Ayurveda, an ancient holistic science of healing, offers a reasonable approach for determining exact diet based upon the basics comprising an individual’s constitution: vata, pitta, and Kapha. According to Ayurveda, each food has its own taste (rasa), a heating or cooling power (virya) and post-digestive produce (vipaka). So while it is true that an individual’s Agni basically determines how well or poorly food is digested, food combinations are also of great importance. When two or more foods having different taste, energy and post-digestive effect are combined, Agni can become overloaded, inhibiting the enzyme system and resulting in the production of toxins.
Poor combining can produce indigestion, fermentation and gas formation and, if prolonged, can lead to toxemia and disease. For example, Eating Bananas with milk can reduce digestive fire( Agni ), change the intestinal flora, produce toxins and may cause sinus congestion, cold, cough, and allergies. while both of these foods have a sweet taste and cooling energy, their post-digestive produce is very different – bananas are sour while milk is sweet. This causes confusion to our digestive system and may result in toxins, allergies, and other imbalances.
The food which is wrong in combination has undergone wrong processing, consumed in incorrect dose, and/or consumed in incorrect time of the day and in the wrong season can lead to Viruddha Ahara ( Food Incompatibility ).
Ayurveda literature has described various types of unsuited diet or Viruddha Ahara, summarized as follows:
- Disha Viruddha ( Place Incompatibility):- To have dry food in a dry region
- Kal Viruddha ( Time Incompatibility):- The pungent substance in summer and cold substances in winter.
- Agni Viruddha ( Digestive Fire Incompatibility):- Consuming curd at night
- Matra Viruddha ( Quantity Incompatibility):- honey + cow’s ghee mixed in equal proportion.
- Satmya Viruddha ( Wholesome Incompatibility):-
- Dosha Viruddha:- Consuming curd at night.
- Sanskar (mode of preparation) Viruddha:- heated honey.
- Veerya (potency Incompatibility) Viruddha:- fish + milk.
- Koshtha (Digestive Power )Viruddha:- Intake of milk with loose bowel person
- Avastha (state of health) Viruddha:- Intake curd or buttermilk after sleep
- Kram (sequence) Viruddha:- hot water after taking honey
- Upachar (treatment) Viruddha:- Intake cold thinks after taking ghee
- Paak (cooking) Viruddha:- Intake of food which not cooked well
- Samyoga (combination) Viruddha:- Fruit salad or milk + banana.
- Sampad (richness of quality) Viruddha: – Intake of over-matured or over purified food
- Vidhi (rules for eating) Viruddha: – Eating in public place
- Parihar Viruddha ( Contraindication incompatibility):- consuming cold water immediately after having hot tea or coffee.
- Hridya Viruddha ( Interest Incompatibility): -Intake of unpleasant food
Diseases due to Viruddha Ahara
From the above, it can be understood that any process, combinations, dose, amount of food, opposite properties of food if consumed in a regular method can lead to the number of disorders. which are mentioned below.
Impotency, Visarpa (erysipelas), Blindness, Ascitis, Fistula in Ano, Coma or fainting, Intoxication, Anemia, Indigestions, Various skin diseases (Vitiligo, Psoriasis, Urticaria ), Rhinitis, and Infertility.
Food incompatibilities in today’s perspective
Food Incompatibilities can lead to inflammation at a molecular level. In today’s era, we have to identify new food incompatibilities, which are used today in day-to-day life as per Ayurvedic perspective. These food incompatibilities can also be categorized into Krama Viruddha, Veerya Viruddha, and so on. Such food combinations can prove harmful, which may be imparting its annoying effects on the immune system, cellular metabolism, growth hormone.
A new branch called Topography (a science related to the combination of food) which tells about the combination of basic categories of the food. As per this science protein must not get combined with starch and carbohydrates and may be consumed differently.
Green tea or black tea and milk
Tea contains flavonoids, which have many helpful effects on the heart. When milk is added to tea, then a group of proteins in milk, called caseins, interact with the tea to reduce the concentration of flavonoids. So avoid tea and milk together.
Milk and yogurt interaction
As you know consuming both together can precipitate milk inside the stomach that may irritate and induce vomiting. So avoid milk and yogurt together.
Pomegranate juice and grapefruit juice
Pomegranate juice and grapefruit juice, are both known to block the enzyme systems in the intestines and increase blood levels of many medications you are taking. Taking these two juices together may synergize the above action.
Deep frying of potatoes
can develop toxic substances, such as acrylamide, which can prove to be carcinogenic. Eating potato chips regularly is Sanskara viruddha.
Heating Honey
It is also mentioned in Ayurved text that heating honey is Sanskar Viruddha. Honey that is available in the market is Agmark honey and this honey is strongly heated before packaging. It is very important to find relevance about why we must not heat honey.
- Don’t Eat Banana, Resins With Milk
- Don’t Eat Fruit With Cheese, Eggs, Fish, Milk, Meat, Yogurt
- Don’t Eat Melons With Beans, Cheese, Fish, Milk, Meat, Yogurt
- Don’t Eat Grains With Fruit
- Don’t Eat Nightshades ( Eggplant, Tomato, Potato ) with Milk, Melon, cucumber, Cheese
