiciously.} 

_{Globalisation has made the world small. Although, it played an important role in technology exchange and the benefits of knowledge exchange are immense, but it also is among the reasons responsible for life style disorders. Impact on eating habits of people in today’s era after globalisation is, ‘Stay locally and eat globally’. Ayurveda resorts that one should eat according to the place.  Native land grows food appropriate to the climate and it suits by default to the natives. It is wise to use coconut oil for cooking in southern India while mustard oil cooking is appropriate to northern. Eat local is the key to health and not only local but eat seasonal. Seasonal food locally grown as per the natural selection becomes suitable naturally and does not hinder with the health. Seasonal native vegetables grow as per the environmental conditions and provide properties needed to sustain in that particular season. Mustard grows in winter which is heating in nature and it is one of the major crops of northern India. Eating food that is not native to own’s country does not prove to be healthier option unless you have a super powerful digestive system. The wisdom says, eat consciously and the conscious eating is all about making justified choices when it comes to deciding food.} 

_{Food that sustains life cannot be termed as bad. At the same time excessive, unplanned and unhealthy eating definitely does not sustain health. And, health is an individualistic issue and must not be compromised for lame excuses. Quantity of food should be relative to digestion, quality of food should be relative to working routine of an individual, nature of food should be relative to season and one should be aware of the staple dietary habits. Diet, however, is a subjective issue but this piece of information lays a foundation of conscious eating that may help those who are health aware.} 

Weight Loss – 6 initial steps to your goal

Losing weight is a brain task than a physical engagement. The market is flooded with numerous products and guaranteed programs to lose weight, but nothing seems to be working for long. The problem - everyone is not the same. And the solutions that we bring out are the same for everyone. More than a doctor’s mind, it requires more understanding from the one who needs to lose weight. Problem persists at a point where patient thinks that it is the doctor’s work to find a solution for their problem. Working through the pro health programs for many years I ended up working more on obesity and found out that sometimes it is too difficult to work upon weight loss regime because it is like walking upon a thin line and chances of losing focus are always high despite having great beginners luck. However, I have got tremendous results in cases where client and doctor adopted a very simple approach. In such cases we did not even require any diet plans or treatments at all. Although there is no single full proof methodology for losing weight, but there could be certain general parameters which could be adopted by every person who wants to lose those extra pounds and trim down their flab into fab.

1. Meditate – although it may sound superfluous but it is true that meditation helps in losing weight to a great extent. It helps in synchronising brain with body physiology. Meditation is not only about spirituality or a tool to attain higher conscious. It also helps to unleash the powers of the body of self-healing. A simple visualisation of the self would be sufficient enough to get the desired results. Imagining self in particular dress or shape goes a long way in self-motivation. It is like working with the power of mind. Mind is strangely a strong entity, and people who realised the power of mind invented entirely a new philosophy of life – yoga. So, never underestimate the potentials hidden in the meditation and simply learn to use it.

2. Cut the crap – too much information on the net about weight loss is crap. And trying to learn from different resources about one topic could be dangerous affair if you do not belong to the same field, because interpretation of the resource would depend upon the clarity of the basic principles. No matter what diet is recommended from whom, the fact about weight loss is simple- consume lesser calories and spend more in a day. No matter what you eat, if you can put that food out of the system through work out it would balance the weight management. So, approach should be simple that if eatable is having more calories than you can put out, don’t grab it.

3. Exercise your brain – I had read about a treatment of obesity in Ayurveda- stress reduces weight. The statement kept me confused for a long time and I refrained advising this to my patients for a long time for my own inability to understand the fact. But I realise it today that it actually works. It is not the grammatical stress, but intellectual stress. Put food in your brain than putting food in your stomach and you will find that it actually works. Try to solve puzzles and fail holds the key. Solve it all over again. Question the present knowledge and reach out to the self for answers. Question everything, but don’t find answers in other’s books. Write your own rule for everything and pass your current knowledge through the yardstick of your own knowledge and intellect. The idea simply works on the grounds that if your brain is occupied with a question food could not be the answer for sure. If you couldn’t be thinner through this, you would surely be wiser. I haven’t found a single philosopher fat, my own knowledge about philosophers could be incomplete though- quest is on.

