Sattvic Way of Eating

Kankalamalini

What Is The Best Time To Eat?

—Ayurveda says that in our manipuraka region (navel region) we have what is known as digestive fire (jatara agni). This jatara agni is closely related to the sun. When the sun is out, it means your digestion is functioning at its optimum. Always aim to eat your meals between sunrise and sunset (not before or after). Eat light, sattvic and pure foods for breakfast – fresh squeezed juice, fresh fruit etc. —Our jatara agni is at is strongest when the sun is at its highest in the sky (at approximately 1pm). It is best to eat our largest meal during 12pm and 2pm. The evening meal should again be light and best eaten before the sun goes down for the day.

How To Eat?

Devote at least half and hour to eat and digest each meal. Remember that one fourth of your food is taken through the eye (sense of seeing) so serve your dish on a beautiful plate - you are worth your best cutlery! It is also a nice practice to set the table you are eating at decoratively. Play some beautiful, calming music while you eat your meals.

Gratitude:
—Say a small prayer before eating your food. It doesn’t have to be too elaborate, simply just say a small thank you for the food that you have and that is about to become part of your body.

Fragrance of the food:
—Bring your face toward the food and inhale the fragrance of the food. Enjoy the different aromas of the food. Allow this sense to be filled.

Touch the food:
—Touch the food with both hands and all fingers, feel the textures. All five fingers have minor chakras. Therefore, when we touch the food, we send a signal to our digestive system that you are about to ingest food.

Eating the food:
—Let the first morsel be a sacred act to yourself. —Chew the food 32 times – or until food is pulp in the mouth. We do this for two reasons. The first is, when you chew the food slowly, your system has time to understand that enough food has been eaten. You won't overeat when you chew the food slowly. The second reason is, when you chew the food well, the digestive process begins in the mouth itself where the enzymes in the saliva can start to breakdown the food. When the food reaches your stomach, it does not have to work so hard to breakdown all the food. Breaking down food in the stomach takes more energy than running around your street block. That is why we feel very tired after a meal. Have positivity when you are eating and digesting your food.

Leave some room:
—You should only fill three quarters of your stomach. Leave the final quarter for some water and air. Small sips of warm water can be taken during meal. Never drink cold drinks during a meal as they can weaken your digestive fire. Leave a complete half an hour after your meal, than you can drink a full glass of warm water if it is required. —One can sip water throughout the day. It greases the system and breaks down what is known as ama which is residue of your digestion.

Sit in vajrasana to help digestion:
—Sit in the vajrasana position (sitting on your heels, knees and feet together) for 3-5 minutes after a meal. This position can help the food to digest as a lot of blood will be bought to that area. It helps to remove gas and prevent bloating. The posture will help you to feel light and energized after the meal. Never lay down or sleep after a meal. Sleeping after a meal is a 100% guaranteed way to put on weight.

Foods to be avoided in sattvic eating:
processed and refined foods, —canned foods, frozen foods, food with preservatives, artifical flavors, aromas and colors added, anything packaged

Foods to be encouraged in sattvic eating:
Lots of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables and other organic products.

BrianSharpe

When the sun is out, it means your digestion is functioning at its optimum.

Could you cite any scientific references to support this?

Pearsquared

The people who developed this did not live in Northern Michigan. "You now have two hours to meet your daily allotment of calories before the sun goes down. Good luck."

That would be winter. In the summer, I'd be eating at 10pm and whistlin' Dixie.

snowmoon13

Thanks for passing this along there was some great info ...

Kankalamalini

When the sun is out, it means your digestion is functioning at its optimum.

Could you cite any scientific references to support this?

Absolutely. Every doctor can tell you about the circadian rhythm and natural biological clock of the body. Especially endocrinologists who know the chain of reactions that is caused by the hormones in our body when that rhythm is messed up.

