Dietetics Part 2 – Viruddha Aahar

While understanding nutritional guidelines based on Ayurved, the most interesting topic is Vlruddha-aahar . IImeans incompatible combinations .
The beauty of Ayurved is inits abilitylo explain not just properties of individual substances, but what happens when these are In combinations.

Examples of healthy combinations:

•Dal & Rice
•Cooked vegetables & Roll
•Soup of seasonal vegetables with Dal
•Curd In winters
•Shreekhand in winters

Examples of unhealthy combinations:

•Milkshakes of fruits and icecreams
•Fish with curd
•Cooking honey
•Exercising in air conditioned room

You must be wondering,What is the basis of these to be called unhealthy or healthy? What can ‘unhealthy combinations’ of foods and lifestyles exactly do?
Ayurved states that ‘viruddha-aahar’ provokes the tridosha in the body and does not allow proper assimilation, or excretion. And over a period of time this leads to the following:

•Acidity
•Bloating
•Anemia
•Inflammation
•Jaundice
•Abscesses
•Ulcers in the body
•Disorders of the joints
•Infertility
•Depletion of vigor,strength and memory

There are various categories of Viruddha/ incompatible like:

•Incompatible with place/region- having foods that have qualities similar to the region. Ex:having curd daily in a hot-humid region.

•Incompatible to season- having foods that are not in sync with the seasonal- regimen. Ex: eating icecreams/kulfi during winter. Having a hot and pungent diet during summer aggravates Vata & Pitta, rather than pacifying it.

•Incompatible with digestive power-if the ‘agni’is sluggish & weak, having large mealsis going to be contrary to ‘agni’.Similarly,having a heavy meal after a period of fasting.or not eating at the proper time or eatingless when very hungry.

•Incompatible with quantity or proportions of food-having pickles in the amount of vegetables, rather than small amounts, this will vitiate the ‘tridoshas’. Having ghee and honey mixed.equal in weight.

•Incompatible with ‘dosha’- foods similar to one’s constitution leads to imbalance in the body.Ex: having curd, paneer, shreekhand, idli, dosa by a kapha-pitta ‘prakriti’.

•Incompatible methods of preparation- overcooked or uncooked or burnt foods are unwholesome. Cooking honey is also an example. Uncooked honeyis nectar,while cooked honey is poison. Improperly set curdis unwholesome too.

•Incompatible with potency – substances that have cooling potency are
Incompatible to substances with hot potency. Ex: combining fish (hot in potency) with milk (cool potency).

•Incompatible to Kosht ( bowel habits)-having raw or uncooked vegetables by a vata-dominant koshta,will lead to binding of the wastes and cause piles.
Incompatible with state of body- after a heavy meal having brisk walk or gyming or heavy exercises.
•Incorrect order of dietetics- eating without hunger. Eating without emptying the bowel.

•Incompatible with shelf-life- having foods that have crossed their shelf-life. Most freshly cooked foods are good for 3-5hrs( based on season,it varies).

Some more Incompatible food combinations- foods that make the process of digestion difficult and iif persisted in dietary habits, create tridosha imbalance, tissue(dhatu) imbalance and mala( bodily wastes) imbalance. Ex: banana with curd or milk or buttermilk. Having sour foods or fermented foods with milk. Milk with salt.

Charak Samhita – the most significant text of Ayurved emphasizes the importance of a healthy diet- if a person is eating a wholesome diet, he will not need any medicine, and if his diet is faulty, no medicine can help him.