Dosha governs the health patterns and susceptibility to diseases of a person. 3 Dosha Vata, Pitta and Kapha are like 3 legs of a tripod on which the health is based. Any of the legs is disturbed, the health gets imbalanced. In every person, there is a constitution based on the 3 Dosha, which is also called the Prakruti or the health pattern of the person. Prakruti depends on the natural tendency of Dosha in the person. There are total 10 kinds of Prakruti depending on the combination of the 3 Dosha. More about Dosha
The Prakruti is made of 3 Dosha in a hierarchy according to their importance in the body; the most prominent, lesser and the least effective Dosha, according to the extent of the effect they have on overall constitution respectively. Every person is born with his Prakruti.
Your health is governed by your constitution, your Prakriti!
Imagine a bowl full of matter which you are carrying and you have to prevent the matter from falling, evaporating or freezing. Some substances will have a tendency to fall, some will evaporate and some might freeze in the same environment. So first you need to know which type your matter is and then you need to have different arrangements accordingly to preserve it.
Water in the bowl will have a tendency to spill and fall, so you need to cover the pot and walk slowly (Vata). Consider petrol, it will evaporate or even catch fire so you need a cooler temperature for it (Pitta). If the substance freezes or has a tendency to solidify, then it is very convenient. It is most stable and easy to carry thing (Kapha). Kaphaj people, if they take good care of their body, are considered to be the healthiest people.
Prakriti decides the way your body functions in normal conditions.
Prakruti also decides the ailments that you can be more prone to (but unfortunately it does not decide a disease that you will never catch, that is why Dosha are called so. Dosha means the one which spoils…). Also, the symptoms of the same disease will be different and will have different magnitude according to individual Prakruti.
For example, a person with Vata Prakruti will be more prone to itching; another person with Pitta Prakruti will be prone to more swelling or burning sensation in the same medical condition. Likewise, a person with Kapha Prakruti can feel heaviness or numbness.
Prakruti with the predominance of Vata is called Vataj, vice versa Pittaj and Kaphaj Prakruti.
10 Prakruti types are
Vata
Pitta
Kapha
Vata Pitta
Vata Kapha
Pitta Vata
Pitta Kapha
Kapha Vata
Kapha Pitta
Vata Pitta Kaphaj
There are certain features that are characteristic to each Prakruti according to the Dosha governing it.
It is important to know your Prakriti just like your blood group. Prakriti is the single most important decisive factor in all kinds of Ayurvedic treatments.
Ayurvedic lifestyle prevent all diseases. It can also bring significant improvements in the frequency and intensity of all kinds of disorders. In fact, you don’t need to buy any medicines to improve your digestion, you can improve it just by changing the way you eat and live!
Go Slow
Before we look at the ideal lifestyle, it is essential to note that Ayurveda suggests gradual changes. If you are new to Ayurveda, you should implement lifestyle changes at a maximum speed of one change per day. Therefore, do not try to implement all the changes at the same time.
All lifestyle changes should come at a moderate speed. This will ensure enough time for the body to adjust and prevent any physiological shock. For example, if you go to sleep at 1 am, start by going to bed at 12.30 am and gradually reduce by 5 to 20 minutes each day according to convenience.
If you try to implement all the changes at the same time, it might disturb the metabolic momentum of your body. So, as you have to slow down the speed of your car before taking a turn, you must slow down before redirecting your physiology. Otherwise, the body and the mind might revolt, and the entire effort might end up in a failure.
Go your way
But it is important to start. Therefore, if you feel intimidated by the first recommendation, change the sequence of implementation. So, you can choose any change that looks practical and applicable. For example, it is not possible to go to sleep early if you work on a night shift. You cannot change that without a meaningful life declutter like dumping your job!!! But, there are other changes that you can quickly implement, like meditating 5 min whenever you sleep, that’s doable! Do what’s doable, and leave the rest. I have made an exhaustive list, but I confess that I am not able to follow all the rules myself.
