Every human being must maintain a healthy body and mind. Ayurveda provides excellent guidance for leading a healthy and vigorous life. Ayurveda is the way of living. Its primary aim is to maintain perfect normal health of a person and thus help him lead a long happy and healthy life. Health is a balanced condition of body elements resulting in ease and the sense of well being. Diet, sleep and good conduct (called as ‘Bramhacharya’) are the three pillars, which support health. Giving due consideration to these three factors will ensure a healthy and strong body and mind throughout one’s lifespan. Conversely, if due care is not exercised, in any of these factors, health and strength will be adversely affected. Just like machines our body is also subject to wear and tear. Machines require energy / fuel to operate similarly the Diet provides the necessary energy / fuel to the body. Normally while recommending a diet, the person’s profession, age, weight is considered to calculate his ‘Calorie’ requirements, and the diet is recommended based on the calorie contents of the constituent food elements. However, Ayurveda considers this approach as ‘Incomplete’. It considers each human being as having a unique constitution which defines his / her digestive power the variation in this digestive power according to the person’s age and climatic conditions. Further, it also considers the ability of the body to convert the digested food into specific body elements.While considering various diet elements, the taste, properties and the effect of the elements on the body are given due importance.
In accordance with the abovegiven principles, the diet can be broadly classified into two categories: 1) Beneficial - Which keeps mind and body healthy and Vital. 2) Non Beneficial - Which does not help in preserving ones mental and physical health Food and drinks with desirable smell, taste and touch and taken according to prescribed method is said as vital strength. It produces energy in mind, constitution of dhatus, strength, complexion and clarity of sensory organs.
