Ancient Tamil Wisdom on Healthy Eating

 The process of eating or ingestion is supposed to be one of the most important process to focus for our healthy living, according to our ancestors. However we all know that in modern times we have thousands of excuses not to learn these principles and adopt them but we are somehow ready to take up diseases and live with that rather than trying to stay away from them by using these ancient wisdom.
 
பசித்துப் புசி
Eat when you are hungry.
Hunger is the body’s language of talking to us to say it is ready to digest the food that is ingested. When there is no hunger then it means body is not ready to digest the food or it does not have the digestive fluids ready such as hydrochloric acid and other enzymes required for digestion.
Unfortunately in modern times this very basic knowledge is completely ignored, with most people taking food on a given specific time without checking their body if it is really hungry or not. If one is getting hungry on a regular time interval then it is not a bad idea to take food in that specific time. But to be noted is the snacking habit. Often when we take snacks there is absolutely no hunger and we tend to snack only for indulgence and socializing. This habit should be consciously monitored and checked. Even worse would be the processed food snacks that are even more dangerous in a long term basis.
 
பசிக்காமல் எதையும் உண்ணாதீர்; உண்ணும்போது உணவைத்  தவிர வேறு எதையும் எண்ணாதீர். - ஹீலர் பாஸ்கர்
Do not eat without hunger. While eating do not think about anything else other than eating – Healer Bhaskar - Anatomic Therapy.
This means while eating no TV, no listening to music, no cell phone talking, no chatting with friends and family, no business meetings, no playing with kids, etc. etc. Just see the food and eat. Try to hold your wandering thoughts only on to the food that you are eating.
When one avoids all other activities and thoughts, and focusses only on food, the body is supposed to be well prepared for the digestive process. Also when the focus is on food and eating, we can take only the proper required amount of food and avoid over eating.
Today people tend to do everything during eating, giving the least importance for the process of eating and digestion. One of the excuse given is life is so fast that we have to do all other stuff while eating. This is very destructive to one’s health.
 
நொறுங்கத் தின்னா நூறு வயசு
If you eat food by chewing properly, then you can live up to 100 years.
While eating chew the food very well and mix it well with saliva. Have the mouth closed so that no air enters in while chewing. The food should enter into the throat as a semi solid homogeneous fluid.
Only food that is well chewed and mixed with saliva gets digested well. Saliva contains a huge number of digestive enzymes that moistens the food and prepares it for digestion. Without this saliva, food ingested will not be well prepared for digestion in the stomach.
In modern times we do not understand the importance of chewing the food well and mixing it well with saliva. Food that is gulped in hurry does not get digested well causing indigestion and eventually causing other serious diseases. Also the necessary nutrients required for nourishment of the body goes wasted. So instead of chewing the food for 2 or 3 times and gulping it, it becomes necessary to chew the food for 20-40 times to make it a semi solid homogeneous fluid before it slips through the throat. This means it may take little longer say 15-30 minutes for eating but this is a necessary step one has to do towards one's health.
 
மருந்துஎன வேண்டாவாம் யாக்கைக்கு அருந்தியது
அற்றது போற்றி உணின் - திருக்குறள்  942
Body does not need any medicine, when one eats only after the previously ingested food has been digested well – Thirukural 942.
Digestion is the process of separating the wanted from the unwanted, useful nutrients from the gross material, so that the useful nutrients can be assimilated into the body for nourishment. However if the digestion process is not satisfactory then the semi digested or undigested food causes various problems from minor discomforts such as constipation to serious illnesses such as obesity, cancer etc.
Digestion is one the most misunderstood term. People think anything that goes into the stomach will be digested well. This is completely a wrong notion. Only the food that is well prepared in the mouth in pre-digestion process by chewing and mixing with saliva will digest well. Hunger is the confirmation that the previously ingested food is digested. However often people tend to eat without getting hungry.