Sometimes, times are tough. We fail to make changes and that’s a toll on the enthusiasm to change. However, don’t quit! instead take a break. I am not able to follow all the rules many times, but I have made peace with it. And now I don’t count the number of times I failed, but the number of times I decided to get up, yes. Take the slip and make it flip!
No Result from Herbal Remedies? Watch this….
Worship the fire
These are the primary health protocols that each person, whether healthy or sick, must strive to follow. According to Ayurveda, Agni or digestive fire is the core of entire metabolism. And for permanent relief from any disorder, we must preserve this fire that burns the evil and nourishes the good!
Agni or the digestive fire is the source of life according to Ayurveda. It is the basic process that converts the food into nutrition absorb-able by the body. A vitiated digestive process is like bad cooking. You cannot consume badly cooked food, and even if you do, you will fall sick. Likewise, the body parts are not able to consume the low-grade nutritional juice prepared by a bad digestion. This leaves the sequential body physiology (building up or repair of the body tissues etc) either weak or distorted.
Improper digestion is the root cause of all evil in the body. However, it is also the most common problem today. It is so common that most of us have stopped considering it as a problem. But if ignored for a long time, improper digestion hordes the body with toxins weakens the natural immunity and puts up a big invitation board for all kinds of diseases!
Today, nutritional supplements are a routine for most of us. This is so because the food alone fails to provide adequate nutrition to the body. However, Ayurveda believes that most of the times, the body is not able to digest the food that we eat. Such digestion is like a bad student. No matter what all resources(health supplements) you provide to him, a bad student will not absorb anything! Therefore if you do not have a good digestion, no amount of nutritional supplements will be able to help you keep yourself healthy!
Therefore, it is indispensable to have a good digestion in order to prevent diseases. And, obviously, the key to ultimate health is a Great Digestion!
So in this post, we are going to discuss some of the most basic dietary and lifestyle habits that preserve and strengthen our digestive system –
Usha paan – the time of union between the night and the day. This time is called Brahma muhurat. We should drink 2-4 glasses of warm/ normal water right after waking up.
Drinking water early morning helps to cleanse the intestines and stimulate digestion.
Have meals at one fixed time or a fixed range of time every day. It helps the body to adjust its bio clock accordingly and prepare more efficiently for the expected digestion.
10 am to 4 pm is the ideal range of time to consume heavy food (Grains, Fats, Oils, Non-Vegetarian Food, Spicy Food)
Before 10 am and after 4 pm, ideally an average adult (25 years+) should have light meals (milk, soups, fruits, vegetables, puffed grains)
Avoid eating heavy food immediately after a heavy workout or after a long exposure to the sun.
Avoid eating at all, when in extreme grief, happiness, fright, anger, anxiety or stress.
Avoid eating in between the meals. This habit disperses the digestive juices and hinders effective digestion.
Avoid having heavy, oily, spicy meals, grains after sunset if possible. Sun has incredible influence on the rate of metabolism and thus on digestion.
Avoid eating without proper hunger.
Avoid eating will walking or standing. Try always to sit and eat. Being in a stationary position helps you to focus better on the food, the flavours and the aroma!
Start a meal with an appetizer if you have to eat without hunger. Avoid eating the heavy, oily and large amount of food, when eating without hunger.
If you don’t have a handy appetizer, consume a tsp of black pepper with honey/ jaggery/ plain or raw/ dried ginger flakes with salt right before the meals.
If you are very hungry, follow this sequence to eat food- sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent.
When you are extremely hungry, sweet (oily/heavy)food will provide immediate energy.
Besides sweet food will get a good amount of digestive juices for proper digestion.
After that sour food will restimulate the taste buds and hunger.
Next salty food will promote digestion when the stomach is full of sweet and sour food.
All other taste(bitter and pungent) also promote digestion by increasing the blood supply to the stomach.
At the end of the meal, astringent helps to suppress hunger.
Astringent taste also helps to clean the mouth and prevent tooth decay, mouth ulcers, bleeding or weak gums.
Normally people tend to eat sweets at the end of the meal. The sweetness that lingers in the mouth after a meal promotes tooth decay and foul smell.
