Eating Right, the Ayurvedic Way: Five Tips for Good Digestion
Over 90% of urban dwellers suffer from everyday digestion problems such as gas, bloating, stomach pain, constipation, heartburn, and fatigue after eating. Ayurveda provides simple solutions to these common complaints by considering not only what we eat but how we consume our meals. For example, how many times have we caught a bite to eat at our workstation because we could not take the time to have a proper lunch?
Our bodies need an uplifting and settled environment in order to process and absorb the nutrients from our meals. If that is not available then we should at least be sitting down to eat -- not standing, walking, or driving our way through a meal.
The act of eating is life-giving. The process of eating, according to ayurveda, is something reverent and important for the development of consciousness as well as our physical health.
I.Eat sitting down, in a settled environment, without the TV on.
When we sit down to eat our stomach is in a relaxed posture and our awareness is on the taste, texture, and smell of the food. This will greatly improve the digestion.
II. Eat a fresh piece of ginger and lemon before a full meal or (pomegranate chutney to balance Pitta).
Another way to improve the digestion is to stimulate the agni or digestive fire before we begin eating. Weak digestive agni may result in fatigue after eating so Ayurveda recommends eating a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger with a few drops of lemon juice and a few pinches of salt on it before a full meal. This starts to activate the salivary glands, producing the necessary enzymes so that the nutrients in the food are easily absorbed by the body.
