Vd. harshil Bhatt

UNWHOLESOME FOOD HABITS IN THE WINTER SEASON

AA AAaAvkgkjLrq egkHkS”kT;e~AA

The verse in kashyapsamhita points that ahara means food is the best medicine. If one follows the dietary rules and regulations, then there won’t be any need to consume medicine and those who doesn’t follow proper aharavidhi even, medicine will not work for them properly.

As we enter in winter season of the year with ongoing pandemic which made people exhausted mentally and physically as well as in terms of finance hence it is one’s own responsibility to take care of their own health by our diet habits. As it has been told as, what you consume will effect on your body as well as your mind

Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta and Manu smriti classified food on the basis of their effect on mind I.e. Satwika, Rajasika and Tamasika, among them satvik food is considered as the ideal food while tamsik considered as the inferior one.

unWHolEsomE food HABiTs in WinTER

As per Ayurveda, in winter there will be good digestive fire but still, intake of unwholesome foods The Ancient Ayurveda | Nov-Dec 2020 | Page 23 should be avoided. Due to good digestive fire One must take care of their diet in proper quantity and should not do fasting in this season. By doing fasting, or consuming less quantity of food or no food in winter season, digestive fire will burn the body composition and lead to vata prakopa and will result in serious diseases as well.

In winter, person must avoid spicy foods as they induce vaata dosha in the body and also in winter season, rukshta (dryness) of body will be another main problem which inturn can trigger up vata dosha.

Current era of new generation, youngsters are more been attached with junk foods especially pizza, burgers, sandwich and other bakery stuff.

Study by Loma Linda University has found that poor mental health is linked with poor diet quality regardless of personal characteristics such as gender age, education etc.

Persons who does increased sugar consumption has been found to be associated with bipolar disorder and those who consume fried foods or those having high amounts of sugar and processed grains have

been linked with depression.

Despite of good agni, eating junk food on a regular basis can lead to an increased risk of obesity and chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and even can results in cancers like conditions. So one should control their dietary regulations. Ayurveda says that persons who don’t have control on their mind or habits are similar to animals and they must meet with serious diseases relating with their eating habits. If proper habit is not been adapted this must harm agni and in Ayurveda it said that all the diseases occurs due to weak digestive fire.

If there is any associated diseased condition or according to Prakriti (constitution) of persons there may be variation in the state of agni in winter season; for example, in persons with COVID-19 mild digestive fire will be there and hence diseases as well as immunity will be less in them. Many modern hospitals provide their patient diets with heavy and fermented food like dhokla, dosa, khaman etc which is hard to digest as the patients are having mild digestive fire and thereby leading to morbid stage of the particular disease.

Apart from this, some people have the habit to eat late at night this may make problem to their digestive fire and they must suffer from problems like acidity, indigestion and constipation. If digestion will not happen properly then there will not be proper dhatu formation in the body and person will not get enough immunity and strength for his day to day life and must meet some serious ailments in future as well. In the yogic culture it is said that if you have constipation means you are going to mad soon, hence by maintaining your GIT in good condition you can stay healthy in this challenging time of pandemic.

Major Food items that can be avoided during winter include: • Cold drinks

Junk and spicy food like pizza , burger , pasta etc which is made from maida

Cold water

Fermented foods like dhokla, khaman, idli, dosa

Dahi (Curd) must be avoided

Without digestion of previous food another food substance shouldn’t be consumed

After eating sudden sleeping should be avoided

ConClusion

It is our prime responsibility to maintain our health in good state. We are here to live a good life and food is one of the essential things, in Ayurveda it is one among three upastmbha of life. We should eat food for healthy life without giving importance to taste. Hence this is a serious concern that proper and nutritious food should be consumed by proper method and that has already been published in this magazine’s previous edition.

- vd. Harshil Bhatt

HEAlTHY rECIPES

GUNDER PAAK (EDIBLE GUM FUDGE)

IN WINTER SEASON

In the winter time, we often feel cold and dry. Our skin gets dry and even the sinuses begin to dry out because of that mucous membranes in the body start to become irritated and produce more mucus and this mucus acts as a breeding ground for colds, flu, and bacteria.