This sequence is a normal guideline and not a strict rule.
Always try to consume local seasonal produce like fruits and vegetables. This helps the body to adjust better to the local climate.
If you have to drink water before the meal, also consume a tsp of black pepper along with it (only if you have chronic indigestion).
Drinking a small amount of water (50-100 ml) in the middle of the meal is ideal for digestion. It helps to soften and dilute the food particles.
Avoid drinking an excess amount of water after the meals. It brings down the optimal temperature required for digestion and retards the digestive process.
If you have chronic acidity, you can switch water with buttermilk.
Drinking buttermilk during or after the meal helps to relieve acidity, bloating and constipation.
Please ensure that the buttermilk is always normal temperature and not chilled.
If you have sluggish digestion (Kapha dominant Prakriti), you can try a small amount of alcohol or Ayurvedic Asava/Arishta preparations (10 ml diluted with water) before the meals.
If you have sluggish digestion (Vata dominant Prakriti), avoid alcohol without medical advice, as it might cause bloating and flatulence.
If you have chronic indigestion (Vata dominant Prakriti), swallow 2-3 whole garlic buds after the meals.
Ideal Sleep Protocol
Proper sleep is indispensable for good digestion. Therefore avoid excessively sugary food after sunset. Excess sugar in the blood restimulates the body and delays the sleep.
Avoid tea or coffee consumption after sunset.
Avoid eating immediately after waking up from a sleep(10-15 mins), unless truly hungry.
Do not go to sleep immediately after any meal.
According to Ayurveda, sleep slows the rate of metabolism and lowers the body temperature. This impedes the rate and quality of digestion as the ideal temperature required for perfect digestion is lost!
After dinner, walk for 100 steps before going to sleep or rest.
Walking helps to increase blood circulation and provides some extra body heat to stimulate nighttime digestion.
Avoid mid-night snacks. If hungry in the middle of the night, consume milk/ soups.
This is the indicative sleep protocol for daily sleep. However, sleep patterns should change according to the seasons for a healthy digestion!
A cough is basically an irritation in the throat because of phlegm or any other irritant. Almost all the cough syrups present in the market contain alcohol. They might make you drowsy on a working day!
According to Ayurveda, cough is caused by vitiation or increase in Kapha dosha.
For a better understanding of Kapha dosha, please visit the following links –
During the seasonal change, the body tries to adjust its physiology according to the external environment. These seasonal changes stress the body metabolism and the result is a seasonal disorder like fever, cold or a cough! For a better understanding of how the seasons can cause a cough, please visit the following link –
However, if you still catch a bad cold or a cough, here are some Ayurvedic home remedies which can be easily prepared and consumed for instant cough relief. These remedies are safe for use in the cases of a chronic cough as well.
There are two kinds of a cough – wet and dry. Different people face different intensity and duration of a cough, that may linger long after the fever or the flu is gone. It all depends on the Prakrati or the innate body temperament of the individual.
Normally, the cough starts with the wet cough and then may become a dry cough. A dry cough may or may not take a long time to get cured. The following remedies for wet cough are preventive in nature. They prevent the conversion of wet cough to a dry cough. The herbs used in these remedies also help to boost the immunity and prevent frequent reoccurrence of the seasonal flu.
Wet Cough
Dissolve 10 gm of pure camphor, 10 gm black pepper, 10 gm of ginger powder and 10 gm of tampered asafoetida in ghee. Take 1/2 to 1 tsp for instant relief in wet cough.
Make a paste of 20–25 raisins and add 10 gm of black pepper and melted jaggery. Make balls of 500 mg. Consume these balls SOS for instant relief from a cough.
Roast 20 gm turmeric and 20 gm asafoetida separately till they emit a nice aroma. Add them to 100 gm of ghee. Also, add 10 gm of ginger powder. Take 1/2 to 1 tsp of wet cough.
Anti-cough decoction – Take 1 lit of water and add 10 gm of black pepper, 5 gm ginger powder, and 10 gm turmeric powder, 8–10 leaves of Tulsi and mint, 2–3 cardamom (optional), 20 gm of jaggery and boil the mixture till half of it evaporates.
