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Factors that Affect Digestion
Time
The digestion of food is closely related with the time of food
consumption. Lunch is considered the main meal of day and
advised to be the heaviest meal also. The ideal time
prescribed for lunch is from 12 noon to 2 pm when sun is the
highest in the sky. This is the greatest time to digest the
food because we need heat to digest the food and at this time,
the stomach is naturally the hottest in the day. Hence, you
can digest comparatively heavy and larger meal at
lunch. Breakfast should be light, just enough to make you
charged till lunch. As lunch should be taken during early
afternoon period, Dinner should ideally be eaten at least
three hours before bed or before 8:00 p.m. In any case, avoid
eating dinner after 10:00 p.m. because our body works to burn
off toxins and digest food taken during the day at this time.
If you eat after 10:00 p.m., the food may cause toxins to
accumulate in the system, and as a result, the next day you
wake up tired.
How You Eat
The digestion of food also depends on your eating pattern. Our
bodies need a settled, calm atmosphere in order to process and
absorb the nutrients from our meals. If we eat while standing,
walking, or driving our way, our digestive system is
interrupted and the food is not properly digested. On the
contrary, when we eat sitting in clean and calm environment
with settled state of mind our body and mind enjoy the
flavors, textures, and aromas of food which greatly improve
the digestion.
Digestive Fire or Agni
Our digestive capacity or the capacity to transforms food into
healthy tissues is known as Agni or digestive fire in
Ayurveda. The proper functioning of our body largely depends
on the balanced Agni. If your digestive fire is weak the food
will not be digested properly and you may feel exhausted and
tired after eating. To improve the digestion eat a 1-inch
piece of fresh ginger with a few drops of lemon juice and a
few pinches of salt on it before a full meal. This will
activate the salivary glands that produce the necessary
enzymes for absorption of nutrients present in the food.
Similarly, over-active Agni can also cause problems like,
excessive internal heat and acidity. To balance the
over-active Agni, pomegranate chutney should be taken.
Ayurveda also suggests avoiding cold drinks with meals and
ice-cold foods in general. They act like cold water on the
burning wood. Consuming cold drinks with meals suppress the
digestive fire and adversely affect the immune system. It
leads to fatigue and diseases. Cold water with meals is
especially not advisable for the Vata and Kapha individuals.
If you want to have water or other drink at meals, then take
it warm or at room temperature only. If you have a pitta
imbalance you can have cool drinks in-between meals but too
cold or frozen foods are not good for pitta either. Such foods
temporarily cool down the heat, and imbalance continues. Pitta
individuals should try slightly cool drinks made with rose
water, or milk blended with dates or fresh mangos. Cold foods
taken with warm cooked foods can cause stomach cramps,
bloating and general discomfort in the stomach area. In
general too avoid taking juice or milk right out of the
refrigerator, as it is too cold for the digestion. Juice
should be taken at room temperature and water without ice.
Cold water should also be avoided during winter season, as the
digestive fire is lower in this season.
Lassi
Ayurveda strongly recommends the use of Lassi a yogurt drink
for good digestion. Lassi can either be taken during or after
the meal. It is best to have it at lunch or you can take it in
breakfast also, but avoid lassi at dinner. Lassi is light and
contains lactobacilli, necessary bacteria that lubricate the
intestines to help digestion go smoothly. It also helps to
reduce gas and bloating. Tasty to drink it makes your meal
delicious, nutritious and more satisfying.
Recipes for Lassi
Sweet Lassi
1/4 cup fresh homemade yogurt,
1 cup room temperature water and
Sugar to taste
Few drops of Rosewater (optional)
Blend it for one minute in the blender and drink fresh.
Salty Lassi
1 cup room temperature water
1/4 cup fresh homemade yogurt
1 pinch ground ginger (optional)
1 pinch ground cumin
1 pinch ground coriander
1 pinch salt
Blend for one minute. Drink after lunch. It is excellent drink
for gas and bloating. |
