Rutu Trivedi Panjwani says: I remember my grand grand mother, who lived for more than 100 years, all fit and fine, without any blood-pressure, diabities or any lifestyle diseases. But kudos to the lifestyle she adopted. Doing all her work on her own. She always said,’’ if I don’t move, God will call me’’ . She never compromised with her food as she believed that its the right food that keeps her fit.
In my entire practice of Yoga, the digestive system is given lot of emphasise. I remember being taught ‘’ As is your food, so is your mind’’. Our ancient traditions says that our health and well-being depends on how we digest our food in the given enviroment. Agni is the Sanskrit term for the “digestive fire” that breaks down the food and the environment helps us to do the rest. Retaining what is useful, and eliminating the rest.When our digestive ability, or agni, is strong, we create healthy tissues, eliminate waste products efficiently, and produce a subtle essence called ojas (energy).
Henceforth, today my article is on her rememberance and is dedicated to all the grand mothers, who are and who were so enthusiastic and smart in the Kitchen. We go to dieticians today, listen to them dedicatedly and follow what they say, but trust me, just go by what your grand mother said and you too will be leading a healthy life. If knowledge is free and home-grown, it has no value to us but once it is marketed as a weight-loss product or anti-ageing product or a healthy product, etc by a multinational company we want to take notice of it.
Let’s open our eyes to some ancient food wisdom by our Grandmoms:
1. PICKLE:
We see pickle as bad lump of oil and salt. But still our grand mothers continued preparing with all her love and affection. For her it is not less than a treasure. It is made with all the rules and regulations like to be kept in heat for so many hours and to be filled only in this type of bottled and once used how to keep again, etc., etc…
Talking about it scientifically, pickle possesses what we all now call as good bacteria or the ‘pro-biotic bacteria’ , which is good for the gut. It is prepared in controlled temperature conditions which ensures good lacto-fermendation in your achar. If taken in small quantities with your meals ensures good digestion.
2. FOOD PRAYER AND SITTING ON FLOOR:
Every culture has a food prayer before eating. The logic is to cut off our distractions and bring all our focus on the food that we are eating. Food eaten with all the attention and calmness ensures the absorption of nutrients in the food.
As a yoga student I was taught in my class that when we sit on the floor for our meal, our stomach forms a triangular structure, which is ideal for release of adequate amount of digestive juices.
3. COUNT PRANAS NOT CALORIES:
Plants get prana from air and sunlight. Similarly, we human being also need Prana and we derive that from the food we eat. The western world counts calorie in the food, but our tradition teaches us to count prana i.e the energy from the food. Prana is what makes you ligher, fuller and satisfied after your meal. You derive prana from fresh, home cooked food. You want to gauge how healthy you are then just feel the feeling when you wake up in the morning. You should wake up early with a fresh mind and enthusiastic body and not dull and sluggish.
These are some immediate thoughts on this topic…. Give it a try and feel the difference. I am sure after this you will at least start to develop faith in these practices and then I shall continue to share a few more facts like these in my articles to come.
Enjoy life and always remember …. Fitness over Weight Loss!!
