by Om Swami
In this chapter, I’m sharing with you the fundamentals of eating or the ‘eating sense’ as I call it. It’s the common sense way of eating your food. Regardless of your dietary preferences, even if you are a hard-core non-vegetarian, if you follow the principles I share with you here, you will feel fitter, healthier and happier.
Eating is not just about what you eat. What you eat matters, but how you eat matters a lot more. Eating your food is not an act but an art, a discipline, a science – even a framework with several elements – that influences how your body and mind process and absorb what you eat. Some people find it incredibly hard to make changes to their diet. Some so love their meat or fried foods, and for many others it is not possible to change their dietary habits because of social expectations or religious strictures. And that’s okay. It’s not the best scenario, but we can work with it.
Nothing is absolutely bad or absolutely good. Clearly, there are millions of healthy meat eaters. I have known many who even consumed alcohol and ate meat every day, yet lived well into their eighties. Much depends on your state of mind. If you are the worrying type or mostly stressed, even a cucumber can do you harm. You can’t help being the worrying or the stressed type, you may say. And that’s okay too as long as you follow the eating sense. It will help you feel lighter and healthier. You’ll sleep better and you’ll wake up fresh.
THREE TYPES OF EATERS
Think of eating as a ritual. You sit down, your food is on the table, you ready yourself to perform the ritual, you start eating and you finish a little while later. Not everyone eats their food in the same manner, however. Chewing your food well is one of the most important aspects of the eating sense. When it comes to the ritual of eating, there are mostly three types of people: those who eat quickly and barely chew their food, those who eat at a moderate pace and chew their food well, and those who eat rather slowly. The eating styles of these three types may be described as follows.
The Dog
The animals who have always had to compete and contend for their food generally eat quickly. They are in a rush, because they are worried that someone may wrest their meal from them, interrupt them or stave them off.
The dog is a fast eater. If you observe a dog eating food, you’ll realize that he’s rarely eating in peace. He’s constantly watching in ten directions while he’s eating. He is worried; it is his natural disposition. Long before they were tamed, dogs, like packs of wolves, had to hunt their food and eat it before other powerful animals could steal it from them. They were not digesting their food, and the length of their intestine afforded them this luxury.
They are comfortable being restless and alert all the time. In fact, they are expected to be that way. They must wake up at the slightest noise. But human beings need rest and peace. We need some time off – mentally and physically.
This first type of eater is a fast eater and he is comparable to a dog. If you eat food in a rushed manner without chewing it, you are likely to have indigestion. Many people I meet are not even aware that they have indigestion. Reflux or acidity are not the only signs of indigestion. When your food sits in your abdomen for any more than three hours, you’re suffering from indigestion. Ayurveda states that ninety-five per cent of ailments in the human body arise from the stomach. Not chewing your food well is the leading cause of all major ailments in the body including, but not limited to, diabetes, blood pressure and irregular bowel movements. You also may tend to overeat, which could lead to obesity as well.
If a person eats too fast, his stomach is always strained. The job that should have been done by the hard teeth is being done by the soft intestine. Your stomach is designed to bake and not grind; it’s an oven, not a blender. The teeth are designed to bite and chew. When your stomach has to digest larger bits and chunks of food, undigested food remains in it for much longer. Your body has to secrete more enzymes to digest that food. It makes your internal environment highly acidic. It makes you lethargic, even fatigued. Undigested food creates toxins in your system; it is the primary cause of indigestion, migraine and heaviness. Sleep is supposed to freshen and rejuvenate you, but people who eat food quickly tend to wake up tired.
The Lion
Turn on the Discovery Channel and watch a pride of lions going for a kill and then eating it. Even when hunting, there’s a certain grace in their motion; there are no haphazard movements. While eating, they eat as if they are savouring every bite. They are not stressed because, unlike other carnivores, no one can snatch a meal from them. They take their time while feasting on their game. Those who eat like lions are the finest eaters. They consume their food at a moderate pace and chew their food well.
The Cow
Countless times in the Himalayan villages, I had the opportunity to observe cows grazing. Numerous times I saw the goats and sheep grazing too fast. Their tiny, beautiful mouths would pluck the grass in short and swift movements. But never once did I see a cow rushing to either graze or ruminate. They took their time – they took too much time, in fact. Taking too much time to eat is not good for us humans.
The digestive systems of those who eat very slowly have to work hard, like the cows, because most of their food is cold by the time it gets to their stomach. When food is below room temperature, your body has to heat up that food in order to break it down. It is important to note that eating slowly does not necessarily mean one is chewing one’s food well. Many eat slowly because they are doing something else while they are eating: they may be reading, watching television, talking on the phone or working on the computer, etc.
You can only eat your food at the right speed if you are focussing on the food while you are eating. If you are doing any other activity while dining, it is not possible to maintain a healthy pace of eating and chew your food properly. Most people are not unhealthy because they are eating the wrong food. They are unwell because they are not eating it properly. Maintain a steady pace while eating – neither too fast nor too slow – and see your health improve by the day.