Dry Cough
Melt 100 gm of jaggery and add powder of 8–10 black pepper in it. Make small balls of approximately 500 mg each. If you are an Ayurveda fan prone to a chronic cough, you can store these homemade tablets for minimum 1 month for instant cough relief. This remedy is very beneficial for all 3 kinds of body types.
Temper 100 gm of ghee (Indian butter) with 25 gm of asafoetida. Cool the preparation and add 10 gm of black pepper. Add a small amount of melted jaggery to make it palatable if required. Take 5–10 gm of this mixture for instant relief from a cough. You can store it for about a year if used carefully with a clean spoon.
Mix Honey and ginger juice, each 1 tsp and consume for instant dry cough relief.
Anti-cough milk – Take 1 lit of skimmed milk and add 10 gm black pepper, 5 gm of ginger powder / 10 gm of ginger flakes, 20 gm turmeric, 8–10 Tulsi leaves, 20 gm jaggery and 1 tsp of ghee. Boil the mixture till only 500 ml of it remains. Drink this hot milk before bed and avoid eating or drinking anything after it.
Bhoomi amla or country gooseberry is a very commonly found plant. It has amazing results against a cough. Boil 50 gm of Bhoomi amla paste (all parts), 10 gm of black pepper and 20 gm of jaggery in 500 gm of water. Drink the hot decoction for instant relief from wet cough. It also works for a Dry cough when added 1 tsp of ghee.
Also, find some OTC Ayurvedic medicines that can be safely used for a chronic or acute cough. However, it is important to consult a trained physician before using any of these medicines.
Cough is an effort of the body to get rid of phlegm or foreign irritants sticking to the internal parts of throat.
Sometimes cough persists for a long time even after the fever or primary infection subsides. Normally it is dry cough that is the most irritating.
If you do not want to use alcohol based cough syrups because of religious preferences or if you don’t want to feel sleepy in office after using them then –
4 OTC Ayurvedic medicines for Cough
Here are 4 Ayurvedic combinations which are more effective than normal home remedies. These medicines are herb based and therefore safe to use. They can also be combined with allopathic medicines for fever or cough for holistic treatment.
All the 4 medicines discussed here are classical Ayurvedic medicine and are available over the counter (OTC) with the same name.
Eladi Vati
This medicine is esp. good for dry cough.
Apart from cough, it is extensively used in treatment of tuberculosis induced cough, hemorrhage, haemoptysis (coughing up blood), fever, vomiting, fainting, hoarseness.
Dosage: 2-3 tabs at one time; 2-3 times in a day, to be sucked or taken with warm milk / water.
Best suited for pitta prakrati people.
Kapuradi Vati
This is mainly used for wet cough.
Best suited for pitta and Kapha Prakrati.
The main ingredient Kapur or camphor is very beneficial for pitta and kapha.
Dosage : same as Eladi vati
Lavangadi Vati
This medicine is effective for both wet and dry cough. Very effective for vata, Kapha.
It is very helpful to stop a cough attack.
It losses the sticky phlegm in case of cough which continues for long time and ejects small pieces of yellow of phlegm.
It relieves cough induced chest pain and head ache.
Dosage: same as Eladi vati
Dadimadi vati
This medicine has very good results in chronic cough. The main ingredient is Dadim/ Anar/ pomegranate.
Other ingredients are
Anardana
Gur
Sauth
Pippali
Marich
Apart from cough, this medicine is also helpful in following disorders.
Vata Dosha is vitiated in Rainy season. Imagine a heated pan suddenly sprinkled with water! A lot of vapor will be formed. Also, the metal continuously exposed to sudden drastic changes in temperature will erode at a faster rate (faster aging). Same phenomenon happens to our body, only in a more complicated physiological manner. Imagine that you are driving your car on a angular mountain road. If you are driving your car at a speed of 100 km, there is very low possibility that you will be able to suddenly change the direction at a sharp turn, without skidding . The momentum of the car prevents sudden change in direction. Body metabolism also has its momentum. It is in cooling mode during Summer. Suddenly it is ordered to change its functioning because of sudden temperature drop due to rains. The intertia of momentum is the vitiation of Vata Dosha. It causes confusion in the body and thus the diseases.