But don’t worry, nature provide the antidote for all this dryness in the harvest of the foods we EAT.

In winter season, vata gets predominant and it starts from November to February, hence during that time, your body needs more nuts, seeds, grains, soup, stew, etc like foods. So let we check some nutritious recipes that can be adopted in winter season.

RECiPE no: 1

immuniTy BoosTinG lATTE foR WinTER

Turmeric milk is termed to be as latte. Latte is rich in the goodness of turmeric and nuts thereby provide

- dr. shraddha Purohit

nourishment and immunity during winter. Go-ghrit makes it a miraculous Rasayan. It does not only increase digestive capacity but also it has nourishing property.

inGREdiEnTs:

• Goghrit - 1 teaspoon • Turmeric- half teaspoon • Almonds & cashew - 4 nuts each • Milk - 1cup

PREPARATion:

Warm one glass of milk and add turmeric powder and crushed almonds and cashew to the milk and let it boil for 2 minutes Keep on stirring. Turn off the stove once the Aroma comes.

Mix one tablespoon of ghee along with Latte and take it in Luke warm.

Have this recipe in the morning to beat winter ailments it also acts as a natural sweetener helping you to curb your sweet craving.

TiPs:

Vegans and people with lactose intolerance can use coconut milk.

If you are someone prone to flu, cold, cough and sinusitis you can use goat milk.

People with nut allergies may avoid nuts and instead add a pinch of Cardamom powder.

Benefits of Haridra

It is katu (pungent) tikta (bitter) in taste. It has ushna & ruksha gunas. Acts against kapha & pitta dosha. It is useful for reducing worm infections, good for skin diseases, provides complexion and reduces the toxicity of body and is also good for diabetic patients.

It is more useful in skin disease, diabetes, oedema, anemia & wound healing.

Benefits of Go - duGdH

It doesn’t cause any blockage in channels and also reduces the dryness of body and acts as a good rejuvenator. Milk is good for reducing vata and pitta doshas.

Calories Value of Milk per 100 g COW’s MILK has • Milk fat - 26gm, • Protein - 26gms • Lactose - 36gms • Minerals - 7 gms

RECiPE no: 2

GundER PAAK (EdiBlE Gum fudGE)

baval gunder /gond (edible gum)

inGREdiEnTs:

• Baval gundar (edible gum) - 200gms • Ghee ( go - ghrit) - 150gms • Milk-500ml • Kishmish - 2 tablespoon • Khas-khas - 3 tablespoons ( white poppy seed) • Cardamom and Nut meg - 1 tablespoon • Almonds & cashew - 1 tablespoon

PREPARATion:

Firstly, grind the Gundar till a fine powder. Melt ghee in a pan and add all the Gundar powder, mix well and cover it with a lid and keep it aside for a minimum of 3 hours at room temperature.

After that fry the nuts and grind it into course powder. Take a pan and boil milk, add khand Sarkara into it mix it well till sarkara melts completely into the mixture.

Heat ghee in kadai and add leftover Gundar crystals. Then add boiled warm milk and stir well .keep the heat on low till the moisture gets evaporated. Once you see the bubbles appear add roasted nut powder along with other herbs and spices like white poppy seed, nutmeg, cardamom, kishmish, almond, and cashew.

At this stage, the mixture will get thick so quickly and there is a chance that the mixture will stick to the bottom of the pan or Kadai. So stir the mixture continuously and quickly.

Make it into lehya like consistency and keep it aside to cool down. After cooling, transfer the Gundar lehya into an airtight glass container. Gunder paak can be taken in morning. You can use this lehya along with golden milk.

BEnEfiTs of GundERPAAK:

Gundar Pak has many nutritional and ayurvedic healthy benefits. It is great for boosting immunity, stamina and health. It is more useful in joint pain and bone related ailments.

One tablespoon of gunderpaak gives 142calories, it provides about 7% of total daily calories.