With an increasing awareness of wellness and the majority of people undergoing mild to severe health issues, most of us wonder about switching to a healthy lifestyle, Right?
Many of us do try to embrace the ayurvedic lifestyle but quit at some point due to several reasons and one of them is our lack of awareness and right attitude with an unending list of unanswered queries. So, let’s try to resolve most of your puzzles and pave your way to a healthy lifestyle. Dr. Shreejit through this chat enlighten us about Ayurveda Lifestyle which seems quite arduous for most of us. Dr. Shreejit is an Ayurveda Physician based out of Rishikesh, Uttarakhand.
hmy: How easy and difficult it is to apply Ayurveda in our daily lifestyle?
Dr Shreejit: Ayurveda is the science of life; it teaches us to live our lives in such a way that we can be the best version of ourselves. We often implement things that we feel are important for us, to apply Ayurveda to our lifestyle is not difficult it’s a matter of choice.
I feel improving our lifestyle and implementing the Ayurvedic principles is a necessity rather than a choice in today’s time given the scenario the world is in, we can clearly see that modern living has its limitation, right balance between modern lifestyle and ayurvedic daily routine needs to be set.
hmy: Digitally, there is a content explosion against 5 Whites – Milk, Salt, Sugar, White Rice, Wheat Flour. Are these foods harmful as they make the most of the Indian diet?
Dr Shreejit: Yes, there is a lot of talks today on the 5 white. Personally, I don’t think it’s so bad for our body if you understand the proper uses of same.
Let’s take an example of white rice, if we look at the Indian culture white rice has always been part of the Indian culture. You mix white rice and dal, add one spoon of ghee to it the glycaemic index reduces, white rice is lighter to digests than brown rice traditionally we have always eaten hand pounded or single polished rice which is white in color and not brown there are other alternatives like red rice, shastik shali rice which also has high nutritional value and alternately used with white rice.
Milk has been part of the food culture in Ayurveda. The quality of milk has changed over the years. A good source of milk which is from traditional desi cow is the best (A2 milk) to include in the diet.
For Sugar, I will suggest less refined categories of sugar like Misri, Jaggery, and Honey which are good sources of natural sweeteners.
Salt like the saindava lavana (rock salt ) , kala namak (sauvarchala lavana) can be a good alternatives.
Refined white flour (maida) is definitely not good for health. The whole wheat flour would be ideally used, wheat bran flour and khapli atta are some varieties of wheat flour that are okay to be included in our diet.
hmy: What addition you would suggest making our meal healthier?
Dr. Shreejit:
A Healthier Meal is food taken in the Right quantity, at the Right time, which is well cooked with love and consumed in a peaceful environment with a happy and calm state of mind.
A healthier meal is a combination of the quality of vegetables – fresh and preferably local. Having the knowledge of seasonal vegetables and seasonal food is of added benefit because seasonal food is fresh and easier to digest also it helps to balance the imbalances of the doshas.
hmy: Diet as per Ayurveda principles?
Dr. Shreejit: They are very simple.
- Keeping Agni boosters like ginger + saindhav namak combination as an appetizer
- Fennel seeds
- Ajwain ( carom seeds)
- Hing can be beneficial.
- Avoiding excessive heavy, fried, processed food, highly sugary foods would be important.
- Following the sattvic category of food would be important.
hmy: How do you find trending food Avocado & Moringa in the daily diet?
Dr Shreejit: Moringa or drumstick tree has been part of India for decades, it’s mostly found in the southern states of India. Including it in our diet is beneficial for the digestive, cardiovascular system. It is very effective for hypertension.
It increases pitta and vitiates blood. hence, drumsticks or moringa should not be used during bleeding disorders, during menstruation, and people having acne or skin issues.
Avocado is not local to India, it was introduced from Sri Lanka and has been grown in Tamil nandu, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
I strongly believe when anything becomes trending especially when it comes to food there is a problem because the demands increases and supply is increased compromising on the quality. Let’s have good quality avocado next time when we go to South America. we have enough food resources to fulfill our requirements related to a healthy diet.
hmy: What daily foods you will suggest for boosting immunity?
Dr Shreejit: Ayurveda mentions following foods for boosting Immunity:
1. Which is sweet, unctuous in nature nourishes the tissue if taken in the right quantity and it improves immunity. For example –: milk, honey, jaggery, ghee
2. Fruits – Grapes, Apple, Indian Gooseberry, Pomegranates.
3. Avoid excessive intake of spicy, sour and salty, bitter extreme cold or hot food, dry food would help to keep our immunity in check.
hmy: What daily Ayurvedic practices you will suggest for boosting metabolism?
Dr. Shreejit: Chewing the food well, conscious eating, setting a routine for each meal, and following the routine. Hot water is also very important. Making seasonal variations to our eating habits, regular physical activities,
and fasting are very important tools to regulate our metabolism.
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