FIVE ASPECTS OF THE EATING SENSE
How you eat is an art. Each one of us practises it differently. You may have seen people who work stressful jobs and have challenges at home eat all sorts of stuff, yet maintain good health. If one is cheerful, carefree or contented, the role of diet loses much of its significance, because such people can digest practically anything. Due to their fine mental health, their bodies remain fit too. A good sense of eating has five aspects, namely mindfulness, water, quantity, gratitude and time. Let me elaborate.
Mindfulness
Most people overeat without realizing they are eating more than they should. The easiest way to know how much you should eat is to eat mindfully. Your body will tell you when it’s had enough. To absorb the living energy of your food, mindfulness in your eating is essential. Mindfulness requires focussing on your food while you are eating it: savouring every bite, every morsel. Don’t watch television, do any work or read while you are eating. In an ideal world, you shouldn’t be holding any conversations, either. These are all distractions. Mindless eating leads to either eating too quickly or too slowly. If you eat mindfully and only eat when you are eating, you can almost never overeat, and you get the most from your food.
You can test this theory any day. Just go to your favourite restaurant on your own and order a meal. You will find yourself eating less than usual. This is because you are not holding a conversation while eating – you are simply focussing on your meal. Eating mindfully allows your mind to gain the most out of the food.
The second most important dimension of mindful eating is chewing your food well. Aim to be the lion – not in the selection of your food but in your manner of eating. Chewing well not only makes it easy on your stomach, it also helps you digest the food faster and actually makes the food more nutritious. When you chew food, the enzymes in saliva get mixed with the food. The more you chew, the more enzymes get mixed. When enzyme-rich, well- c
hewed food goes into your belly, your stomach processes it effortlessly. The food gets digested quickly and the body remains free of acids and toxins.
To those who can’t give up their unhealthy diet, my only recommendation is to chew your food extremely well. Classical scriptures say that water should be eaten and food should be drunk. It means that whenever you are drinking water, you mustn’t gulp it down. Take it sip by sip. And when eating, chew your food so well that it almost becomes liquid. The average human being has thirty-two teeth, so chew each bite a minimum of thirty-two times. Anyone chewing his food well is bound to be free of most physical ailments.
Water
More than 2300 years ago, India produced a brilliant mind: Chanakya. A superb economist and a philosopher, Chanakya also touched upon physical well-being in his works. He made a remarkable observation on water: ‘When water is consumed half an hour before eating a meal, it is like holy nectar. When one drinks water during the meal, it works more like medicine. But drink it immediately after the meal, and it works as if poison.’ The medical foresight in his statement is profound.
For centuries, modern science believed in drinking water immediately after a meal so that the food was washed down with a proper amount of water. This view is no longer valid, because research has long established that water ingested immediately after a meal leads to dilution of the gastric juices, causing indigestion. It creates an unnecessary burden on the liver and pancreas to secrete more enzymes.
When we drink water around twenty minutes before eating our food, it properly prepares the stomach. It activates the digestive enzymes, which better prepares the body to produce ample saliva and aids in more efficient and faster digestion. During the meal, it does no great harm, but gives no great benefit either. It is like medicine in the sense that it may act like a tonic by liquefying your meal in the stomach, thereby enabling better digestion. Immediately after food, though, it is harmful. It is like pouring icy water on a small campfire. If you drink water when your stomach is in the process of breaking down large chunks of your solid meal, it immediately dilutes the digestive enzymes. Your body has to work harder and longer to digest the food. And the colder the water, the greater the time it takes for food to digest.
Quantity
There can be no definitive one-size-fits-all guide on how much one should eat. Nevertheless, there are guidelines in Ayurveda. It states that you should eat in the one-third: one-third: one-third ratio. This means that one-third of your diet should be solid, one-third should be liquid and one third should be left in the stomach for air. The view in later texts was changed to half: one-fourth: one-fourth, meaning two parts of food, one part of water and one part of air.
It is important to leave one part for air so there is room to churn, mix, break down and digest the food. Think of a washing machine that is filled to the brim with clothes. The clothes won’t wash well; you have to give them room to spin and churn. The same goes for your diet. Never eat to the full extent of your appetite. Always leave some room in your stomach.
According to modern science, hunger and satiety are based on the blood sugar levels. When the blood sugar level drops below a certain point, it creates the desire to consume food. When we consume food, gastric dilatation and increasing sugar levels tell us to stop. But when we eat unwholesome or processed foods, or when we eat quickly, by the time the brain realizes it is time to stop, we may already have eaten an excessive amount.
One of the remarkable qualities of wholesome foods (foods that are naturally nutritious), especially those rich in fat and protein, is that you cannot overeat them. You can over-drink sugary, fizzy, soft drinks but you cannot over- drink milk, for example. Your body knows how to break down natural foods, and it will tell you when it has had enough. If you practise mindful eating, you learn to listen to your body much better, and your body always tells you when to stop.
