Ever given a thought on the order in which we eat our food at breakfast, lunch or dinner? How about the delicious desserts that we are used to eating after the main meal? Now, what if I tell you that you should start with dessert first?
As science has proven, an important dietary factor is the order in which we eat our foods. A proper eating order may allow us to digest foods that we otherwise could not. And more important, sweets should be eaten first.
Scientists have discovered that the order in which we eat food is key to controlling our blood sugar.If eaten after other food sweets can slow down the digestive process, allowing an undigested food mass to form and to ferment. As
Here is why:
According to Ayurveda, our six tastes are composed of the following combinations of the five elements:
1. Sweet taste: earth and water.
2. Salty taste: earth and fire.
3.Sour taste: water and fire.
4.Pungent taste: fire and air.
5.Bitter taste: air and space.
6.Astringent taste: air and earth.
The six tastes mirror the digestive process in this order: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent
1. Sweet taste is digested first, particularly sugars.
2.Salty taste is digested second and turns into sweet taste in the mouth and the stomach.
3.The sour taste is digested when the food enters into the small intestine.
4.Pungent taste is digested when the food enters the large intestine.
5.Bitter and astringent tastes are digested last. They serve to close off the digestive process and help produce the stool.
6.The elements are extracted from the digestive process in this order: earth, water, fire, wind, and ether
Earth and water dominate the first stage of digestion in the mouth and the stomach. It includes the saliva and the alkaline secretions of the stomach lining. Here the water and earth elements are extracted from the food.
Fire dominates the second stage of digestion, with the secretion of acids in the small intestine. Here the fire element is extracted from the food.
Air and ether dominate the third stage of digestion in the large intestine with the formation of stool. Here the air and ether elements are extracted from the food.
By this logic salads are better at the end of a meal and desserts are better at the start of a meal or along with them. It is good to have something sour e.g. chutneys or yogurt in the middle of a meal. After meals, it is good to have astringent teas.
Ravi Bhanot