However gradual cooling of the pan instead, will avoid the effervescence as well as the damage. Similarly a gradual food and lifestyle change is required to prevent damage to the body from seasonal changes. The Ayurvedic preventive system for seasonal change is called Ritucharya. In order to prevent skidding into diseases due to seasonal change, one must use the brakes of Ritucharya
Avoid rigorous exercises and opt for light and easy exercises.
Do not exercise till you start feeling tired.
Prefer to avoid excessive exercise that might make you sweat profusely.
Keep yourself properly hydrated.
Benefits
Yoga is a good option as it is not a sweat inducing exercise.
Lack of sunshine due to clouds might induce SAD related depression ( Seasonal Affective Disorder) in susceptible individuals. Yoga generates a feeling of peace and contentment.
All 5 asanas strengthen abdominal muscles, improve digestion, help to relieve gas and constipation.
With above Ritucharya tips, keep healthy and happy in this rainy season and …
During summer, body is in cooling mode. Suddenly, with the start of rains the external environment becomes cooler. But the body systems have their own intertia of momentum. They take their time to change and adjust to the external environment. The time taken to adjust to the new conditions is a ripe time for seasonal disorders. This causes Vata Dosha to becomes vitiated in Rainy season. For more details on effect of seasonal changes on dosha, please follow the below link :
The physiological shock that body receives cause seasonal joint pain, flu, body ache and a hoard of other diseases. Change in food habits and lifestyle can help prevent seasonal physiological shock to the body. This systematic change in food and lifestyle is called Ritucharya.
The food in rainy season should be vatahar or contrary to vata Dosha. I this post, I have covered two great vata reducing ingredients – Ajwain (Ajowan caraway, bishop’s weed or carom) and Methi dana (fenugreek seeds).
Ajwain
Ajwain balances vata and kapha. It increases pitta. It is an excellent spice to ease digestion, eliminate gastric trouble and bloating . It has anti spam, germicidal, antiseptic and antipyretic properties. It is a good body cleanser and helps detoxification of blood and liver.
Methi dana
Methi dana or fenugreek seed is kapha and vata balancing spice. It is known for its blood purifying effect. It also has excellent effect on heart, lower blood cholesterol and blood sugar. It is a great digestive and prevents acid reflux (heart burn) or gas trouble. It has antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti diabetic and anticancer effects. It helps relieve body pain, muscular cramps and menstrual problems.
Find below links of delicious based on these 2 ingredients.
Following vata enhancing food should be avoided during rains.
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Brinjal
Green vegetables
Green peas
One should use good amount of asafoetida, ginger, garlic, methi, ajwain, mustard oil, ghee, garam masala ingredients ( tejpatta, tejphol, etc.) if using the above vegetables.
Following acidic food items should be minimized in diet to avoid joint pain, body pain etc.
I was watching documentary on subprime crises “The Inside Job” yesterday. The kind of high level collaborated corruption that explains subprime crises is enough to shake one’s belief in democracy itself. A communist regime probably would have at least contained the excessive salaries of the high level employees. All ideologies have their negatives and positives. Even monarchy would be better, in context of a noble king.
Ideologies are cultivated by social needs and are very successful in one set of conditions. Democracy is successful when people are well-informed and powerful, media is not corrupt. Even communism is successful when public distribution of wealth is highly unequal in society, like it is today in many democracies.
Context is the key, everything is wrong or right according to its context. Heavy rains are great for area under drought, but might bring floods in low lying lands. Probably we should change ideology also once in 20 years’ time, to balance the society in changing phases of development.
