Ayurvedic Eating Rituals

Eating Rituals in Ayurveda

Steady the mind and the body before you begin to eat  
Wash hands and feet before the meal.
Begin your meal with a blessing.
Do not eat when you are upset.
Avoid serving ice-cold water with the meal.  Sip warm or room temperature water.  


Cold water makes the stomach work harder to digest the meal as heat is required for digestion.

Serve freshly cooked food whenever possible
Serve mostly cooked foods with small portions of raw salads of easily digestible carrots, cucumber, light color greens.  Slow Cooked foods are easier to digest and they retain the nutrients besides tasting heavenly.
Avoid serving milk with the meal.  Milk is a hard food to digest and is best served by itself after it is warmed to help the milk to be more digestible.    Milk is best served warm at night before bed, as calcium is more easily absorbed when a person is lying down.

Go for a walk after dinner

Eat lightly at night and not much after 7pm

Be asleep by 10pm and awake by 6am

Eat until you are only 2/3 full

Eat in a pleasant environment not watching television or in a distracting place

Let your attention be on what you are eating so you can enjoy the experience

Foods should always be fresh, seasonal,attractive, colourful and smell wonderful

Do not eat unless you are hungry                  

Do not eat cooked honey and Let the meal be digested before you eat again