Do your foods go well together?

Image via Unsplash - Cayla1

Hello!

Today I’m here to share the last email from the series 4 Pillars of Health. If you happen to miss them, you can check them out here.

I hope these posts have been informative and inspiring to you. What I love about Ayurveda is how once you grasp the idea of the elements and qualities, you can use that for every aspect of your life.

Another big topic when it comes to diet in Ayurveda is food combination. When we ingest foods that don’t “go together” for different reasons, and our digestive system doesn’t have the power to deal with these mixtures, we accumulate toxins all over the body leading to possible dis-eases.

Certain foods and their combinations can interrupt the metabolism of tissues, or even inhibit the building process of a tissue for example. These foods can also have opposite qualities (such as cooling and heating) and that can create discomfort in the digestive process. At first it may feel like indigestion, but as we insist on eating the same things, we can develop other discomforts that we don't think are related to digestion such as allergies. 

This handy chart below can help you see which foods are compatible and incompatible. Be mindful that these are just guidelines. If your digestive power is strong, you can eat rocks with sand and you will be just fine!

Food when consumed the correct way serves as a nectar to rejuvenate the body and maintain health. 

To finish off, I will leave you with some tips for a more mindful meal time according to the ancient ayurvedic texts:

• Only eat when hungry

• Eat at the right time of the day (not too early nor too late)

• If possible, eat according to your constitution and seasonally

• Food should be warm and easy to digest

• Focus on the act of eating, avoiding too much stimulation, including too much talking

• Your meal should include all the 6 tastes (if you don’t know what I mean, you can read this)

• Chew your food very well (that’s a big one!)

• You should eat after showering or at least after washing your hands, face and feet
  

This week I am going live on Instagram to explain more about the whys of food combination. It’s such an interesting concept and I find it worth it to dig deeper so we can avoid digestive issues. Join me on Tuesday at 12pm (EST time)!

Have a lovely weekend!

Thais