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Sutras by Maharishi Vagbhata:
Habits Related to Eating

Continued from Food & Cooking

Biggest Meal in the Morning

Time: Eat your meals at fixed times. Our body is not made to eat anything at anytime. This time needs to be in accordance with जठराग्नि (digestive fire). The digestive fire is the strongest for 2.5 hours after sunrise. This will depend upon your location, and is the best time to have the biggest meal of the day. Its best to have your lunch in this time window for maximum benefit.

Around noon one can have a lighter meal or juice, fruits, chhaas (buttermilk), etc. Evening meal should be had while sun is still out. Once sun sets, the digestive fire becomes dormant, so it is best to have dinner upto 40 minutes before sunset.

Only liquids are recommended after sunset, and the best among these is milk. This is extremely important for patients of diabetes, asthma and other Vata related problems. Within 3 months you will find significant improvements in your health. Sugar, cholesterol etc respond miraculously within 3 months.

Different organs work best at different times of the day. e.g. heart is working hardest 2.5 hrs before Brahma Muhoort. i.e. between 1.30 till about 4am. Maximum heart attacks happen during this period.

All heavy foods like stuffed parathaas, sweets etc should be had in the morning meal. What you like best you should eat in the morning, so that you can eat your fill. This will ensure you are mentally satisfied as well as physically. This is of extreme importance. If you are fulfilled with the food you are eating, the Pineal gland will be most active and you will stay healthier as well as happier. Those who are not mentally satisfied with food that they are eating get many mental/psychological problems in due course of time, like tension, depression, and 27 other types of ailments.

All diurnal beings eat their meals early in the morning as far as possible.

Dr. Ravindranath Shanbagh has tried to make monkeys fall ill for almost 15-17 years. He has tried everything possible to get a monkey to fall ill, including injecting etc all types of viruses and bacteria into the monkey’s body but nothing happened. Monkey has the best RH factor in all living beings. We are also comparing our RH factor to that of a monkey. Dr. Shanbagh has inferred that this phenomenal ability is primarily due to the fact that a monkey eats a full stomach early in the mornings. He started asking his patients to eat their biggest meals in the morning and these patients all recorded significant improvements in their health from serious diseases.

Breakfast is not needed. It should be replaced by a heavy full meal i.e. lunch. Breakfast is not an Indian requirement based on our jal vaayu (physical consitution) but is an import from the West. Just 2 generations ago all of us used to have the biggest meal first thing in the morning.

Position while Eating

Partake food only sitting on the floor in Sukhasana. Sitting in this asana intensifies the digestive fire. Sitting on a chair reduces it, and standing up destroys it completely.

Keep the food plate a little bit higher above the floor.

For people who do a lot of physical work the best option is to eat in a squatting position. This posture will help in reducing paunch. Dining table will make the paunch grow bigger; it should be banished from your home.

Resting after Meals

It is important to rest lying down on your left side after morning/noon meals. This is very important for the digestive fire to work well since lying on left side activates the Pingala (soorya) naadi on the right side of the body and this in turn activates the digestive fire.

If you are healthy then the moment you start eating food the Soorya Naadi should get activated automatically.

This rest should be between 20 to 40 minutes. Its ok to take a nap if one feels sleepy. Many companies in countries like Mexico, Australia and Brazil etc have researched and found that the productivity of employees who are allowed to rest after lunch increases by upto 300%. Some of these countries were likely to make laws to this effect in around 2008. A lot of research is being performed on this sutra in Europe and USA.

Do NOT rest after dinner for at least 2 hours. This is because sun has set and hence the biochemistry etc is completely different now. Sleeping soon after dinner will invite diseases like heart attack, diabetes, BP etc.

In case you are unable to follow both these rules, sit in Vajrasana for atleast 10 minutes after meals. This is the only asana allowed after food according to yoga.

Continue to "Understanding Vata: Air & Ether".

We thank Dr. Rajiv Dixit for making this information accessible. Click here to view his videos.

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