Food is Medicine

In Indian culture, food is considered divine. For food you can even forget him and eat. In Marathi we say “Aadhi potoba and then Vithoba” First you eat and then you pray. Food is medicine for hunger. In India we eat variety of foods, even in different states variety changes as per the demographic and environmental condition, since food, we eat has to be palatable for that situation. Our food habits are different in different states too.

According to Bhagiratha there are three gunas of food, satvik, rajasik, and tamsik and our behaviour is dependent on the food we eat. In Ayurveda, it is termed as Prakrati- nature. We can alter the level of gunas in our body and mind. These gunas can be increased or decreased based on the food we eat as well as it also influences on our life style practices and our thoughts.

Satvik Food: Fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, pulses, spices in proper quantities, nuts and herbs.

Rajasik Food: Same as above but extremely cooked in oil with lots of spices

Tamsik Food: Meat, Fish, eggs may be frozen or canned which are stale. In Ayurveda it is considered that these food items develop the feeling of pessimism, ego and hatred.

These are called doshas and can be related to Vat, Pitta, and Kapha. One can increase or decrease these doshas significantly by altering food habits. Therefore food and diets occupy very important place in Yoga. It is now established that our diet is complete and balanced. Many universities across the globe are researching on our diet. Our kitchen is full of materials having medicinal properties. I remember our grandmother use to treat us with these materials and for small ailments we never use to go to doctor. This type of treatment we call it “Aaji cha Batawa”.

For cough, temperature, wound even tooth aches we got treatment at home e.g. for cough –Turmeric powder and jaggary or Turmeric powder boiled in milk, or ginger and honey, for tooth ache roasted clove. Now scientists discovered that clove- lawang contains eugenol which is powerful natural anaesthetic and has healing properties. Similarly garlic contains geranium, selenium and sulphur compounds which are toxic to pain causing bacteria; garlic was used for ear infections.

Researchers from Columbia University, New York discovered that Yogurt- Dhahi is rich in calcium and minerals which helps woman in premenstrual syndrome.  Studies show that our Haldi-Turmeric is three times more effective than aspirin, Inaddtion it also helps people who are struggling with arthritis and inflammation. This effect is determined due to the active ingredient called “curcumin”.

Our simple salt is used for pain relief in nails/toenails, you have to soak toenails in warm salt water for 30 minutes, and pain will subside in two to three days. In our childhood, I remember we used to eat chatni, made from jawas/alsi seeds/ flax seed but now scientists that these seeds contain antioxidants and omega 3 which is necessary for our health. Getting leg cramps is common in most of the people. This is found to be due to potassium deficiency and this can be overcome by eating tomatoes or drinking tomato juice.

Alzheimer is neurodegenerative disease in which symptoms are memory loss and difficulty in thinking. Now researchers say that simple dietary intake of leafy vegetables, turmeric, olive oil, broccoli, walnuts, fish, blueberries, cinnamon are helpful in improving cognitive health and reduce the risk of getting Alzheimer disease. We Indians use lot of spices to make our food more tasty and delicious, however these spices not only enhance the taste but also help us to prevent some diseases and help us to improve our health. Home treatments are not time tested but surely can save money and time as they can be effective medicines. Turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cumin seeds are used in the kitchen are helpful in minor and major ailments and they also contribute in improving our health and life.

Food is medicine and our Indian vegetarian diet is a balanced diet. We eat wheat, rice, pulses they contain carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, and vegetables provide not only necessary dietary inputs but also roughage which is essential for our bowl. To sum up, let me give you list of kitchen ingredients showing medicinal properties:

Lemon for obesity

Turmeric for arthritis

Beet root for anemia

Dhahi, yogurt for high blood pressure

Jamun- blueberries for diabetes

Green Tea for cholesterol

Garlic for immunity

Banana for diarrhea

Broccoli for cancer

Ahrot, walnuts for brain health

Carrot for eye health

Grapes for heart

Tomato for blood pressure

Olive oil/ coconut oil for cancer

Sweet potatoes for diabetes

This list is tip of iceberg; our kitchen food has plenty of items which have medicinal properties of which some are explored and some are being explored and some yet to be discovered.

By Pradeep Deshmukh, Pune, India