Cook Your Meals To Warm Your Digestion

Nurture your body and keep warm in the fall by eating cooked meals. Ice, cold drinks and cold or raw food will make you feel cold from the inside out, effectively shutting down digestive function the moment you need it most. For this reason, cold foods are contraindicated for all three doshas in fall and winter. Avoiding cold and raw food (especially when in cold weather!) will help you feel relaxed and hearty. It will also improve your digestion, side stepping issues of gas, bloating, and discomfort.

In Ayurveda, the metaphor of a fire is used to describe digestion. What happens when you pour ice water on a campfire? Billows of smoke and steam pour off the fire in an unruly pattern. This reaction to cold drinks can be likened to gas and bloating. What happens when you put a large, wet log on a tiny fire? It smolders. The log will not burn. A similar reaction happens in your stomach when you eat a large, cold meal. The result is heaviness in your stomach, aching cramps and fatigue.

This fall, cook your meals. Have hot cereal for breakfast, a stir-fry with rice for lunch and soup for dinner. You will feel cozy, comfortable, and warm from the heat from all the cooked foods at your core.