The healing power of Ayurveda is unquestionable. Ayurveda is often referred to as the “science of life”, it aims to achieve holistic development, including the mind, body and soul of any individual who abides by this age old practice.
Optimistic thinking, regular exercise and the yogic techniques of meditation and breathing may take you places and keep your body calm and balanced.
The kind of food we consume has a great effect on our health. It’s a known fact that our diet plays such a significant role in our life that we often have the power to heal ourselves with the right kind of food.
According to Ayurveda, food can be classified into ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ and consume it based on this dichotomy enhances its effect on your body.
Hot and cold food
Based on the physical temperature of the food product is how it is classified. And more importantly, from the Ayurvedic perspective, hot and cold foods are based on the internal nature of the food product which would have diverse effects on the three kinds of body types (vata, pitta and kapha) as classified in Ayurveda.
This classification of food as hot and cold or its innate characteristics is referred to as “Virya”.
Ayurveda tries to assess whether a particular food item has a cooling or a heating effect inside our body which in turn has an impact on our metabolism and digestion.
It is essential to note that, consuming foods without considering one’s body type and ignoring this distinction between hot and cold could have adverse effects on our health and make us more susceptible to diseases. Ayurveda thus suggests that we must delve deeper into this categorization.
Focusing on the external temperature of the food, freshly cooked food like dal, for instance, may be misconstrued to be classified as “hot” and frozen ice-cream as “cold”, however, in Ayurvedic terms, ice cream actually occupies a place in the “hot” food category.
The most commonly consumed hot foods, as per Ayurveda, include onions, black pepper, garlic, ginger and spicy foods. Under the category of cold foods, come fruits like bananas and apples and dairy products like milk and yogurt.
The nature of the body type plays a major role in guiding us about the kind of food we should be eating. In case one consumes an excess of hot foods, the amount of heat the body produces increases.
It also causes a burning sensation and the pitta dosha increases. This can trouble your digestive system, lose motions, skin rashes and even boils.”
Effects of cold food
Delayed digestion and frequent bouts of flu, cough and fever may be caused due to excess consumption of cold foods.
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