But ideologies have their own inertia. Once started, they generate social momentum, a force difficult to stop. They have their patrons, people who believe that there can be nothing better than one particular ideology. But the conditions keep changing, social requirements keep changing. With changing situations, such ideology is met with a crash; it fails because the condition in which it was useful no longer exists and people refuse to change it. Finally, there is a painful transition or improvement in the ideology to form something different and more appropriate for the present context.
Ideologies are inherently misbalancing factors. They are like the steering wheel, which has to be turned manually according to the direction of the road. You cannot follow a steering wheel, you have to direct it. A guided change in ideology led by capable and wise social leaders might prevent the injustice and unrest in society.
Dosha are like ideologies. Dosha is a system which runs the body, just like ideologies run societies. There are 3 different types of Dosha according to Ayurveda – Vata, Pitta and Kapha. They have their distinctive properties and functions, different and contradictory of each other.
Body needs cooling in summer, protection from infection in rains and heating in winters. As the season changes, body requirements also change. The existing dosha system becomes ineffective because it was tuned according to previous season.
Dosha need to adjust their functions according to different seasons.They are fit for a specific function in a given set of conditions. However, they are called Dosha (meaning – Fault) because they have a tendency to create imbalance. They too have their inertia of momentum. Once a dosha starts operating it generates momentum which cannot be brought to a standstill suddenly without consequences. The body receives a physiological jolt when the dosha come to a halt, just like the way it receives a physical jolt when a bus comes to a sudden halt. Physical jerk may cause injuries, physiological jolt causes seasonal diseases. Aging process is initiated as the sum total effects of constant seasonal shocks.
Few people saw the subprime crises coming. They warned about the impending danger. The subprime crisis was like the last stage of the disease, in which the system completely collapsed. It could have been avoided if the reckless firms and markets were regulated.
Ritucharya has a similar concept. If the body is prepared for the changing season by changing food lifestyle etc., lots of pathological crises can be avoided in every season.
Recently I came across a patient who is suffering from hernia. She is in early 30s and got operated for Intestinal Hernia once. During the surgical procedure, parts of her intestine were removed. After the procedure, she always feels nauseated and is hardly able to eat anything. Still she gained weight at an incredible rate, around 20 kg in 8 months’ time. Now she is massively overweight. Unfortunately, she is faced with another incident of hernia. But because of her weight and improper BMI, she cannot get operated safely. Now she is trying to find other options.
What are we trying to treat? Half of the diseases treated produce another set of diseases, either as side effects or complications. Treatment of disease is mostly an attempt to suppress symptoms or cut out the trouble making organ. Ayurvedic approach however has a positive primary aim – maintenance of health. Treatment of sick comes after that. Ideally, no one should fall sick if the first aim is achieved.
Ayurvedic Treatment approach is based on the concept of return to the original state or regaining the balance. What is the fundamental reason for hernia? The outer abdominal wall and supporting structures (ligaments, tendons etc.) are not able to contain the internal mass, thus the protrusion called hernia. Even if one incident of hernia is treated, there will be more such incidents because the reason remains. Surgical treatment in most cases is inadequate. It is like the attempt to fill a leaking container. The container will never get filled till the leakage is repaired. Similarly, the disease will never be permanently cured till the root cause is eliminated. If the cause is eliminated, the abdominal wall and supporting attachments become immune to repeated Hernia. Surgical procedure is more of an emergency relief procedure than a permanent cure.
Another case that I would like to discuss is a person with pleurisy. He has very painful breathing and has gone through thoracentesis recently. He has a pipe inserted in his chest cavity which removes the excess liquid from the intermediary space between two layers of pleura (covering of lungs). The cause of his pleurisy is Lupus, which is an incurable but manageable disorder.
Pleurisy occurs due to some infection (TB, pneumonia etc.), Heart, liver or kidney disease and can be cured permanently when the cause is eliminated. For elimination of infection, the regular method is to do carpet bombing of antibiotics on the body tissues, which kills both culprit and civilian cells of the body. It creates massive damage which might take a long time to get healed. Treatment for heart, liver and kidney is either maintenance based, creates disease re-occurrence or leads to removal of the diseased organ as the final cure, but which again might create other complications.
