Meals

BEST MEAL

Before starting a meal say a prayer out of gratitude to the producers of the food. While eating full attention should be given to the food and not to chatting and watching television, operating mobile phones etc..., because this hinders proper digestion. If you are doing these things, you are not aware that you may eat harmful or bad food, you can’t chew properly, the finest and subtlest part of the food cannot convert to a higher mental state, the wrong emotions may get mixed in with the food etc.

12 guidelines to follow while having food

Uṣṇaṃ Bhuñjītha - Eat Freshly Prepared Food
Snigdhaṃ Bhuñjītha - Eat Tasty Food
Mātrāvat Bhuñjītha - Eat Moderate Quantities
Jīrṇe Sati Eva Bhuñjītha - Eat After Proper Digestion Of A Previous Meal
Vīryāviruddhaṃ Bhuñjītha - Eat Food Types That Can Be Combined And Which Are Suited To Your Nature
Iṣṭadeśa-Iṣṭasarvo'pakaraṇena Saha Bhuñjītha – Eat In A Place Where You Enjoy Eating With Proper Utensils
Nāti Drutaṃ Bhuñjītha – Don’t Eat Too Quickly
Nāti Vilambitaṃ Bhuñjītha – Don’t Eat Too Slowly
Ahasan Bhuñjītha – Eat Without Laughing /Crying (Smiling Is Fine)
Ajalpan Bhuñjītha – Eat Without Chatting (Start By Speaking Less. The Purpose Of This Is Not To Punish But To Really Relish And Taste The Food, Which Tells You If The Body Can Accept This Food And When To Stop.)
Tanmanāḥ Bhuñjītha – Eat With Full Awareness
Ātmānamabhisamīkṣya Bhuñjītha – Eat Until You Are Satisfied But Not Until You Are Full

The food should be freshly prepared and consumed within a few hours. Homemade food is much healthier than readymade food, because we have complete control over what we make ourselves like the ingredients, proportions, our emotional state etc. but none over what we buy readymade. Locally produced ingredients are more appropriate for one’s health, because the local weather has a big impact on one’s constitution. Avoid “white poisons” like polished rice, refined sugar, refined salt and white flour but use brown rice, unrefined sugar, unrefined salt and brown flour.

Breakfast

Breakfast should be eaten if hungry.

A healthy breakfast would include Muesli (dried fruit, nuts and cereal), Milk, Brown Bread, Toast, Porridge, Freshly squeezed Orange Juice, Jam, Butter etc...

Lunch

One shouldn’t leave a gap of more than 6 hours between one meal and the next. A healthy lunch when the weather is warm may consist of non-cooked food,

like fresh sandwiches with small amounts of cheese and homemade relish or chutney, homemade jam or honey. Homemade vegetable soup and raw salads using lettuce, grated carrot, cucumber, radish, avocado, tomato, peppers, celery, fennel, basil, parsley, thyme, olives etc. A variety of nuts and pulses such as lentils and various types of beans are also recommended.

Snacks

Animals have to graze continuously. But the human stomach needs a rest between meals. Grazing is not recommended under normal circumstances.

Only under conditions of extreme prolonged physical exertion such as in long mountain hikes, for example. A booster in the form of a snack would be useful to keep energy-levels high. Snacks are not to be eaten separately from meals normally. Snacks could be taken for variety with a light evening meal for example. Or the meal could be finished with a tasty desert.

Dinner

The evening meal should be consumed before 7 p.m. and it should be a light meal. Don’t go to bed on a full stomach. You should have a three hour gap after your last meal and going to sleep.

A healthy dinner may include pulses, soups, raw and, or cooked vegetables, nuts, rice, bread, fruit, some heated milk, pasta etc. Some warm food is recommended in the evening especially as the temperature outside drops. The same recommendations apply as for lunch, but the quantity should be less in the evening and eaten early enough to allow the food to digest before going to sleep. It is very harmful to sleep on a full stomach.