Holistic Health Promoting Food Preparations From Ayurveda

Ayurveda the science of life is serving the mankind since more than 5000 years. It has two main objectives, maintaining the health of healthy and alleviating the disease of diseased one. To maintain and promote the health food plays a central role. It is not just the ingredients but the the methods of preparation of food is crucial to provide optimum nutrition. Ayurvedic seers have though in depth and described in detail about how to make food most assimiable to the system. For this the food preparations have been categorized in twelve main groups and each group has its own advantages and specific health benefits. With the increasing prevalence of fast food culture and unhealthy food practices, the incidence of several life threatening diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension are goes on increasing, not only that but our psychological status is also closely associated with our food habits. Unhealthy food habits are known cause for anxiety, depression etc. and food modification is one of the important part of treatment in all such diseases. In this scenario, it becomes more important to know and search the solution from our ancient wisdom. The description from Ayurveda classics may be helpful for us to know the appropriate food practices which are suitable for our physical and psychological health. The presentation will discuss in detail about the various categories of food (Ahara varga) and its preparation methods along with the impact on our health.