September 14, 2017
Pramod Pathak
Ideal time to take food is when you feel hungry. Hunger is two types - physiological and psychological. You need to learn the difference by experience.
Sometimes when we are out in the market the mere scent of samosa or jalebi or fast food evokes hunger. Though you may have had a full meal before leaving your home. The mere sight of food on TV also gives rise to hunger. This is psychological hunger. Basically the thought evoked due to perception by any of our five senses evokes such hunger.
Now recall a time you were travelling by road or train or by air. The circumstances did not allow you to eat something worthwhile and the first opportunity that you got, you had your meal. This opportunity could be an unhygienic dhaba, or an expensive eatery at the airport. You just ate what was required to satiate your hunger and the beauty is that you still nostalgically savour that taste till date. This is physiological hunger.
Remember food is not the source of energy, sleep is what recharges our body vitality. Food builds muscles, blood, organs and each cell of our body.
Once we sleep at night and wake up in the morning, we have fasted during this period because one cannot drink or eat while sleeping. During sleep the food is digested and early morning the body is ready to eject the byproduct toxins from the body. This elimination of toxin is by air(morning walk or exercise), liquid (urine) and solid (stool). Coughing, sneezing, sweating is also a way of toxin elimination.
So we wake up in the morning fully charged and body is busy in elimination of toxins. To assist the body in this process of elimination green vegetables or their juice is the best to have first thing in the morning. Imagine the harm we do by drinking tea/coffee. The body's energy is diverted into digestion mode and the elimination of toxins suffer.
Since sleep was a natural fast that is why the first meal is called breakfast - breaking the fast. Ideally delay this breaking of fast as much as you can and one must have fruits only for breakfast.
It takes an average 2 to 3 hours to digest fruits. So ideally next meal/snacks should be 3 to 4 hours after breakfast only on feeling hungry. This principle will also govern subsequent meals/snacks till last meal of the day.
Every time you eat anything the body is put into digestion mode. Everyday we consume 75% of our energy only in food digestion. The rest 25% is what is used for running, walking, commuting to office, working, etc. So if one reduces the number of meals, the vitality is conserved and this is what makes us feel energetic.
You have to now balance these number of meals as per your daily routine.
Sometimes when we are out in the market the mere scent of samosa or jalebi or fast food evokes hunger. Though you may have had a full meal before leaving your home. The mere sight of food on TV also gives rise to hunger. This is psychological hunger. Basically the thought evoked due to perception by any of our five senses evokes such hunger.
Now recall a time you were travelling by road or train or by air. The circumstances did not allow you to eat something worthwhile and the first opportunity that you got, you had your meal. This opportunity could be an unhygienic dhaba, or an expensive eatery at the airport. You just ate what was required to satiate your hunger and the beauty is that you still nostalgically savour that taste till date. This is physiological hunger.
Remember food is not the source of energy, sleep is what recharges our body vitality. Food builds muscles, blood, organs and each cell of our body.
Once we sleep at night and wake up in the morning, we have fasted during this period because one cannot drink or eat while sleeping. During sleep the food is digested and early morning the body is ready to eject the byproduct toxins from the body. This elimination of toxin is by air(morning walk or exercise), liquid (urine) and solid (stool). Coughing, sneezing, sweating is also a way of toxin elimination.
So we wake up in the morning fully charged and body is busy in elimination of toxins. To assist the body in this process of elimination green vegetables or their juice is the best to have first thing in the morning. Imagine the harm we do by drinking tea/coffee. The body's energy is diverted into digestion mode and the elimination of toxins suffer.
Since sleep was a natural fast that is why the first meal is called breakfast - breaking the fast. Ideally delay this breaking of fast as much as you can and one must have fruits only for breakfast.
It takes an average 2 to 3 hours to digest fruits. So ideally next meal/snacks should be 3 to 4 hours after breakfast only on feeling hungry. This principle will also govern subsequent meals/snacks till last meal of the day.
Every time you eat anything the body is put into digestion mode. Everyday we consume 75% of our energy only in food digestion. The rest 25% is what is used for running, walking, commuting to office, working, etc. So if one reduces the number of meals, the vitality is conserved and this is what makes us feel energetic.
You have to now balance these number of meals as per your daily routine.
