Indra, the god of rains, has finally showered his blessings. It’s time to enjoy the rain “ may be with a morning walk in the woods, or a long drive on empty, shiny roads, or a chat with friends over a cup of coffee on a lingering evening or it could even be shunning everything and closing yourself in a study with an interesting book. But before one opts for any of these, some precautions are a must as it’s also a time when many fall ill. The ban on fishing is thus two-fold “ to allow the fish to breed and to keep humans from consuming it. "Nature and Ayurveda go hand in hand “ they are co-related and take care of each other so well," she says.
But why do we fall ill in the monsoons? The ancient Indian way of life, Ayurveda, tells us the reason. It is during the rains that the heat accumulated and built-up in the earth during the summer is released. This heat combines with the moisture of the rain and creates a humid atmosphere. In high humidity, people tend to sweat. Hence this typical weather is described as amla-pitta in Ayurveda.
As we know, Ayurveda describes the body as having three doshas “ kapha, pitta and vata and the balance of all three is required to keep one healthy. Explaining this in scientific terms, Ayurvedic practitioners tell us that pitta (acid) in our body becomes sour and develops a flowing quality in contact with water. Though this pitta was increasing in the summer, it was dry and could not flow to various places because it didn’t have the flowing quality. During the monsoons, however, the accumulated pitta acquires that flowing quality and begins to flow to various parts of the body. There is an aggravation of pitta and by the end of the rainy season, this aggravated pitta has the potential to create acidity-related problems.
To combat this, Dr Sparsh Kanekar, an Ayurvedic practioner from the Patanjali Ayurveda Kendras at Mapusa, Ponda and Vasco, advises to adopt at pitta-pacifying regimen. “The rainy season is a very special and sensitive season where there is a chance for all the three doshas to vitiate,” she says.
The digestive capacity is very low, because the pitta which was supposed to be in the core of the body digesting the food has now acquired a liquid quality and flows to the periphery of the body. Since pitta is no longer in the core of the body, there is not enough pitta to digest the food that we eat. “It is for this reason that our diet should be easily digestible, light, cooling and pitta pacifying in this season,” says Dr Sparsh, adding, "Eat stuff that helps increase the digestive fire (jatharagni). Spices like pepper, ginger, etc should be consumed. Warm soups can give a warming effect and sour, salty tastes with light and easily digestible food with appropriate amount of fat is recommended."
Consume foods that act as medicines. Add homemade herbal concoctions to your diet like kashai “ pudina, tulsi, ganjan, ajwain, etc boiled together to stimulate the appetite. Sweet dishes like patoleo, made of coconut, rice and jaggery and cooked in turmeric leaves are also good for health.
July to September is the time to consume previous season’s grains and pulses (puran dhanye). A glass of mastu (water of curds) with half a teaspoon full of panchkool churn is good for anybody. A teaspoonful of honey with water is essentially good and beverages made of ragi or corn flour mixed with either honey or jaggery are also good for health. Leafy vegetables like fenugreek, dill (shepu), Cassia tora (taikilo), red amaranthus (tambdi bhaji), radish and spinach also have a cleansing effect on the digestive system.
For fish-loving Goans, Dr Sparsh has a solution “ dry fish. “During the monsoon, one should not consume fresh fish. Instead, dried and salted flesh can be consumed. Why? According to Ayurveda, our body has fire (agni) in it to digest food. If a fresh fish is thrown on the fire, it will create smoke and put the fire off. But dry fish is easily burned (digested). Drinking cool drinks before meal times also has a similar killing effect on the digestive fire. So when you are hungry never drink water, it will kill your hunger.”
Endorsing this is Dr Suraj Kanekar, a general physician and the chief of Patanjali Yog Samiti’s Goa chapter, “True, our appetite is aroused by the flavours, colours and looks but one must only consume food that is nutritious."
Pointing out that our rishis have done tremendous work on the well-being of humans, he says, “The only thing we have to do is to follow their instructions and walk the right path." One must realise that when we feel hungry, it is because of the gastric juices in the stomach and in Ayurveda this is called jatharagni (jathar is liver and fire is agni) which gives a feeling of hunger and burning sensation in the stomach. “One must drink water one-and-half hour before having meals and one hour after having meals. Small sips of water while eating is okay. Too much of water kills the hunger,” admits Dr Kanekar, adding, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. This is a great way to remember how to eat throughout the day."
So begin your mornings with a full, balanced and healthy diet of local, seasonal fruits, sprout salads, idlis or chapattis, with or without tea. Remember, the human body is vegetarian in nature, so follow nature to maintain a healthy body. This is a prescription for all seasons.
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The severity of changes in climate act in a similar fashion on every human being, irrespective of age, so it may affect the elderly, weak and kids a little more, but the overall response of human body to this weather would be the same. Since the digestive capacity is weak during the monsoons, one should have food in smaller quantities.
The best time to have breakfast during any season is between 7.30-9 am, lunch between 12.30 to 1.30 pm and night between 7-9 pm. Eat half of what you had for lunch and one third for dinner. Never eat stored, stale, overcooked, double cooked or pressure cooked food and food cooked in aluminum vessels.
While you eat make sure that 60 per cent of your stomach should be utilised for solid food, 20 per cent for liquid food and leave 20 per cent empty for gas. This helps in proper churning of the food in the stomach. If you overeat, the food touches the epigastrium / oesophageal entrance of the stomach and we feel as if the food is near the throat. We call it acidity or heart burning which is very common in the rainy season.
