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Ayurvedic expert Reenita Malhotra Hora, in her latest health book, The Ayurvedic Diet, presents a wellness guide for a healthy lifestyle. In an excerpt posted by the Women's Feature Service on THE BETTER INDIA, we gathered 5 interesting things you may or may not already know about the Ayurvedic diet.
1. The fresher food, the better the food:
It is time to take charge of time and no longer resort to the ready made, packaged meals that are loaded with preservatives. Left overs are not going to get you what you need, either. In Ayurveda, there aren't any left overs. Food starts going stale just barely a few hours after it has been prepared and no amount of refrigeration is going to change that. So why keep tamasic food in the fridge, much less feed it to your body days later? Instead, it is time to eat our food as medicine; and eat it as fresh as possible. Consider eating an apple at peak freshness, it tastes good, right? And chances are that it'll make you feel great too. But are you going to eat an apple that's soft and wilted? Probably not. This one's a no brainer, really.
2. Ayurveda is not exclusively a vegetarian thing:
Ayurveda is not really a vegetarian philosophy. Its ancient texts provide detailed ways and means of preparing meats. And most practitioners will advise to use meat as garnish. From a general health point of view, animal foods are becoming increasingly toxic as we continue to industrialize food production, so you have to be really careful about where and how you buy your meats.
3. Eating the Ayurvedic way doesn't mean eating only Indian cuisine:
Despite the general consensus, Ayurvedic cooking does not have to exclusively yield Indian food as long as it is prepared with Ayurvedic principles. It can fit into just about any cuisine.
4. Ghee aids weight loss and lowers cholesterol:
Seriously? I totally thought ghee would bring on the weight. Guess not. Turns out, gheeis vital to feed and build the dhaatus and pacify the vata and pitta doshas. And this ancient recipe was known to be an instant cure for nervous-system disorders. Back in the day, Indian households would store ghee in large vats and pass it down from one generation to the next. What a gift!
5. Eating ginger before your meal fuels up your digestive fire & enables you to keep your weight in check:
Eat a little slice of ginger about 15 minutes before meals to fuel your digestive fire! And as we mentioned earlier, when taken with rock salt it reduces vata, with rock candy, it reduces pitta, and with honey reduces kapha.