If you want specific titles of books and scientific researches of the western medicine, then I am not the right person to answer that. I am not even interested in western medicine, I am only interested in Ayurveda and holistic approach to health.

nomeejerome

I respect nature and I respect a person's decision to choose his or her approach to religion, spirituality etc. However, posting threads like this one and the one about the sun would probably be more appropriate for a MFP group.

etoiles_argentees

Thanks for sharing! This might get more responses on a holistic or ayurvedic site.

onedayatatime12

What a wonderful read! Thank you for this. :flowerforyou:

zyxst

Might want to link to the article/blog post from where you copy+pasted this. Not doing so tends to put a negative spin on anything you post by the people who read and found out you just did copypasta.

http://www.nithyayoga.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=136&Itemid=203

zyxst

Sleeping after a meal is a 100% guaranteed way to put on weight.

:laugh:

Kankalamalini

@nomeejerome I respect everybody's opinion as well and I don't want or expect everybody to agree with me. But I believe that opinions and comments such as yours should be kept to oneself, especially when it is not related to the title of this topic. Why would you bother to click on this link when you are full of doubt and skepticism and you know that you don't have nothing to say that is directly related to Sattvic diet? Either talk about the title of this topic or keep those comments to yourself and let the normal discussion happen between those who are interested to know more.

zyxst

@nomeejerome I respect everybody's opinion as well and I don't want or expect everybody to agree with me. But I believe that opinions and comments such as yours should be kept to oneself, especially when it is not related to the title of this topic. Why would you bother to click on this link when you are full of doubt and skepticism and you know that you don't have nothing to say that is directly related to Sattvic diet? Either talk about the title of this topic or keep those comments to yourself and let the normal discussion happen between those who are interested to know more.

If you only want responses from people interested in yoga and your way of eating, then create/find a group on MFP and post there. This is in a public forum where anyone and everyone can and will respond if they choose.

Kankalamalini

@zyxst I never said I am the author of his article, everyone here is smart enough to know that these things don't come out of my head, Ayurveda is a 5000 year old system of natural healing.

And yes it is public forum, everyone has access to it and maybe this will spark someone's curiosity to do more research (if there are not too many comments that are not related to this topic by people such as yourself).

nomeejerome

@zyxst I never said I am the author of his article, everyone here is smart enough to know that these things don't come out of my head, Ayurveda is a 5000 year old system of natural healing.

And yes it is public forum, everyone has access to it and maybe this will spark someone's curiosity to do more research (if there are not too many comments that are not related to this topic by people such as yourself).

1. Not citing your source is implying that you are the author of the material.
2. Some of the information posted could be read by a person and taken as absolute truths and no further research will be completed, therefore they could take on the belief that sleeping after eating is a guaranteed way to put on weight. (which is not true)
3. A public forum, available to all and as I said in my first post, this subject may be more appropriate for a MFP group.

D_Haddo

1. Not citing your source is implying that you are the author of the material.
2. Some of the information posted could be read by a person and taken as absolute truths and no further research will be completed, therefore they could take on the belief that sleeping after eating is a guaranteed way to put on weight. (which is not true)
3. A public forum, available to all and as I said in my first post, this subject may be more appropriate for a MFP group.

people like you make it impossible to have conversation. what are you doing here? who are you to tell where to post stuff if this is done according to MFP forum rules? and you are still deviating from the main topic, why do you waste your time and other peoples time doing this, when this may be helpful to somebody else.. and it turned into discussion about irrelevant things..

SideSteel

1. Not citing your source is implying that you are the author of the material.
2. Some of the information posted could be read by a person and taken as absolute truths and no further research will be completed, therefore they could take on the belief that sleeping after eating is a guaranteed way to put on weight. (which is not true)
3. A public forum, available to all and as I said in my first post, this subject may be more appropriate for a MFP group.

people like you make it impossible to have conversation. what are you doing here? who are you to tell where to post stuff if this is done according to MFP forum rules? and you are still deviating from the main topic, why do you waste your time and other peoples time doing this, when this may be helpful to somebody else.. and it turned into discussion about irrelevant things..

If the OP is presenting misinformation as fact I believe there's value in challenging the information so other people don't make unnecessary dietary restrictions/changes that aren't going to provide them any benefit. Such as the notion that sleeping promotes fat accumulation.

dianeb613

@zyxst I never said I am the author of his article, everyone here is smart enough to know that these things don't come out of my head, Ayurveda is a 5000 year old system of natural healing.

