What can dietetics do?

Have you heard the word dietetics? It means principles of nutrition that can help us decide how to cook, what to cook, when to eat etc.
Some people may feel why have so many rules about what to eat, how to eat or why have a ‘routine’ in the first place?! A routine or ways of eating are actually supposed to facilitate my health and happiness. Actually, one needs to ask the ‘why’ behind these habits or ‘rules’.
After all human beings are ‘thinking beings’!

So, let’s understand ‘what’ and ‘why’ of dietetics or the nutritional guidelines.

To recognize one’s original “urge for hunger”, watch for these pointers:

1.Has the previous food digested and clear, smooth bowel motion occurred?
2.Lightness in the body.
3.Enthusiasm!
4.Clear burp!
5.And now present with hunger too?

Understanding one’s urge, will lead to a healthy Agni or proper digestion.

To recognize how much to eat

An age-old puzzle to be solved by each one of us!

Ayurved divides the capacity of the stomach into three. One part for solids, second for liquids, and third part is left for the movement of Vata-Pitta-Kaph! By this principle one could observe the following indicators:
1.No undue pressure on the stomach.
2.No undue pressure on the sides of the chest.
3.No heaviness in the abdomen.
4.Relief from thirst and hunger.
5.A feeling of comfort in the activities such as sitting, standing, walking, laughing and breathing.

Through these observations, one will not overeat everytime, hence staying away from obesity!

Being sensitive towards one’s body’s’ response

Being sensitive to every food and drink ingested helps to observe the power of food. Example- what happens after eating fried foods, or steamed foods, does it result in bloating? Lethargy? Or acidity? Start observing!

Mind your utensils

The material in which food is cooked-kept-stored, interacts with the food that’s going to become ‘you’!
Examples-Teflon coated utensils like nonstick pans are harmful for all our internal organs.
Using plastic to heat food or to pour hot food, leeches the chemicals into the food.
Watch out!

Role of processing/ Sanskaar in food preparation

Unlike animals, humans can ‘reason’ and hence transform ‘things’ around to being more edible, nutritious etc. provided we know which process to apply.

Here are few examples to illustrate what I mean:
1.Daal (lentils) is difficult to have raw, as it produces severe stomach ache. But when it is soaked in water for a while then cooked on a low-flame, in an open vessel and had with ghee, it has the capacity to build strength and stamina!
2.Wheat, rice and jaggery harvested, cleaned are ‘heavy in nature’, when stored for a year transforms into ‘light in nature’ which is better for digestion. If one wants to avoid being diabetic or have gastro-intestinal disturbances, then do implement this process.
3.Yogurt/curd when churned with 4-6 times water, then the cream-content separates out, filter it and strain it. This is called Buttermilk! The two have opposite actions on the body. Curd induces inflammation in the body, while buttermilk reduces the inflammation in the body!

These examples could help in your Agni or digestive fire to be healthy, and help you decide or prefer foods that do you good, rather than just taste good!