An Ayurvedic Lunch

Fresh Foods at An Italian Market

Contrary to the way many Americans treat it, lunch really should be the biggest and most nutritious meal. If we wait to eat our largest meal at dinner, the food is going to sit in the belly from the time we go to bed until the next day. Our agni (digestive fire) is the strongest at lunch time when the sun is at its peak, so if we eat our most nutritious meal then, we have the remainder of the day to digest, and we will feel satiated all afternoon.

Skip salads and eat warm, nourishing foods for lunch. Even though salads are made of vegetables, they are raw and difficult for many people to digest. Plus they don’t have much staying power as they are cold, light and rough. Try to eat something that is warm, has plenty of veggies with yummy spices (choose spices good for your own dosha).

Try to sit down and eat your meal versus eating on the go. We don’t digest our meals very well when our mind is distracted. So as it does at night, the food will sit in the belly and wait to get the go ahead from our brain to tell it what to do. We want to get as much nourishment as possible from our food, so maintain the connection between mind and meals.

Your mother was right to tell you to chew your food completely. The digestion process begins in the mouth, and when we don’t chew well, it is much more difficult to digest the food. So try to chew 15-20 times before swallowing the food.

Finally, eat lunch at a regular time and try to avoid waiting until you get “hangry”.  When we get to that point, we often don’t make wise food choices because we just want to get food in our bellies as quickly as possible. So we are more apt to eat food that isn’t as nutritious.  So try to get in the habit of eating the biggest and most nutritious meal at a regular time between 12pm and 2pm, and your body will be much happier.