Begin your meal with something sweet: Ayurveda

Nasrin Modak Siddiqi, Mumbai Mirror | Dec 12, 2014, 12.00AM IST
Menus put desserts at the end, but Ayurveda wants you to begin your meals on a sweet note...

Whether it's regular dalroti-sabji or a lavish eight-course feast, the sweets always have to wait till the end. In fact, the word `dessert' originated from the French word `desservir' which means `to clean the table'. But who's complaining? Habitually, long after you have polished off a sumptuous meal and the brain has sent out satiety signals, there's always room for that baked cheesecake. However, while we have been habituated to satisfying our sweet tooth after a meal (the post-dinner walk is often an excuse to stop by at the local ice-cream vendor), Ayurveda argues that the sweet should come first.

"The sweet taste acts quickly on the taste buds and saliva.Eating the sweet item first enables the flow of digestive secretions," says nutritionist Supriyaa Nair. "If you eat sweets at the end of meals, you are slowing down your digestion." If the idea of gobbling a gulab jamun before roti-sabji doesn't agree with you, having even a bite or two of a sweet before vegetables and chapati or rice will help you absorb vitamins and nutrients better.

Besides, says Nair, eating dessert at the end means that the empty calories and sugar suppress the digestive fire, causing fermentation and indigestion thanks to the acid produced. it's not uncommon to experience bloating in this case.

FOLLOW ORDERS

A chapter in the Sushruta Samhita, one of the main texts of Ayurveda, deals with the order of tastes involved in a meal.According to it, you should have a sweet at the outset, something sour and salty in the middle, followed by pungent, bitter and astringent eats.

In a hungry person, a sweet also helps overpower the vayu (wind) in the stomach, while sour and salty tastes in the middle of the meal help stimulate the digestive fire in the small intestine. The pungent, bitter, and astringent taste helps subdue kapha dosh (earth).THE SWEET TRAP So, how did we fall into the trap of eating calorie-loaded sugars after a heavy meal? Macrobiotic nutritionist Shonali Sabherwal explains, "From a macrobiotic perspective, sugar craves sugar because it is yin energy." Each food group has an energy that is categorised as either yin (loosely classified as female energy) or yang (masculine energy).

"You feel expanded with sugar because sugar creates energy that is upward rising, and you want more of that. So, a simple carb craves sugar, which is why a meal loaded with simple carbs is usually followed by a dessert," she says.Also, heavy animal proteins found in eggs and meats (yang energy) are tough to digest, leaving you bloated and aggressive.

That's why, after a meaty meal, your body wants to balance out the dense yang energy by craving yin sugar.

Sabherwal suggests you challenge your sugar craving by seeking it in fruits and veggies (carrots, onions, onist cabbage, sweet potato and red pumpkin) rather than white sugar eats.

A MEAL IN ITSELF

Ayurveda also claims that the body cannot do without sweet altogether. It's imperative tissue development. When consumed in moderation, sweets are medicinal, even.

Dietician Pooja Makhija says that doesnt apply to refined sugar stripped of all nutrition. "Sugar des serts add load to the body, piling up calories which your body stores as fat since that is the only source of storage form it knows. A dessert is so full of calories, you'd rather have it as a meal in itself, preferably before a workout, so that you can burn off all those calories."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/diet/Begin-your-meal-with-something-sweet-Ayurveda/articleshow/45452360.cms

Begin your meal with something sweet: Ayurveda