Most people think about Ayurveda as some bore, hard-to-follow, ancient dietary regime preached by your grandma. And whereas it’s true that she most likely did preach it, the system is way from what you will assume.
Ayurveda is an ancient health care tradition that has been practised in the Asian nation for at least 5,000 years. The word comes from the Indo-Aryan terms Ayur (life) and Veda (knowledge).
Though Ayurveda, or Ayurvedic drugs, was documented within the sacred historical texts called the Vedas several centuries ago, Ayurveda has evolved over the years and is currently integrated with different ancient practices, as well as yoga. Thought to be so much superior to different kinds of drugs, it guarantees treatment for varied ailments that may not unremarkably be found in different systems of medicines.
Ayurveda is widely practised on the Indian landmass — quite more than 90% of Indians use some type of Ayurvedic drugs — and also the tradition has gained quality within the Western world, although it’s still thought-about an alternative medical treatment.
Wisdom from previous generations is maybe our greatest heritage and sadly, as we’ve got alleged ‘evolved’ over the years, we’ve lost way too much of that basic knowledge that was traditionally passed down from generation to generation.
To put this in context, here are some key facts about the Ayurvedic diet that is fairly elementary, however many of us aren’t alert, because they somehow got lost along the way.
Ayurveda is all about food
Ayurveda puts a lot of emphasis on the consumption of fresh food at all times and it has a solid reason. Think about this – if you are eating an apple when it is at its peak freshness, it is sure to taste good and chances are that it’ll make you feel great too. But ask your own self, are you going to eat an apple that’s soft and wilted? It is sure to taste bad and it’s not going to do anything great for your health. Food that is stale starts getting bad not just from the outside, but also inside your body, releasing toxins into the digestive system, which are then absorbed by your other bodily systems too.
We all are aware of this already, right? Then why is it that we all still prefer eating prepared meals or preservative loaded packaged foods at least a few, if not several, times a week?
Low quality and preserved foods such as canned, refrigerated, processed and genetically engineered foods and alcohol are known as tamasic foods. These food tend to create resistance to the mind-body’s normal course of action.
How many times have you ever seen or heard your granny preparing fresh meals to be it breakfast, lunch or dinner? That is just because in Ayurveda, we do not have any construct of leftovers – stale food is tamasic. It starts putrefaction just a few hours after it has been prepared and no quantity of refrigeration goes to alter that. Therefore why would you retain rotting food in the fridge, much less lace your inside within in days later?
Ghee aids weight loss and lowers cholesterol
Common thinking tells us that ghee results in weight-gain and builds sterol in your arteries. Not true and quite the other in fact! Ayurveda has been using ghee for thousands of years to try to do quite the opposite – to get rid of all the poisons from the body that congest the channels and make issues for the guts and the organ system. The oily or oleaginous nature of ghee has a similar characteristic thereto of a poison that is why it’s one in all the best solvents that may attack fatty toxins lodged in your tissues to loosen, liquefy and extract them through the regular biological process.
Not only that – ghee is significant to feed and build the dhaatus and pacify the vata and pitta doshas. Did you know that hundred-year-old ghee was celebrated to be a rapid cure for nervous-system disorders? Did it help you to break free the myth of ghee increasing your weight and cholesterol level?
Ayurveda is not a vegetarian philosophy
Contrary to standard belief, Ayurveda isn’t a vegetarian philosophy. In fact, its ancient texts give careful ways and mean that of getting ready meats. Most Ayurvedic doctors and clinicians, tend to adopt a largely vegetarian withstand Ayurvedic culinary art because it is taken into account to be ‘karmically inappropriate’ to kill animals. From a general health point of view, animal foods are getting progressively venomous, as we tend to industrialize food production. Gone are the times of looking and wild farming, therefore you have got to be very careful regarding wherever and how you purchase your meats. Also, vegetarian foods detoxify and purify the mind-body the maximum amount as they build it.
Eating ginger before your meal powers up digestion, enabling you to keep your weight in check
Eating Ayurvedically is all about rising the potency of your digestive system. Excellent digestion is the core of perfect health, and imperfect digestion results in things like weight gain, venomous overload and illness. Therefore, the principles of Ayurvedic ahar, or food as medication, among alternative things embrace pre- and post-digestive tips like consumption ginger before a meal to stimulate your ‘Agni’ or digestive fire. If the engine is supercharged up then naturally it’s functioning, i.e., the digestion also will be higher. We in India, have handily forgotten all this stuff.
Eating Ayurvedically does not mean eating desi food only
Despite the overall accord, Ayurvedic cookery does not have to solely yield ‘Indian food’. As long as it is ready as per Ayurvedic principles, it will match into close to any culinary art. Historically, Ayurvedic doctors and health centres have served khichadi, dal and chawal primarily because of it being the staple of Indian culinary art. Ayurvedic specialists, if not doctors, are growing in numbers throughout the globe and as people still explore completely different cuisines and cultural food preparations, the principles of Ayurveda have gone well on the far side Indian borders.
Now that we have broken a few myths you had, it’s time to implement in your lifestyle!