The preservation of health is easier than the cure of disease. Ayurveda aims to protect the health of the healthy and alleviate disorders in the diseased. To fulfill the first objective. to keep the body away from disease, Ayurveda has described three pillars of life Ahara (Food), Nidra (Sleep), and Brahmacharya (Celibacy). These three well-regulated life factors give immunity, strength, complexion, and body growth. In Ayurveda, dietetics forms the major component of life.

Ayurveda describes a specific diet in terms of quality, quantity, and time which differs with body constitution, age, season, digestive power, disease, and also from person to person. Dietetics is medicine in itself. Food’s effect reflects on the body and mind; “The food you eat reflects your state of mind”. The father of Western medicine, Hippocrates stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, he advocated the healing effects of food. With the knowledge of Ayurvedic dietetics, we can prevent many diseases before they occur and treat them after their occurrence.

Rules of Consuming the Food For Dietetics

• • The food should be fresh, warm, and easily digestible.
  • Food should be consumed only when a person feels hungry and it should be eaten after the last meal has been digested.
  • One should eat food in a comfortable sitting posture, neither too fast nor too slow.
  • Proper chewing of food is necessary for the proper digestion of food.
  • Water should be taken half an hour before a meal, one hour after the meal and if needed then only a sip of water can be taken in mid of the meal.
  • One should not eat food while watching TV, on a phone, on a laptop, or when emotionally upset.

Properties of food according to tastes 

• Sweet– Moist, cold, heavy, expectorant.
• Salty-Laxative, digestive, appetizer.
• Sour-Carminative, appetiser.
• Pungent-Bronchodilator, anti-helminthic, carminative.
• Bitter-Anti-helminthic, purgative.
• Astringent-Anti-diarrhoeal, styptic.

Naturally Best Food according to Ayurveda 

• Rice– Red rice, old rice.
• Cereals– Barley and wheat.
• Pulses– Green gram, red gram.
• Salt– Rock salt
• Fruits– Pomegranate, Gooseberry (Amla), Palm dates, Grapes.
• Vegetables– Snake gourd (Parval)
• Water– Rainwater (minerals rich).
• Fish– Rohu
• Milk– Cow milk
• Ghee– Cow ghee
• Oil– Sesame oil

Quantity of food

One of the difficult questions to answer is, “How much a person should eat?” The quantity of food varies from person to person, based on the level of hunger, digestive power, what is the nature of the food to be eaten, what a person had eaten on the last meal, and whether the previously taken meal digested completely or not.

In Ayurvedic dietetics, it has been clearly described that if a person divides one’s stomach into four parts, two parts should be filled with solid food, one part with liquid food, and one part empty.

Practically it means that one should stop at that point when one gets the feeling that only a couple of more morsels can be taken. In general, a person should have a good amount of breakfast, a moderate amount of lunch, and a minimal amount of dinner.

The quantity of food should be such that it gets digested before taking the next meal. So, if a person is taking only two meals per day, then comparatively the quantity of food can be more so that it keeps energized throughout the day, till the second meal is taken. If a person is taking 3-4 meals per day, then the quantity of food in each meal can be reduced.

Suitable food types in different seasons By Dietetics

• Winter– Sweet, sour, salty, and unctuous & hot foods.
• Spring– Foods with bitter, pungent, and astringent taste. Dry and hot foods.
• Summer– Sweet, light, easily digestible, and cool foods and drinks.
• Monsoon– Sweet, sour, and salty foods. Light, fresh, and easily digestible.
• Autumn– Foods with sweet, pungent, and astringent taste; dry and cool foods and drinks.

Conclusion

Ayurvedic texts explain the properties of food with seasons, time, and places and their specific function both in physiological and pathological states. A healthy dietetics is necessary for good health, which protects the body against many chronic non-communicable diseases, such as cardiac diseases, cancer, diabetes, etc.

So, one should know the compatible and incompatible foods according to their health condition. “Your diet is a bank account, good food choices are good investments”. A person should know the basic rules of consuming food and the quantity of food.

There are so many cases where one can see that after using so many medications also the ailments are not responding to the medicines, the reason is the intake of improper diets. One can also notice that some ailments don’t even need medication, they simply get corrected by taking proper dietetics.

“When dietetics is wrong, medicine is of no use & When dietetics is correct, medicine is of no need”. It can be stated that when individuals pay attention to dietetics, they will be able to enhance health and well-being efficiently.