Gratitude
This may sound out of place, but never underestimate the importance of saying grace and expressing your gratitude before you start your meal. The Vedic view takes it even further. In the Vedas food is called God and God is food. The process of eating is considered a sacred ritual. It has been called yajna (sacred fire offerings). The digestive fire is the sacred fire burning in the pit of your stomach; each bite of food is an oblation and each sip of drink is a libation. This is in the temple of your body, at the altar of your soul. When you eat with this sentiment, food simply cannot harm you. From the most profound philosophical perspective, you befriend millions of micro-organisms in the food by eating like this; they enter your body to nurture you, nourish you and strengthen you.
In olden times in India, it was considered disrespectful and unhealthy to eat while sitting at the table. People would spread a thin mat and sit down on the floor. This was done out of gratitude: ‘It is from the earth we have procured the food, so let’s be in touch with the ground while partaking of its gifts.’ They would set aside multiple bites of food for other beings in creation before eating the first one themselves. This was to thank the divine forces and to do their part of goodness.
Five grasas (mouthfuls) of offerings were set aside by every person – one each for the cow, the ancestors, a bird, a dog and another human being. Nature grows and thrives on the principle of sharing. Not only was grace said just before having food, often a meal was preceded by daily fire offerings or prayers. People would wake up, freshen up, bathe, offer water to the sun (I’ll cover this bit later) and chant the Vedic mantras or say their daily prayers.
This instilled humility and calmness in them. It brought them in touch with the light within; it prepared their bodies and minds for food. Calm minds and bodies then extracted every vestige of nutrition and nourishment from the food they ate. Millions of people still follow this tradition in India. In the last decade or so, I don’t remember any time I had food without offering it to the Divine first. It makes you feel complete.
Here’s the simple practice: sit down at the table. Take a few deep breaths. Remind yourself that you work hard and do most things so you may enjoy a square meal. And, now that you have the meal in front of you, it’s time to savour every bite. Thank God or nature or the universe for providing you with food. There are hundreds of millions of people on our planet who go to bed hungry every night. Remind yourself how lucky you are. Take a couple of sips of water. Pacify your body and your breathing. Just imagine you are doing fire offerings to the divine digestive fire in your stomach. Imagine that every morsel is a part of nature and that you are about to absorb this in you. Eat slowly, chewing every bite – enjoy the rasa in every morsel. This doesn’t take more time; it simply takes awareness.
Time
Knowing when to eat is the greatest knowledge you can have when it comes to food. All Ayurvedic, yogic, tantric and other Vedic scriptures are in complete agreement regarding the best time to eat food. The morning mealtime may vary from person to person depending on their routine, but they strongly recommend having your dinner before sunset or just around that time. The consensus is to eat four hours before you go to sleep. Ideally, you should eat in the evening and then go for a walk. This is a simple recipe for a healthy life.
Eating just before going to bed is a definite way of aggravating the three doshas. Eating late or just before sleeping leads to weight gain. This is largely because your body secretes insulin when you eat just before sleeping, and insulin breaks down all nutrient groups – including proteins and carbohydrates – into triglycerides. Triglycerides are the primary type of fat found in the body and your diet.
Modern science validates this view by suggesting that the metabolism slows towards the end of the day. Even the secretion of insulin follows a pattern called the circadian rhythm. It decreases at night and is at the lowest point between midnight and 6 a.m., when it starts to rise again before hitting a peak between midday and 6 p.m.
With practice, it becomes easy to go to bed four or five hours afte
r your meal, but if you can’t fall asleep because you are hungry, you can have a light wholesome snack, like a fruit, an hour or so before going to bed. The goal is that you should go to bed with an empty stomach. If you do that, you sleep soundly, you wake up fresh, the doshas remain in balance, you don’t feel thirsty in the middle of the night and your sleep is uninterrupted. It is particularly good for all kapha disorders.
Ayurvedic texts also state that one should only eat after the previous meal has been fully digested by the body. In other words, you should only eat when you feel hungry. If you eat the right quantity and chew it well, you’ll feel like eating something every three hours. Have a light wholesome snack. If you take water at regular intervals, your body will send you the hunger signal at just the right time. It is not prudent to stay hungry for long periods, because your body starts to use your natural energy reserves, and then when food hits your abdomen, the excess release of energy is converted into fat.
Irregular mealtimes are a great contributor to obesity. It is equally damaging for your health to keep stuffing yourself when you already have food in your stomach. Yogic texts state that any good food digests completely within four hours at the most, no matter how sedentary your lifestyle is. If you don’t feel hungry four hours after your previous meal, the chances are that the food is not digested yet. And when your food is not digested four hours after it has been eaten, it is most definitely producing toxins in your body.
SEASONS AND DIET
Your body undergoes an inner transformation when the seasons are changing. Your immune system is weak at these times. It takes time for the body to adjust. This is why during spring and just before the onset of winter, seasonal allergies are at their worst. If you enter a season healthy, you are more likely to remain healthy throughout the season. And this isn’t just true for physical health – it is also true for mental health. If you start a season in a depressed mood, you are likely to spend the next three months in melancholy.
