It is a good time to think about strengthening your immunity. According to Maharishi Ayurveda, cold weather doesn’t have to bring on the cold and flu. The key is to start now with immunity-enhancing meals.
Ojas is the end product of complete digestion that creates radiant good health, stable emotions, and immunity. Ama, the digestive impurities caused by eating hard-to-digest foods or by unhealthy eating habits, creates the opposite effect — it compromises immunity and health.
Here are seven ways to boost the immunity power
1. Choose intelligent, easy-to-digest foods
Intelligent foods include fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and light dairy products. If you choose fresh, whole foods that are not altered by processing, then your meal is going to wake up the intelligence of nature and convert quickly to ojas.
Foods that are processed, canned, frozen or packaged are harder to digest, and thus create ama. Also, because they are old, denatured by processing, or include harmful ingredients such as chemical preservatives, you could even call them dumb foods, because they no longer contain nature’s intelligence. Rather, they create ama and block nature’s intelligence from reaching the cells.
2. Cook with immune-boosting spices
Cook your food in a way that doesn’t disturb the food’s natural intelligence. For instance, if you add mild spices to cooked vegetables, grains and legumes, the food will convert more quickly to ojas. Spices add good flavor and have a yogavahi property, which means that they support digestion and make the nutrients easily available to the body.
3. Eat immune-boosting foods
Apples support the immune system because they contain antioxidants and both insoluble and soluble fiber, which cleanse the bowel. All sweet, juicy fruits (such as pears, peaches, plums, sweet pineapple and mangos) enhance immunity because they transform quickly into ojas. If they are tree-ripened, they convert almost instantly. Pomegranate seed juice and pomegranate seed chutneyare also excellent boosters of immunity, because they enhance digestion and elimination without increasing Pittadosha. A papaya after lunch enhances digestion and increases immunity.
4. Cook your food but not too much
According to Maharishi Ayurveda, food becomes more digestible when you cook it. But you don’t want to cook it too much, as that reduces its immune-boosting effect. The food should be soft and easy to chew, but not mushy.
5. Eat at the proper time
Eat your main meal in the middle of the day, when the sun is highest and digestion strong. Eat lighter at breakfast and at night, when digestion is weaker. This will enhance immunity.
It’s also important to eat your meals at the same time every day. Your digestion gets used to a routine, and becomes more efficient.
6. Eat the proper quantity
Eating the right amount for your body type — not too much or too little — enhances ojas and supports the immune system. Maharishi Ayurveda recommends that you sip a cup of room-temperature water with your meals, so the meal is part liquid. Eat to only ¾ of your capacity.
7. Choose foods for your body type and for the season
It’s not correct that you can eat anything you want, as long as it’s good food. If you want to stay healthy, you need to choose foods that will bring balance to your body type and for the particular season. Whatever influences from the weather and climate are causing an imbalance, you need to counteract them with the food you eat.
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