The Ayurvedic Monsoon Menu
According to ayurveda all food is, in a way, medicine. To stay healthy during the monsoon, watch what you eat.
The appetite-robbing days of summer are gone, and the monsoon cool tempts you to gorge on bhajiyas, sweets, and ever-larger helpings at mealtimes. After all, you have to make up for lost time! But temper that hearty appetite with a dose of caution - the monsoon is the time when diseases, particularly of the digestive system, are rampant. While you must take regular precautions like boiling water and scruplously avoiding street food or food prepared in bulk, ayurveda has some very specific guidelines about eating and body care during the rains. In the ayurvedic system, all food is, in a way, medicine. So food prepared according to ayurvedic principles can help prevent disease. The cardinal rule about eating during the monsoon, says ayurveda practitioner Dr Jyoti Shirodkar, is that you should never eat when you aren't hungry. You can eat something in the winter just because you find it appetising. Doing this in the monsoon is an invitation to indigestion and accompanying illnesses.
So, here's a list of monsoon dos and don'ts, based on ayurveda.
What you should do
Eat moderate quantities of food - while the cool weather may tempt you to eat more, the body finds it harder to digest food during the monsoon Go in for a very light breakfast - you can eat moong-dal laddoo or rava upma with ginger in it or lai-pith (popped and powdered jowar, available in traditional stores) Chaklis or rajgira chikki make good snacks Drink warm beverages; add mint or ginger or dry ginger powder to tea Include naturally sour food (not fermented) like tamarind, tomato, lime, thin buttermilk and kokum in your diet -- in soups, saars, dals and vegetables Lunch could be jeera rice, jowar bhakris, or wheat phulkas with a dash of ghee Vegetables recommended during the rains: bhindi, dudhi, parwal, suran, roasted baingan and karela. Moong dal is easy to digest, especially watery dal Garlic, pepper, ginger, asafoetida, sunth, turmeric, coriander and jeera enhance your body's digestive power and improve immunity Pomegranates, chikoos, bananas and strawberries are ideal for the monsoon. Eat a couple of dates every day for your iron and energy requirements Non-vegetarians should go in for lighter meat preparations like soups and stews rather than heavy curries Wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly, particularly leafy ones and cauliflower, which not only contain larvae and worms but also collect dirt from the streets Overall, astringent, mildly bitter and mildly pungent foods work best in the monsoon Drink only boiled and filtered water A weekly oil massage is highly recommended Keep your feet warm if you work in air-conditioned places Drink plenty of water, even if you don't feel thirsty. Surprisingly, dehydration is a possibility during the monsoon
What you shouldn't do
Avoid eating food straight out of the fridge. Fresh foods are the best, but if you like to store cooked food in the fridge, heat it gradually and thoroughly before eating Chilled drinks, especially milk shakes, are a no-no Avoid fermented foods like idlis, dosas and dhoklas. They create flatulence and gastric discomfort Go easy on the sweets and starchy food like sabudana, potato and sweet potato. Fried foods are tempting, but restrict these to a once-a-week indulgence Avoid heavy grains like nachni (ragi) and bajra. Give spinach the skip Cut out the raw veggies altogether. The monsoon is not a good time for salads Cut down on the heavy pulses like rajma, channa and urad. Eat sprouted pulses too only once in a while Restrict the intake of food containing besan (channa flour) Non-vegetarians should avoid heavy curries and meat-heavy dishes like steaks. Avoid dried fish too. Avoid melons, cucumber and jackfruit. Go easy on the mangoes now that the rains are here Sleeping in the day during the monsoon interferes with the digestive processes. Avoid if possible Heavy exercising is contraindicated. Ayurveda believes that the body needs only light walks and simple yogasanas during this time Very hot baths feel good, but are avoidable. Moderately warm water is the best Avoid late nights that include alcohol intake, and eating late. Dr Jyoti Shirodkar suggests eating and drinking early, and then stepping out, if you have social obligations that involve going out at night If your weekends involve fairly hectic socialising and erratic eating, observe a fast on Mondays, and ensure that your body recovers quickly and is all set for the rest of the week
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