Ayurveda: Food, Diet & Daily Routine in Heavy Rains (mid June to mid Aug)
Monsoon, Rains: It doesn’t rain throughout the year in India. It has a particular time and that is a rainy season. It can be divided into two sub seasons one is varsha ( The heavy rains ) and sharad ( the lighter rains). Rain starts from mid June and slows down till mid Oct.
The heavy rains: Varsha ( mid June to mid August)
The heated up nature welcomes rains. Rains takes out the dullness, lethargy from the atmosphere and pushes life everywhere. It colours the canvas of the nature. The black thundering clouds, the lightenin. The rain showers, untimely winds, the flowing waters, the green fields makes one selves again alive.
The atmosphere starts cooling down, the dryness goes away and humidity increases. The water demands of the body goes down. The thirst decreases, the digestive fire starts igniting. But one must wait to put heavy food stuffs inside the stomach. The increased humidity in the atmosphere hampers digestion, as water extinguish burning fire.
If you remember vata starts accumulating in the body in summer. In rainy season the body becomes cool. As a rule of nature cold causes constriction. This cold, constricted body blocks vata, wind inside the body. This is the season when vata problems dominate.
The Blogs on Ayurveda have been contributed by Dr. Nikhil Mehta. In case you would want to contribute to Bandra Blogs please feel free to write to us.
Diet : Out side atmosphere is cold, humid, and windy, vata dominates inside the body, the digested fire is not ignited fully, then the diet must be lighter, worm, oily, less watery and sweet, sour and salty in taste. This tastes and warmness and oiliness helps to control vata.( remember the qualities of vata and things, tastes suppressing vata ). As the food in the summer should be watery, food in the rains should be less watery. Very logical.
Cereals : Naturally the lighter cereals like rice and millets are good in rains. One must take precaution that the rice is properly cooked contain water. In wheat preparation phulka is best. The roasted wheat. In India the bread made out from millets is roasted over the direct fire. This treatment makes it lighter. It is the all time change for any person whose digestion is disturbed. Such person must temporarily shift to such diet, even though the season going on is winter.( In winter the body needs heavy food stuffs )
Pulses: As you know pulses increases vata they must be used in moderation. One must use pulses which are less vata producing. For example: One must use oils, ghee while cooking pulses. Also sweet, sour and salty taste reduces their vata producing effect. Like in Indian cooking sweet jaggery, sour tamarind and salt is used while making soup, vegetables from pulses.
Vegetables: Sweet and sour tasting vegetables must be preferred in this season and not bitter, pungent and astringent. See the list of vegetables in glossary and appendix.
Milk and milk products : One should not encourage use of liquids like milk and butter milk. If one is used to having such drink they should drink them worm. The heavy sweetmeat should be avoided. Moderate amount of ghee, butter, will help to control vata.
Fruits: The need of fruits reduces considerably in this season. The fruits are usually watery and cool in nature. In rains this quality of fruits can create indigestion problems. The mother nature also does not come out with many fruits in this season.
Oil: Now one can use worm oils like sesame and mustard which are advised to use in moderation in summer. Rather sesame oils is the best medicine to control vata. One can use it in cooking and also as a massage oil. Routine massage with such worm oils makes this rainy season happier one. Due to humidity the need of oils and ghee is not much in this season.
Spices: The spices like turmeric ginger, asafetida, dry ginger, mustard seeds are good in this season. But highly pungent spices like red chilly, green chilly, black paper, must not be used generously. The spices of herbs like ginger, turmeric, asafetida are medicines to combat vata.
Water: One must drink water or any drink very cautiously in this season. Already the humidity is at increase in the atmosphere. Body is not demanding much water. If one is drinking water or any liquids unnecessarily they will further destroy the delicate digestive fire of rainy season. This can lead to number of digestive problems like nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, dysentery etc. (remember the lesson on digestion ). Due to rains the water is not pure, it is contaminated by so many factors. One must use boiled and filtered water. If one like to drink little bit worm water one should drink such water. This water helps get rid of gases (vata). But drink only when you will feel thirst and drink just to quench your thirst. This is must be remembered by everyone. One must not drink chilled drinks and water or food stuffs in this season.
In India there is tradition of fasting in this season and some of the fasts does not allows even a water to drink. This signifies the deep effect of knowledge of Ayurveda over the Indian culture. This is only season comes with many fasts. The health purpose is also fulfilled due these fasts. This fire brings back the extinguished fire again. Routinely some extra food, heavy food over such delicate fire, Suppresses it in rains. Fasting give some rest to stomach. Whatever fire that remained inside take care of undigested food stuff inside, as there is no new work. Once the remained food gets digested, one starts feeling lighter and once again feels the hunger. This time one should be careful while having food about not to over eat heavy food stuffs.
Ayurveda never stretches fasting for many days. The fasting is known as ‘Langhan’ in ayurveda. It means feeling lighter. Naturally one must fast till that stage. The time may vary from person to person. But once you feels lightness in the body, emptiness in the stomach and feeling of hunger. Your fasting has serve the purpose. Then don’t stretch it. Put something over the gyh up fire otherwise it will eat yourself.
The extreme fasting leads weakness, loss of strength, dizziness, vata problems. As a last stage it will eat up all the healthy structure of your body making you a damaged machine. It may be no return stage.
Anything we do for health must make you feel better. Experience is the best teacher. After fasting your feeling lighter, fresh then you did a right fasting but if you feel weak, dull and dizzy then you did over fasting. You harmed yourself. On one side you know after fasting you feel tired, you get headache and body ache and still you are continuing it with some blind faith that on some day you will be relived from your ill health, your misery, then you are neglecting the direct bath, direct experience and you are running after something you don’t know. Definitely your harming yourself.
Daily routine: The most important thing in rains is to protect yourself from getting wet. And due to some reasons you are getting wet try to dry yourself as early as possible. This coldness will make you ill. In a whole year this is the worst reason for health. So you must take care.
Keep your home worm. Keep your body worm. Wear cotton clothes which will keep you worm. If your body is becoming cool due to outside atmosphere take worm shake by electric heater. Or a coal furnace. You can use the same things when your house catches humidity and cold. Massage with sesame oil and hot water bath are the best thing you can adapt in this season. They will take care of most of your problems.
Even in rains you should be patient for your exercise. Still your body is not up the mark to undergo vigorous exercise. Your body has just now undergone the fiery summer. You could not had good healthy food. How can you expect good work out from it. Rather if you did heavy work out you may experience fatigue Also due to over exertion vata increases, adding up already strong vata. So just start worming up for real good exercise in next seasons. Like exercise, traveling also increases vata. So keep your traveling under control.
Medicines : Vata pacifying medicines and panchkarma will help to control the windy vata. In panchkarama different enemas will be the treatment of choice.
The Blogs on Ayurveda have been contributed by Dr. Nikhil Mehta. In case you would want to contribute to Bandra Blogs please feel free to write to us.
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