What if the disease process itself is reversed and the organs return to normal?That is successful treatment. In case of pleurisy, the lungs stop exuding liquid, instead suck back the extra liquid, wash the intermediary space between the two layers of pleura with fast renewal of tissue fluid and regain health. Even in case of infection, what if the body cells facing infection grow stronger and are able to fight back the pathogens to elimination? No need for foreign military aid. It does more harm than benefit. What if the heart walls lose their thickness and rigidity in case of congestive heart failure and start pumping the blood again with full force? That is return to normal, to original! That is the real treatment!
Ayurveda helps the body to cure the disease. Every other approach is artificial and temporary. Let’s get back to roots because everything starts with the roots, so should the treatment.
Anyone who wants to detoxify the body should observe Ramadan. In fact, the festival coincides with Nirjala Ekadeshi of Hindus, which is a full day fast without food and water. The festival of Ramazan is ideal way to detoxify the body and coincides with the most crucial sandhikal of the year, the time of seasonal change between summer and rainy season. This is the most drastic change of the year, besides the strength of body is low during this time because of summer’s effect on the It. Lack of internal cleansing at this time is an invitation to a hound of diseases or their aggravation in the rainy season. Comparatively, the transition from winter to summer is easier because the strength of the body is at its peak.
Ramazan gives body ample time to detoxify body because of full day fasting and the long duration.
But unfortunately, the important body Cleansing function of Ramazan is rendered ineffective because of heavy food consumption by the fasting crowd at the end of the day. The body gets a physiological shock, of digestion of a heavy meal when the body metabolism is slowing down after the sunset.
Prophet Muhammad has observed that the worst thing a man can fill is his stomach. Ideally, the fasting should start with the day break with a light meal called suhoor. And at the end of the day, the fast should end with water and light food. The fast can be broken with fruit juice, dates, light food like plain rice with soup or curry. Heavy use of oil and spices in the food only eliminates the detoxification effect of the fast. Also the amount of food should be minimal, just enough to satisfy the hunger. One should not try to consume the amount of 3 meals to compensate for the missed meals.
In totality, Ramadan should be observed with a sense of abstinence and moderation, not only during the day fasting but also during the meal times.
Ascending and descending phase of fasting
Total days of fasting are approx. 30 days. Ideally every fast should have a ascending and a descending period to prevent any blow to the normal body physiology. If I am eating full meal today, which I stop suddenly tomorrow, my body will have to drastically change its metabolism to adjust to this change. Therefore any dietary change should be gradual to bring expected detoxification benefits to the body.
During Ramadan, breakfast and dinner are the only meals. Lunch is the one missed meal. The most important meal of the day is the breakfast because the body is fresh, clean and hungry (ready to digest) after the night.
The meals should be changed gradually. The first change is the lunch , therefore there should be no other change on the first day.
Gradually the dinner should be reduced to minimum, approx. 50% of the normal diet by the mid of Ramadan month. Same should be done with breakfast gradually, by reducing some amount each day.
From the 15th day , the amount of food should be increased in both meals gradually to reach the original amount in next 15 days.
This gradual phasing is like slowing down your vehicle while taking a sharp turn, and then regaining the speed. A car trying to take a sharp turn with full speed is highly vulnerable to accident. Same goes for the body.
It is said that time is a factor created by sun god. Sun divides the rotation and revolution of the earth in day, night and seasons and thus creates the factor of time, thereby also creating the factor of aging.
This is our home Earth. Imagine our home rotating as well as revolving around Sun.
When the earth is furthest from the sun then it is winter for us, and gradually as it moves towards the sun, the seasons change; spring and summer come respectively, as Earth moves closer to the sun.
When it is summer, the heat causes Earth’s water to form vapour and so the clouds. As Earth starts to move further away from Sun again, rains come as the heat to maintain the huge vapour mass (clouds) reduces.
Change of seasons is actually as simple as heating of a kettle with water. Heat (summer) produces steam, which when condensed, produces water droplets (rains) and finally the kettles cools down (winter).
Ritucharya 