4. Time your meals – fixing up your meal timings works a long way in reducing and managing your weight. Breakfast at 8 AM, lunch at 1 PM, and dinner at 8 PM. And if you cannot manage these timings because of your work, then you are living a life of slave (it’s my opinion, could be wrong). After all I am working for my comfort and food. If my work is hindering my food timings and comfort I go back to point 3 above.

In addition to this point make another rule not to eat anything in between the meals. If hunger pangs trouble you satiate your desire with roasted pumpkin seeds, fruits, green salad, buttermilk, barley water, hot water, green tea (I mean only one thing to be grabbed and not all together).

5. Walk a while – it is essential to have a physical workout every day. For those who cannot follow a regular workout regimen they should start doing simple house hold things on their own or for that matter send your peon for a leave for some time. I generally prefer playing a game that involves physical activity. It helps to reduce stress, increases blood circulation, strengthens up the muscles, maintains cardiac health, induces sleep and enhances neuromuscular coordination.

6. Patience – finally the patience works for everything. You did not put on over a day; neither should you look out to lose over a day. It is utterly futile to go on crash diet plans; chances of recurrence and rebound weight gain are higher through this way. Additionally following a specific diet plan has a tendency to build up the residual stress which is unhealthy and increases food cravings. It is for a simple reason that running away from things does not mean that you have found a solution. I would prefer to eat what I want but just to satiate my tongue not my stomach.

Although it is not all that you need to do lose weight but for sure it is the first ladder to your goal. Set your targets right and have a long term plan for losing weight. Keep your eyes focused on what you want and you should get what you want.

Obesity – a problem of plenty

Obesity, that has a problem of plenty is growing rapidly across the globe. It is a condition where body weight increases to an excess where it may affect general body health condition. Ayurveda has enlisted this disease in those which are treated with difficulty. Medoroga as named in Ayurveda, not only creates a social stigma but also increases the likelihood of various ailments like diabetes, hypertension, arthritis etc.

 

Calculating your Body Mass Index(BMI) can help you to define your health condition by comparing your height and weight. BMI is just an estimation and does not represent a clear idea about your total fat percentage. But definitely it helps to get an idea when the bell rings. BMI can be calculated with the help of simple formula:-

BMI = weight [in kilos] divided by height [in meters] X height [in meters]

 

Body Mass Index weight categories and conclusion

 

BMI rating	Weight assessment
Under 20 (men) Under 19 (women)	Underweight Underweight
20 – 24.9	Normal weight
25 – 29.9	Overweight
30 & above	Obese

Management of weight is a more psychological game play than just following a regular routine. Causes of obesity are more attributed towards a sedentary life style and in certain cases due to a long standing illness for which patient had been treated with specific drugs. Family history, bad food habits, and genetic factors can not be ruled out too. But more often it has been seen that in the beginning patient does not take his/ her weight seriously and once the vicious circle of fat manufacturing starts in your body, it becomes difficult to reverse the changes.

Before going for weight reduction mental make up and a strong belief is utmost necessary. Crash diet course should be avoided strictly, they may result in sudden weight reduction but regaining of it also occurs at the same pace. It is advisable to calculate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) before deciding your diet. It is the minimum caloric requirement needed to sustain life in a resting individual. One can calculate his/ her BMR with the help of following formula:

For Women

BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kilos) + (1.8 X height in centimetres) – (4.7 X age in years)

For Men

BMR = 655 + (13.7 X weight in kilos) + (5 X height in centimetres) – (6.8 X age in years)

Based on above calculation, one can calculate his/ her approximate daily calorie need.

