“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art” 

When it comes to food, it’s all the more interesting and mouth watering! Isn’t it?!! 

But the interesting fact is that the gut health is what decides your overall health, be it physical,mental, moral and spiritual.  

We have to understand that the three thoughtful ingredients that are important to make the food healthier and tastier. They are what we eat, how we eat and when we eat. Therefore we have three questions to answer. 

  • What to eat?
  • When to eat?
  • How to eat?

What to eat?- Differentiate between food and food like substances!

“Most of us are eating food like substances rather than the actual food. It is time to return back to the  way we used to eat, before food industry ruined food”

  • Enjoy the seasonal food

Nature always offers a very beautiful and yummy menu based on seasons. So, we should always try to consume seasonal foods to aid our body which is wonderfully engineered to adapt to different seasons and function accordingly. If we are not following this rule of nature, then the body will have to put in extra effort to utilize such foods for maintaining the physical, physiological and psychological harmony. 

For example, melons are meant to be eaten in summer but are now available and consumed in all the seasons. Because of this, few people may experience cold, impaired digestion etc. 

  • Eat the staple food of the respective geographical area.

Certain crops are grown in certain geographical area. This depends on the climatic conditions and the nature of the soil. Such crops contain necessary nutrients required for life sustenance in that respective geographical area. But, these days the food industry has influenced us so much that we tend to eat variety of foods that are not native. The metabolism of such foods in our body will create an imbalance between our body and the nature. This long term disharmony leads to diseases and disorders. 

For example, Wheat and Dal is the staple food of the northern India and Rice has been the staple food in most of the southern India. For the north Indian climate, consuming wheat becomes necessary. But consuming the same in excess in southern India will put in a lot of load for the body to digest and metabolize it. 

As the saying goes, “Be a Roman in Rome” We should let our body function in harmony with the nature by consuming the native foods. 

  • Listen to your body 

Listen to your body. Your body will decide what food it needs based on the nature of its constitution. The nature of constitution of our mind and body is comfortable with certain food and at the same time our body will not accept certain foods. We should never generalize the benefits and ill effects of any food but should always stay in tune with the body and the mind to provide the right food by which they can function optimally. 

For example, few people will feel better with citrus fruits for allergies but few might end up having an allergic reaction when citrus fruits are consumed. Therefore we should not make a general statement that citrus fruits are good for allergies or that citrus fruits are bad for allergies either.

It is may be a little weird that we have not discussed about balanced diet and about calories. That is because food is not just about calories or about how much of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins it contains but much more subtle than that. 

And now that we have understood about our food disciplines, lets us try and discipline our food habits. 

Let me conclude with a quote;

“Food is an offering to our body where our divine soul resides. Let us offer it with love and respect because body is the only place we got to live”

Are you eager to know the next ingredient?!! Kindly wait and look forward for it. 

Thank you