Ayurveda
Food Management = Mood Management Vinod Sharma
AYURVEDA SAYS THERE ARE THREE main pillars – Vata (Air + Space), Pitta (Fire + Air+water) & Kapha (Water + Earth), and three sub pillars - Food, Sleep & Celibacy which sustain our health. In this article, we’ll discuss one of the three sub pillars, food – and how it affects our well being. Specifically, we’ll explore how the food we eat affects our mood. Generally, mood can be defined as our state of mind or how we feel at any given time. Due to various reasons, either due to an internal trigger or external circumstances, we experience low/negative moods - this is a normal phenomena of human life. Our moods are influenced by several factors – weather conditions, biological influences, and most importantly, our own eating habits/diet and lifestyle pattern. According to Ayurveda, the main cause of low moods is the imbalance of any of the doshas - Vata (air and space elements), Pitta (mainly fire element) and Kapha (water & earth elements). For example, air imbalance can cause irritability, impatience and even depression. Pitta (fire) imbalance can cause anger, frustration etc., while imbalance of Kapha can cause a person to be insecure and have low self esteem. In general, Vata and Pitta imbalances are the main culprits in causing low moods. The good news is it is possible to uplift our moods when we are feeling down. Eating the right food according to our body constitution has a direct effect on balancing the elements in our system, and therefore food has a strong influence on our moods. There is a saying in Ayurveda, “As the ahar (food), so the vichar (thinking)”. This implies food directly affects the mind and mood. For example, generally raw salad is considered to be healthy, but for a person whose air element is aggravated and fire element is weak, salad will cause further dryness in the body. Thus the person’s mood can become very irritable and impatient. So in such a situation, what can
the person do to reduce his irritability and impatience, and correct his mood?
Herbs and spices can be used to positively transform one’s mood
Honey is very helpful in this instance. If the person drinks one glass of room temperature water with a tablespoon of honey, the natural sweet taste of honey will help to pacify the aggravated air element, thereby reducing irritability and impatience. Honey also contains copper and iron, which will help to boost the fire element – this can make the person feel stronger and more confident. As a result, his mood will become more positive and cheerful. Ayurveda is such a wonderful science – it teaches how to eat according to the different seasons. As well Ayurveda guides us to plan our eating habits according to the different times of the day. Following these guidelines will help us maintain a calm and positive frame of mind. According to Ayurveda, different doshas are strong at different times of the day. Generally, from 6 am to 10 am, Kapha is very strong in the environment; from 10 am to 2 pm, Pitta is very strong, and from 2 pm to 6 pm; Vata predominates. This cycle repeats itself from 6 pm to 6 am. According to the element that is dominant in the environment at any given point, one should eat the food containing the opposite elements to induce a balancing 29