Hey! What’s for Lunch? Searching for a super healthy yet tasty meal? Confused with the saying, “Eat breakfast like a King, Lunch as a Prince, and Dinner as a pauper! The last one is very accurate. But the other two remain a controversy! But Ayurveda has clear-cut explanations regarding it. Eat Lunch as the biggest meal of the day, says Ayurveda. Our body is a miniature version of the universe, So let the Sun determine your appetite and have your meals according to the movement of the Sun. Let’s have a look at Ayurvedic guidelines for healthy lunch.
Lunch, an ayurvedic concept
Lunch will be the biggest meal of the day, Says Ayurveda. Do you know why? Let’s dig out the reason for it and ayurvedic guidelines for healthy lunch.
According to the eating rules, proper digestion is key to a healthy life. People suffering from unhealthy digestion are said to cause weight gain, constipation, bloating, acidity, etc.
Ayurvedic science says that the body gets tired during lunchtime and digestive fire is naturally high when the Sun is the strongest. Therefore, as the Sun goes down, we should gradually reduce our heavy food intake.
Ayurvedic experts opine that your body has its body clock, disrupting which can cause an imbalance in doshas.
In Ayurveda, a healthy state is defined as when all your doshas, seven dhatus, and other physiological functions are balanced.
Vata, pitta, and Kapha increase and decrease in different time intervals of the day.
For healthy digestion, pitta is said to play a crucial role. Your pitta rises from 10 am to 2 pm during typical lunch hours.
Since your pitta is naturally enhanced, whatever you eat is digested easily.
Pitta is present through other parts of the day too, but it is at its peak during these hours, so it is suggested that you eat most of your heavy, greasy or sugary food around this time. So that it gets digested, it is recommended that you eat sparingly at any time of the day.
It must be understood that these guidelines are meant for a person’s healthy natural state.
Do not follow these if you have some prevailing disease or are on some medications.
For example, if you have diabetes, eating desserts at Lunch could also cause blood sugar fluctuations, but at a meager level only, thanks to Ayurveda!
As the day progresses, our metabolic power tends to slow down, and digestion of food becomes increasingly challenging.
Therefore, we should reduce the quantity of food during the evening hours.
Heavy meals later in the day affect digestion and lead to sleepless nights, and you may feel tired the following day.
So, it is advisable to take light food at night, like soups, salads, or boiled foods.
Best Time for Lunch According to Ayurveda
According to Ayurveda, It would be best if you ate your Lunch before noon. So kindle your Agni and go for a super healthy yet tasty meal.
What should you include in a healthy lunch?
Begin with a sweet, Says some ayurvedic treaties! Sounds weird, right? Let us know the reason.
The sweet taste stimulates the taste buds and salivary glands.
Eating the sweet item first enables the proper flow of digestive juices; if you finish your meals with sweets, you are probably slowing down your digestion.
But Beware! Sweet doesn’t mean your favorite desserts. The idea of gobbling a bit of gulab jamun before your rice dal doesn’t go to do good for you;
Ayurveda strictly prohibits the use of refined sugars in your diet; instead, go for plant sugars, including fruit juices.
On the other hand, even a single bite of a sweet before your main meal will help you absorb vitamins and other essential nutrients efficiently.
Besides, eating dessert at the end means that those calories and sugar suppress the Agni, causing sour eructations and indigestion thanks to the acid produced, and you finally end up bloating.
Follow the sweet with something sore, which brings you the dal curries and helps boost digestion and absorption.
Finish your meals with something bitter and astringent, bringing you the buttermilk, ensuring perfect digestion.
Benefits of having Lunch at the right time
Ayurveda says that even the best food can harm the body if eaten at the wrong time.
Eating food at the right time can prevent diseases.
According to Indian custom, one should wake up before sunrise.
Have breakfast at 7:30 am. Lunch should be at 10:30. Do not, under any circumstances, eat Lunch between one and three in the afternoon.
This is the time when the heart performs its primary functions.
Eating at that time can cause the body’s energy to be diverted to stomach functions instead of being used for cardiac procedures.
This causes sleepiness in the afternoon.
The afternoon naps will break your heart. Sleeping in the afternoon is a symptom of impending illness.
Ayurveda says to eat the cooked food within one Yama. One Yama means 3 hours. So we keep those food items in the ice box for two to three days and eat them hot. So, therefore, by the time we reach 50 years of age, we have to put ourselves in an ice box.
How to plan a Personalized, Super healthy, and Tasty Lunch
- Begin with a fruit platter containing apples, bananas, berries, grapes, etc., and you may toss it with some pomegranate seed powder. You can try some fruit sharbat too.
- Go for the main meal and platter it with rice and moong dal with a dash of ghee spiced with garlic, turmeric, asafoetida, and ajwain.
- Always prefer warm and cooked foods over stale foods.
- End it with a glass of buttermilk processes with some curry leaves, garlic, and pepper
Vata Body Type
Foods to be included: Ghee, Milk, Egg, Apple, Banana, Berries, Whole wheat, moong dal, Fish, leafy vegetables, beans, etc.
Foods to be avoided: Sour fruits, pears, dry fruits, pomegranates, lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes, bitter gourd, buckwheat, barley, millet, corn, packed foods, and white sugar.
Pitta Body Type
Foods to be included: Green vegetables, green beans, broccoli, peas, cucumber, potatoes, cabbage, mushrooms, lettuce, barley, rice, wheat
Foods to be avoided: Pickles, spicy foods, aubergines, garlic, radishes, tomatoes, onions, corn, etc.
Kapha Body Type
Foods to be avoided: Cucumbers, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, white rice, wheat, butter, all kinds of sugar, etc.
Foods to be included: Apples, apricots, berries, pears, dried fruit, pomegranates, cherries, mangos, peaches, cranberries, raisins, aubergines, lettuce, broccoli, peas, fennel, carrots, garlic, cabbage, peppers, mushrooms, radishes, beetroot, asparagus, bean sprouts, onions, millets, etc.
Tips for Healthy Lunch according to Ayurveda
- The right quantity of food at the proper time
- Let Lunch be the biggest meal of the day.
- Kindle your digestive fire with some sweets before you begin
- Consider your body type and disease condition before you platter your Lunch.
- Replace curd with buttermilk
- Do not drink water in between
- Make sure to eat all of your meals.
- Avoid wrong food combinations, especially the modern-day mix of meat with curd, grilled meat, honey glazed food substances, and it will cost your life as it may be the subtle reason for most lifestyle disorders, including hemorrhoids, infertility, skin diseases, etc.
Conclusion
A healthy lunch is the key to a healthy life and is possible with your keen attempts. So let’s make the change, ditch those wrong lunch ideas, and follow the teachings of this holistic science.
Take care, and Stay fit! Stay healthy! Please note, if you are on Ayurvedic treatment for any disease please take advice before planning your lunch.
