When I was working in the field of eating disorders in the mainstream world, we were advised that the best thing to regulate people’s blood sugar levels was to get them to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. However, in the Ayurvedic philosophy, this is not a good way forward because it is not giving the body time to digest food properly. I had a lot of unlearning to do!
In Ayurveda, the health of the digestion is considered to be one of the most important factors to the overall health of the individual. The digestive system is dependent on the agni, or the digestive fire which transforms everything we ingest into something that can be stored, used or excreted. So we want it to be healthy so that it is efficient at burning things up and not allowing any gunk to accumulate and hang around in the tissues.
Just like a real fire, there are certain laws of nature that we can follow to ensure that we have a nice steady flame that burns hot, but not too hot and doesn’t peter out.
Start out with a little kindling. This might be seen as the ginger, lime and salt appetizer. This will help to build a little flame to get it going and then you can gently add a bit more wood on.
Do not add massive logs on a baby fire. If your agni is weak, make sure that the food you eat is simple and easy to digest and it is swallowed in manageable amounts. If you keep overeating, you will kill the fire and you won’t be able to digest your food well.
Don’t add wet logs! Wet logs will kill a fire, especially if it is weak. Dry logs will help it to burn. Wet logs can be likened to food that has not been chewed well and is just too hard for a weakened digestive system to cope with. Wet logs could also be likened to the wrong kinds of food, processed, overcooked, too raw out of season or leftover food.
Don’t keep dumping more and more logs on a fire that is already struggling. This is what happens when you keep eating before the last meal has digested properly. It really makes it difficult for the body to break the food down and it will be stored rather than transformed or excreted.
This is a rather simplistic metaphor for what is going on in your body, but it is very useful to really work with the image of the fire and keeping it stoked up. If you do, you will burn fat in between meals. If you keep snacking, you will burn the snacks and not digest your meals well.
Feeling hunger is a good thing. We often say we are starving, but if you are reading this, you the chances are that you are not actually starving. What we mean when we say starving, is usually that we are hungry. Allowing ourselves to experience some hunger just before we eat is our body’s way of telling us that we are ready to eat, the coast is clear for some more fuel for the fire.
As with everything, try it out and see how it feels. The concept of snacking fuels a massive industry and a way of life that is not resulting in good health in the western world. Once you break the habit of snacking and clear your cupboards of ‘snack foods’ you will feel so much better.
On a side note, if you are a pitta type and doing a lot of exercise you may need a little something on occasion if there is a big gap between meals. As ever, listen to your body. And by that I mean your body and not your cravings! You know the difference ;)