Food: Nectar or Poison

Post By: Aditya Amar
June 16, 2021

Earth, air, space, water and fire are the five fundamental elements in the cosmos and all of us humans, birds, insects, trees, objects, life in water are constituents of these five elements. These elements have two basic distinctions: Jada or Chetana. Cottage Nirvana our wellness center in Uttarakhand is an ideal location for the best Ayurveda centre and best Panchakarma centre. We have an expert team for subjects like: nature cure therapies, Yoga and meditation centre, stress management program. Himalayas have always attracted people for rejuvenation, life coaching pragrams Holistic wellness centres in Uttarakhand have always helped people. Cottage Nirvana is a meditation center that can actually, help you in understanding the fundamental five elements of nature and healthy food, or in other words, Nectar.

Non-living objects are simply referred as “Jada”, on the contrary, ”Chetna” means objects with a soul and they have independent functional utility in the cosmos. Tri doshas(Vata,Pitta and Kapha) are derived from Chetna only, the balance between these three gives us energies to perform our duties both physical and mental. We consume these energies regularly, but after some time, we need to replenish the same with the intake of food and breathing. Unless our food(energy) is not in harmony with our body composition or it’s not in rhythm with our specific body type, we have chances of our system revolting and this results in an illness.

It’s proven that our food directly affects our minds and psyche. Unhealthy food or badly prepared food will surely be bad for our creativity and state of well being and happiness. In the Vedic tradition, food is considered sacred. We are taught to respect and value our food. We would have heard about good food vs unhealthy food, or Hitkari and Ahitkari food.

Few examples of Ahitkari(or unhealthy) food are:

Consumption of milk with sour foods, watermelon or fish or radish.
Heated honey or taking a hot drink immediately after the honey is bad for health.
Fatty/oily food with cold drinks.
Heavy meals at night, Vata promoting foods in mountains or Kapha promoting foods near the sea are considered bad for health.
Excessive sweet, salty or sour. The food taste should be balanced.

As per Ayurvedic food traditions, there are certain foods that are simple, cost effective and they cure several health problems for us.

Don’t consume refined oils.
Eating cold-pressed oils like sesame or mustard is good for health. In fact Cow Ghee is excellent for our health in many ways. If you can, you should simply replace oils with cow ghee.
Refined maida or white flour is very bad for health. Eat the simple ground wheat or eat millets they are very healthy.
Refined sugar or regular white sugar should be actually banned from your kitchens, healthy alternatives are Jaggery, shakkar, mishri or cane sugar.
Most salty snacks, namkeens, biscuits, breads are full of preservatives. Don’t fall for shiny and attractive packaging, on the contrary, opt for boiled or baked handmade snacks from local artisans as they are generally healthy.

Generally speaking, don’t buy any food items or drinks that are advertised on TV with attractive commercials are always misleading.

Spend some more time and energy on your health and try to make your own food and snacks. Frozen or fast food should be best avoided, fresh and simple things are best for your health.

As a matter of fact, there should be a movement on a mass scale to educate people on healthy food habits. During Covid 19 pandemic, we have all experienced that the right nutrition and healthy immunity can work wonders for our health. The doctors, physicians, education institutes, and other stakeholders should come together and work towards a healthy individual and healthy society. In Ayurveda, a balanced Agni or digestive fire is a key to good health and we should nurture it by avoiding wrong and irregular nutrition. Our country is blessed with what, millet’s and other healthy grains, we also have enough fruits, vegetables, and greens across and they should be part of our menu regularly.

We should not become victims of fashionable food or industrial food which is being pushed at us by corporations. It is like mental slavery even after so many years of independence.