We all hear about “metabolism” what do you think it is?Metabolism is nothing but your stomach’s ability to digest food.The process of digestion starts from your mouth.So really chew your food well,so the saliva(digestive enzymes ) are in your chewed food when you gulp it down.Your liver release bile juice into your stomach and your stomach releases digestive acids which further breakdown the food in your stomach.Now the food moves to your large intestine and small intestine where your intestine walls absorb the nutrients from the food.
A metabolic slowdown can happen due to any of the following reasons:
1.Thick bile juice due to toxin build up.
2.Stomach not producing enough stomach acid.
3.You not chewing your food properly
4.build up on your large and small intestine walls and thus your walls are not able to absorb nutrients
Believe it or not,allergies to nuts,milk,soy etc are all due to this build up.We all might be thinking that undigested food is excreted,that is not always true,the body stores the undigested food in your fat cells.So if you think you have not digested your previous meal well,do not load your stomach in the next meal.If you want to maintain your weight and good health-do not ignore indigestion.
What to do?
Thick Bile: This can primarily happen due to high fat food,lots of alcohol consumption.Ok,now what?Beetroot and greens are good bile thinners.Start with having juice of 1 beetroot everyday for 3 months.You will see better bile.Reduce alcohol consumption.
Stomach acid:This can be due to untimely food or going without food for long periods of time,or eating heavy food so that your stomach is not able to match up to digest the heavy foods.As a general rule eat 3 meals a day,do not skip meals and try eating at the same time every day,this will help a lot on the long run.Eat your heaviest meal around lunch time,dinner should be light and atleast 3 hours before sleeping.If possible take a walk 30 minutes after your dinner.Foods like cream,cheese,non vegetarian food,icecream are hard to digest,so if you are seeing indigestion reduce the consumption of heavy foods and have more of plant based food.There are also herbs available for a healthy digestion.”Triphala” is a tridoshic ayurvedic herb that can be taken everynight for smooth digestion and excretion.Try to Eat the same quantity of food everyday,if you suddenly eat a lot ,the stomach wont be able to produce enough digestive acid and thus can cause indigestion,If you like to increase the consumption of food due to increased activity,do it slowly and start with easily digestible foods.If you have hemarrhoids your digestion is suffering.Change your food habits.
Every person is born with a body time namely Vata,Pitta,Kapha. You can take your body type quiz here
Eat according to your body constitution
Vata body types
Pitta body types
Kapha body types
You can also choose to do this safe ayurvedic cleanse every 6 months for optimal maintenance of health.
Not chewing food properly will send whole food particles to your stomach thus adding additional load on your stomach acid to digest food.So take your time while eating,sit down and eat. Theres an old saying that says “death overlooks your shoulder if you stand and eat”.
Intestine build up:
If you have allergies like nut allergy or gluten allergies,do visit an ayurvedic doctor,you can get rid of these.
This is usually due to ignoring constipation or indigestion.Eat more fiber-include raw vegetables in your diet,celery is an excellent intestine scrub. Chia seeds and flax seeds are good options too.Your ayurvedic doctor can prescribe you some purgatives like castor oil to clear intestinal walls.Use spices like ginger,black pepper to improve digestion and stimulation of the walls.
Some dos and donts:
1.Do not exercise immediately after eating.
2.Do not mix milk with other ingredients like fruit etc.
3.Eat fruits by itself,they are an easy to digest food,eating them with other foods slows down the digestion of the fruit.
4.Do not mix milk products with greens,calcium in milk does not let the iron in greens absorb well.
5.Do not eat heated honey or yogurt.
6.Don’t eat just before bed or eat heavy meals at night.
7.Match your food intake to your activity.More than counting protein,calories etc think of food as how much nutrition is it giving you.
8.Vegetarians always balance your food with protein,carbs and fat.Include lots of vegetables and fruits in your diet.Do not avoid any macro,you will end up with cravings.Having enough fiber and protein in each meal will give you blood sugar stabilization and thus preventing diabetes.
9.When you are sick or just given birth or during your period try to eat easy to digest foods,you body needs the energy for healing.
10.Avoid processed foods-that includes cereal,store bought breads etc,make them if you can or eat fresh grains like rice,barley,millet etc.if you can make 70% of your food unprocessed you will do fine with your health and weight.
11.Exercise at least 5 days a week.
Ladies:
Ladies in their puberty and child bearing ages,take a multivitamin,a b complex and an iron supplement to support your hormonal changes.Do not stress yourself during your period.Period is natures way of removing toxins from the womans body.I personally advice,not to workout and if possible not to engage in physical activity or household chores during this time.If you are having cramps apply some warm sesame oil or castor oil on your stomach and put a heating pad on it.If you feel like resting go ahead and do so.Eat non spicy easy to digest foods,try avoiding animal prodcuts except ghee during this time.On the final day of your period take a spoon full of turmeric and roll it into balls with water and gulp them down with water,this will help clean and sanitize your ovaries.Following these guidelines will slowly relieve you from period symptoms like cramps,PMS,clotting etc.Do change your pads every 8 hours for sanity reasons or you can be exposed to infections.
Prathima Koneru 