Yes, it is a time to celebrate the fifth-year anniversary of Sri LankaNZ newspaper with all our heartful well wishes. I believe this is the best time for us to look back at what we have discussed in the Ayurveda view in the past few years.

We did discuss the history of Ayurveda, treatment methods and a little bit of pathology in Ayurveda. We have focused on a more Ayurveda healthy lifestyle, talking about Dinacharya/ daily routine, balanced meals/ shad rasa included meals, seasonal food, edible flowers in New Zealand and exercises/ Yoga. As those all over focused on your wellbeing we would like to suggest you find our previous articles on Sri LankaNZ Newspaper online flat form for refreshing your memory and walk along Ayurveda pathway. In this article we discuss the general things we should know, and things we should not forget while we go after healthy food.

We talk about healthy foods that help to keep us healthy. Have you ever thought about what healthy food is? We bet you believe low calorie, less fat and fiber-rich food is healthy. Is it healthy for everyone?  Do we not need nutritious food to maintain our bodies? Let’s find it.

Foods that we eat and drink supply energy for the growth and maintenance of our bodies. Without having energy from foods, we will not be able to maintain our body temperature, do physical activities, and use our brain for thinking. This energy is measured in kilojoules (kJ) or calories (kcal), with 1 kilocalorie equalling 4.2 kilojoules. Energy is generated from nutritious particles of foods such as carbohydrates, protein, fat and alcohol.

‘Nutritious food’. What does it mean?

Nutrition includes all the ingredients in your food, such as vitamins, protein, fat, and more. It’s important to eat a variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and grains, so you have what you need to grow and be healthy. Nutritious food means the food that includes all the nutrients in balance according to the nutrients level of your body. Ayurveda talks about ‘shad rasa’/six taste meal which covers this all-nutrient’s concept. Those are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Each of these tastes has specific health-giving effects. By including all six, we will be most completely nourished and satisfied. If we continuously take a few tastes only then it would lead to a nutrient imbalance in our body and lead to health problems. The six tastes also affect the doshas as follows,

Bitter: The bitter taste is found in spinach, salads, asparagus, tomatoes, coffee, unsweetened cocoa, citrus peels etc. The bitter taste decreases both kapha and pitta, but increases vata.

Pungent: The pungent taste is found in chilli peppers, red chilli, ginger, and other hot-tasting spices. The pungent taste decreases kapha, but increases pitta and vata.

Astringent: All legumes, including peanuts, beans, peas and lentils, have astringent qualities. The astringent taste decreases kapha and pitta but increases vata.

Salty: The salty taste is found in any food to which salt has been added. The salty taste increases kapha and pitta, but decreases vata.

Sour: The sour taste is found in lemons, limes, vinegar, cheese, and plums. The sour taste increases kapha and pitta, but decreases vata.

Sweet: The sweet taste is found in sugar, honey, rice, milk, cream, butter, wheat and bread. The sweet taste increases kapha but decreases pitta and vata.

You can use the above knowledge to choose foods which help you to balance Vata, Pitta and Kapha in your body that leads to wellbeing.

To maintain our body, we need to have at least the main seven groups of identified nutrients. Those are carbohydrates, protein, fats, minerals, omega 3 fatty acids and water.

Carbohydrates are the main providers of energy in our diet. Every body cell, including the brain, requires a constant supply of glucose as fuel, most of which is provided by the carbohydrates in food and drink, fruits, vegetables, bread, breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, legumes (chickpeas, lentils), milk, yoghurt, sugar.

For a healthy human body, essential minerals include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, chromium, copper, fluoride, molybdenum, manganese, and selenium. It is not a difficult task for you to find the names of foods which you can find all above nutrients.  However, dietary fiber has important roles in helping you feel full after a meal, in adding bulk to stools and preventing constipation and generally for gut health. Fibre is only found in plant-based foods such as wholegrains, lentils and fruit and vegetables. In any aspect you should be mindful  to take all the nutrients balancing the dietary requirements level of your body depending on your age, sex and current health level.

Who needs more nutrients? -Babies, children, and teenagers because they are growing rapidly. Girls and women need more nutrients as they lose blood in each month. Pregnant women who need enough nutrients for themselves and their growing baby. This is particularly true towards the end of pregnancy when the baby grows rapidly. Athletes, particularly endurance runners, need a good amount of balanced nutrients including rich protein sources as they burn more calories and need to have more strength on muscles and bone.  Always, do not forget that the basic theory for healthy food is a taking required level of nutrients to your body not exceeding or decreasing the essential amount of food and varieties.

Reference:

The New Zealand Ministry of Health Eating and Activity. Guidelineshttps: //nutritionfoundation.org.nz/ nutrition-facts/minerals/iron

Geeta Yogesh Bhatt & Dr J S Tripathi, A critical review on Ayurvedic principles of Diet & Nutrition with special reference to prevention & management of lifestyle diseases.

By Dr (Mrs.) Nadeeka S. Perera,MPA (PIM-SJP-SL), BAMS(UOC-SL), Dip. In Counselling (IOP-SL)Ayurvedic Physician, Dunedin,  New Zealand.