According to Ayurveda, incompatible diets, meaning wrong food combinations, can weaken digestion and immunity. In this article, experts explain these harmful food combinations and how to avoid them.

Recently, the deaths of four family members in Maharashtra after eating watermelon after biryani sparked controversy over watermelon adulteration. But have you ever considered that sometimes we eat the wrong food combinations (viruddha ahara) at the wrong time, further worsening our health? Let's explore what is called Aviruddha Ahara in Ayurveda, its side effects, and how to be cautious.

What is called contradictory diet?

Ayurveda describes foods that may be healthy on their own, but when combined, they create toxins in the body. These foods slow down the digestive fire, unbalancing vata, pitta, and kapha. Incompatible foods negatively impact our digestion and also cause a variety of health problems. For example, we shouldn't eat anything salty with milk, but we often do. Eating fruit with milk is also bad; it can cause acidity. Similarly, there are many foods that are harmful if consumed together.

List of adverse diets

• Raw food should not be taken with food cooked on gas, hence it is advisable to eat salad before eating.
• One should avoid eating cold things along with hot food.
• Animal food should not be consumed along with natural food.
• Avoid consuming milk or dairy products with cereals.
• Eating jaggery mixed with milk or curd is harmful.
• Kheer, cheese or hot things should not be eaten with curd.
• Drinking honey mixed with hot water is harmful.

Immunity is weak

Consuming unhealthy foods not only causes digestive problems but also gradually weakens your immunity. Furthermore, it increases your risk of infection. People who already have serious illnesses are more likely to experience these problems. Furthermore, it disrupts the balance of the body's five elements. If you experience persistent gas, it can eventually manifest as ulcers.

Expert opinion

Dr. Medha Kulkarni, lifestyle expert at All India Ayurveda Yoga Institute, Delhi, explains that the eating habits have changed a lot these days. People mix anything with any food item, which later causes harm to the body. For example, many people eat bread, namkeen or biscuits with milk, which is very harmful. However, if you mix sugar and rice in milk and make kheer or porridge and eat it, then it does not cause any harm because all these things are Ksheer Mitra. Ksheer means milk and Mitra means friend. At the same time, if you make a smoothie by mixing any kind of sour fruit in milk, then it harms the intestines because they are Ksheer Amitaar, the enemy of milk.

Similarly, it is harmful to eat curd after taking it out of the fridge and heating it immediately. However, when curry is made from the same curd, gram flour and spices are added to it and the curd is diluted with water and mixed thoroughly, after which the curry is made. In this way, the nature of curd changes. It does not cause any harm. Nowadays, curd is added to thicken the gravy in many dishes. It is spicy and tasty to eat, but it increases the risk of acidity. These are called diets against the order.

Dr. Chhaya, an expert at Tapovan Yoga and Naturopathy Center, explains that most people, when they fall ill, blame the quality of their food, thinking it was probably substandard. However, they forget that the combination of foods, or the timing and quantity of food intake, is the reason they are falling ill. Naturopathy pays close attention to all these aspects. In today's world, incompatible diets are playing a major role in deteriorating our health. We tend to eat anything mixed with anything, which is very harmful. For example, some people eat fruit after a heavy meal at night. This is an incompatible diet that can cause gas and bloating. Eating any watery fruit at night can be harmful. Fruit is always best eaten on an empty stomach.

How to be careful?

Avoid foods that are not appropriate for the season or time of day. Always eat according to your daily routine and seasonal routine. Avoid cold foods, which reduce the potency of agni in your stomach.

• Wrong combination – when two foods are incompatible with each other (milk-banana).
• Method of cooking – It becomes poisonous when cooked in a particular way (ghee in a copper vessel).
• Quantity Viruddha- Consuming equal quantities of honey and ghee (1:1).

PC: Herzindagi