Have you ever heard your mother inhibiting you from eating curd at night? Or have you heard your elders having a particular opinion about a set of edibles while suffering from one disease or another? Do you often find it odd and irritating when you are inhibited from eating your favorite food simply because someone claims it to be hot or cold without an explanation? We are here to solve the dilemma for you!

The Concept Of Hot And Cold Food: What and Why

You might find it perplexing but the nature of an edible is determined by the factors it induces in your dosha balance rather than illustrated temperature measured by a laboratory thermometer. It is essentially why you are usually instructed to stay away from a bowl of rice when you suffer from cold despite it being served hot.

Your dosha balance is based upon the traits of your body and is essentially a blend of various elements like fire, water, air, etc. in forms of Vatta, Pitta, Kapha! Despite the serving temperature, the effect of the food on your body shall only be decided based on its nature and properties. For example, the metabolism of a body having a Pitta dosha, is governed by elements like fire and water. Thus, the metabolism and usual functioning of the body can be affected a lot by an imbalanced nature of hot and cold food.

How To Decide What To Eat Based On The Nature Of Food

Contrasting your metabolism or dosha type with an opposite nature of edible is always a huge no-no for obvious reasons. You should also take note of weather and climate while planning for your diet. Ideally, edibles of hot and warm nature should be avoided during the day while it’s opposite for the night. It also depends a great deal on your dosha imbalance and metabolic capabilities along with the type of chronic diseases you may suffer from.

Edibles like bottle gourd, cucumber, curd, rice and a plethora of green vegetables are considered cold while spices and underground vegetables are considered warm in nature. Depending on the weather of your surroundings, you can also moderate their nature by mixing and neutralising a particular edible with a fair balance of an item that is polar opposite nature. Hope this article helped you put all your dilemmas aside.