And yes it is public forum, everyone has access to it and maybe this will spark someone's curiosity to do more research (if there are not too many comments that are not related to this topic by people such as yourself).

1. Not citing your source is implying that you are the author of the material.
2. Some of the information posted could be read by a person and taken as absolute truths and no further research will be completed, therefore they could take on the belief that sleeping after eating is a guaranteed way to put on weight. (which is not true)
3. A public forum, available to all and as I said in my first post, this subject may be more appropriate for a MFP group.

Not for anything but I had no doubt that the OP was not implying that they were the author of the material.

:shrug:

CollieFit

—Sit in the vajrasana position (sitting on your heels, knees and feet together) for 3-5 minutes after a meal.

Not terribly practical in the office... but thanks... :huh:

bbbgamer

I don't know what the @!@!@## you are talking about. I live in Alaska and we don't even have sunlight for half of the year. When do we eat?

CollieFit

Ayurveda is a 5000 year old system of natural healing.

That still doesn't make it fact.

MinMin97

Different things work for different people!

CollieFit

I don't know what the @!@!@## you are talking about. I live in Alaska and we don't even have sunlight for half of the year. When do we eat?

Heard of intermittent fasting? :laugh:

ksimmons19

I work nights. Guess I'm screwed. Oh well, guess I would lose weight if I never got to eat :bigsmile: anyone else hear massage music playing in their head while reading this?

bbbgamer

anyone else hear massage music playing in their head while reading this?

I am now!

wolfchild59

When the sun is out, it means your digestion is functioning at its optimum.

Woot!! New plan, move to Alaska and eat 24/7 during Summer!

But I'll stay at home during the Winter months. Or I'd starve to death not being to eat for a couple months during winter in Alaska.

v70t5m

The second reason is, when you chew the food well, the digestive process begins in the mouth itself where the enzymes in the saliva can start to breakdown the food. When the food reaches your stomach, it does not have to work so hard to breakdown all the food. Breaking down food in the stomach takes more energy than running around your street block. That is why we feel very tired after a meal.

This is scientifically inaccurate. Very little is broken down in the stomach ... the only active digestive enzyme in the stomach is pepsinogen which breaks down protein. All the carbohydrate digestion started in the mouth is stopped at the stomach as hydrochloric acid destroys the amylase enzymes. The stomach is more of a great big sterilizing chamber that happens to break down proteins and chops up our food into smaller pieces.

Digestion of fats begins (and carbohydrates re-starts) in the upper small intestines, the duodenum.

Our tiredness likely stems from the parasympathetic nervous system kicking in to digest our food, and the blood system carrying those nutrients away from the digestive system. Additionally, insulin released to take care of carbohydrate transport activates serotonin and melatonin ... which induce sleepiness. The larger your meal, the greater the effect. Hm, I wonder if this is the impetus behind 5-6 small meals a day rather than 3 larger ones???

bbbgamer

when you chew the food well, the digestive process begins in the mouth itself where the enzymes in the saliva can start to breakdown the food. When the food reaches your stomach, it does not have to work so hard to breakdown all the food. Breaking down food in the stomach takes more energy than running around your street block.

if I eat faster I can eat more? AND skip the run around the block? sweet!!

ALekaeHay

Thanks for the information. It's an interesting idea. (And I've heard/read from several other sources that our evening meal honestly shouldn't be our largest. Hard habit to break!) I wouldn't apply it in my own life but to each their own! Hopefully you enjoy this way of eating and find great results with it.

I do agree that you should've given a link(s) for the information both for citation purposes but also for people who might want to look more into the Sattvic ideas. I would hope that anyone and everyone would do some research on their own as to what sort of diet/lifestyle they intend on following. However, I would also hope that adults would simply click on if they didn't agree with someone else's ideas instead of resorting to sarcastic comments.

Meh. Hope lost.

bbbgamer

However, I would also hope that adults would simply click on if they didn't agree with someone else's ideas instead of resorting to sarcastic comments.

Meh. Hope lost.

I am sensing sarcasm...

ironanimal

:huh:

ALekaeHay

Actually, no. I would honestly hope that adults would just move on if they don't agree with the topic.

And after reading the comments my hope of that was lost/diminshed/proven wrong. So, quite sincere actually.