• Sedentary life style/ little or no exercise, calorie requirement = BMR X 1.2
• Lightly active individual(mild exercise 1- 3 days/ week), calorie requirement = BMR X 1.375
• Moderately active individual (moderate exercise 3 – 5 days/ week), calorie requirement = BMR X 1. 55
• Very active individual (hard exercise 5 – 7 days/ week), calorie requirement = BMR X 1. 725

Depending upon your BMR one calculate the daily need of their required calories and accordingly fix their dietary needs. Though, one must understand that it is not absolute food that have been your enemy thus far but a proper check on daily schedule is also equally responsible for such a high rate of obesity. Late night parties and excessive consumption of alcohol with smoking are other factors also contributing to the urban obesity. It has been reported that number of obese patient are increasing at an alarming speed in urban livelihood. generation next life style and sedentary habits from the childhood are also adding on to the childhood obesity. Kids are more interested in computer games and lack of interest in games involving physical exertion leading to the disastrous health hazards. It is indeed very important to keep a close check on your weight at the time when it hits that important mark where daily wears stop fitting your body. And it is always better to stay fit rather than running from one store to another to find your size.

Are you Obese?

Introduction : -           

Sama mamsa pramanastu sama samhanano narah ,

Drudendriya vikaranam na balenabhibhuyate .

                                                                                                            Ch.su.21/10

Importance of a healthy body can be well understood by the person who is not in a state of well being. As per above quotation, person having proportionate musculature & compactness of body possesses very strong sensory & motor organs & as such they are not overcome by the onslaught of diseases.

On a wider scale of understanding, one can presume that being healthy just does not mean having a stout body. Whether the flesh we have over our bony cage providing us a better protection from the external biohazards, or the fat beneath the skin is doing a great job by storing tons of ATP molecules to produce energy for us in case of feminine, and what exactly the immunity means, are some questions for which either we don’t want to find out an answer at right time or most of the times skip ourselves from them. Today obesity has become a burning question with least answers from all those weight reduction clinics which have grown like rainy mushrooms in the every nook and corners. Big packages and trimming programs are not being enough and so called health keeps on going well every passing day. To get rid off the yellow yolk we have collected, understanding the same is only important factor that can lead us towards the health. One who is healthy can withstand hunger, thirst, the heat of the sun, cold, and tolerate physical exercise. They can digest and assimilate properly (1). Taking here an opportunity to go into a deeper aspect of some unanswered questions so as to find out how possible it is to get away from the deadly, and mass destructive evil of obesity.

Causes of obesity

Causes for obesity in texts are an exhaustive list. For the sake of better understanding it can be classified as food and life style related, and other factors that generate the unwanted fat to accumulate. Tabular form is given below to differentiate the causes

 

Food origin	Life style origin	Other factors
Ati sampoornat	Avyayamat	Beej swabhavat
Guru	Avyavayat
Madhur	Divaswapnat
Sheet	Achintanat
Snigddha	Harsnityatvat
Shleshmaahar sewino	Adhyayan sheela

 

Excessive corpulence is caused by over intake of food, intake of heavy (guru), sweet, cold, and unctuous food, lack of exercise, abstinence from sexual intercourse, day sleeping, uninterrupted cheerfulness, lack of mental exercise, and heredity(2).

Whatever the causes may be, all above causes leads to increase in kapha content of body, which is prime factor for the body tissue formation, it is the responsible dosha which helps in dhatugata sandhibandha so as to make body stout. But in case of not being controlled by any other factor i.e. vata or pitta, it goes on adding its above qualities just to end up in sthoulaya (corpulence). Trend of consuming chocolates, pizza, and butter stuffed roti, and tongue which is always at work of tasting and experimenting has been considered as the prime factor of excessive corpulence. Adding to it is our hectic life style give origin to well ignored bodies. Late night parties with drinks and unusual time of sleeping is an adjunct to belly beast. Food related causes when associated with other factors like lack of physical and mental exercise adds onto it like petrol in fire. Day sleep is a major factor for the increase in cough and moreover reduces the body metabolic rate remarkably leading to the sluggish body movements. This simple practical can be done and results can be felt individually. One another factor which is mentioned, at last but not the least is beeja swabhavat i.e. hereditary origin. It is an important factor which should be considered by the physician at the time of assuring the patient about the weight reduction.

Some other reasons which are not directly mentioned in ancient texts but carry a great deal of importance are constitution (prakritti), place of origin (desha) etc. kapha individuals are born stout, while kapha predominance is common in anupa desha. Such obesity is a bit difficult to deal with.