Royal breakfast or Loyal Breakfast         

In the current era of social media so much information is been flowing that at times it becomes impossible to check its authenticity. This article will discuss the authentic and scientific opinion of Ayurved on breakfast.

King size breakfast

“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince & dinner like a pauper” This is a famous quote of renowned American Nutritionist Adelle Davis. For so many years nutritionist & dietitians have been following this golden rule. The food culture of a particular country is varies according to geographical conditions, changes in weather and the belief system of the countrymen. That’s why dietary principles of one country not necessarily are relevant in another country. So one has to be judicious while applying these guidelines.

In India so many people living in the major cities have to work late night. So most of the times they take dinner after 9 p.m. There is a subset of people who work in the second shift eats well after midnight. So many of these peoples feel nausea-tic while brushing in the morning. Some suffer from sour belching after morning tea. Many of these complain about constipation. All these symptoms are suggestive of indigestion. Is it OK for these people to take heavy morning breakfast?

The smart lotus

Ayurved compares human body with the lotus flower. The petals of the lotus are open during daytime and close after sunset. Just like that the different systems in the human body are on ‘active mode’ in presence of sunlight and their activity diminishes after sunset. So time required for digestion of dinner is substantially more than that for lunch. So if someone eats dinner just after sunset the body gets sufficient time for the digestion of the same. On the contrary if someone takes dinner late night most of the time it is not digested or partially digested. In such scenario if the person takes breakfast in the morning it is like adding milk in to a vessel having curd in it. You don’t require an expert to tell what will the fate of that milk in such case. That proves eating early morning breakfast after late night dinner is not helpful.                 

That’s why Ayurved is not in favor of early morning heavy breakfast. On the contrary Ayurved says that one should not eat at all till you feel really hungry. Only winter is an exception to this rule. In winters the night time is pretty much greater than day time & the digestive capacity is also at its peak. So right from the morning we feel hungry. Diwali is the festival right at the start of the winters. That’s why we prepare a number of fried and tasty beverages for Diwali. Now one can appreciate the science of Ayurved in the background of our food habits. But this exception is only for winters. In summer and rainy season one should eat only twice a day. If you don’t eat anything in the morning you get really hungry between 10.30 am to 12.30 pm. So this is the ideal lunch time.          

From Royal to loyal

Now one might ask in the current era of ‘IT’ & ‘High Tea’ is it really possible to follow these guidelines by Ayurved? Due to the work pressure and corporate culture most of the people cannot take lunch before 1.30 – 2pm. How can they remain hungry for so long? Ayurved always helps you to find balance between ideal and practical. Those who are forced to take lunch in the late afternoon should go for breakfast but it has to be “light” but not “King Size”     

Breakfast is also prevalent in some parts of India as well. But it has to be light. In India you will find different breakfast menu designed as per local weather and geographical variations. For example ‘Stuffed Parathas’ which are pretty high calorie meal comes from Punjab and northern part of the country where temperature is pretty low as compared to south India. In Maharashtra ‘Rice Kanji’ is the routine breakfast for the farmers living in Konkan region and those staying in Vidarbha and Marathwada eat ‘Sattu’ in breakfast, These variations happen so naturally that perhaps who tend to overlook the science behind it. So those who want to eat breakfast should go for Puffed Rice, Green gram soup (Moong Soup), Moong Dosa, seasonal fruit or a vegetable soup like pumpkin or bottle gourd soup. One should avoid eating high calorie bakery products like rusk, biscuits with tea or Corn flakes in the breakfast. So those who want to live longer and stay healthy should stick to the “Loyal” breakfast than the “Royal” one. So ideally breakfast should be like a prince and lunch like a king. As your digestive fire ie Agni is more mature in the afternoon. I guess anyone will appreciate a mature king over an immature prince.  

  

Show me evidence

Now somebody might argue that the dietitians from all over the world are in favor of heavy breakfast. Then is the light breakfast concept is scientific? There is a small subset of ‘so called’ inquisitive people in India who always ask for proofs from everybody. Fair enough, here is the latest evidence for these inquisitive minds. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) is considered as one the best in the world. February 2019 edition of the BMJ has published a review article named “Breakfast – just another dirt myth?” This article speaks about the results of 13 different researches carried out to find the ‘effect of breakfast on weight & energy intake’.  It was a unanimous result that “Breakfast might not be a good strategy for weight loss. Caution is needed when recommending breakfast in for weight loss in adults.” One details please follow the link given at the end of this article.  

So even the western world is validating & appreciating the science behind Ayurved. Only question is when we as Indians will start respecting our science? Or else we want to wait till the western world proves all the principles of Ayurved?  

© Dr Pushkar Puruhottam Wagh

MD (Ayurved)

Ayush Ayueved Clinic,

A - 5, Palm View, RX -37,

 MIDC, Dombivli (East)

9224349827

drpushkarwagh@gmail.com     

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