Food incompatibilities
What Ayurveda teaches about food incompatibilities and how some simple changes can benefit digestion.
the extent to which you experience symptoms depends on your overall digestive strength
Ayurveda centres on improving and maintaining our digestive health to both treat and prevent disease. Agni, the digestive fire is responsible for digestion, absorption, assimilation and transformation of food into energy. It is the key to good overall health and strong immunity, in fact we now know that 70% of our immune systems is housed in the gut. In the same way gut health is paramount for our overall health so too is our agni, really they are just different descriptions of the same concept.
balanced digestion - sama agni
The key to Ayurveda and what I work towards with my clients is establishing a balanced digestive fire, (known as sama agni). When we achieve this state we experience little to no symptoms, digestive or otherwise. Everything is stable and we are blessed with good health. We are able to eat a varying quantity and quality of food with no adverse effect. Not only this but our minds are calm, quiet and clear. Once this state is achieved it is maintained through a balanced diet and lifestyle. However, over time if our diet and lifestyle is poor our digestive fire will begin to become weakened and symptoms will arise.
If you have sama agni, you will not experience any adverse effects from eating incompatible foods. However, if you do so consistently and long term or your digestion becomes weakened for any reason (e.g acute illness) you may start to experience the symptoms. Ayurveda also recognises that for some people our digestion simply gets used to some of the follow combinations. The rules are never black and white.
When we have good gut health, we appreciate it and want to maintain it.
Imbalanced agni
This is far more common than sama agni. Imbalanced digestion can be categorised into three types; vishama, tikshna and manda. If you experience symptoms whether they are digestive or non digestive, mild or severe you are said to have a form of imbalanced agni. Consumption of incompatible foods will more often cause adverse effects in people with imbalanced agni. Symptoms typically first appear as bloating, wind, heartburn or a feeling of heaviness after eating.
incompatible foods include:
Dairy milk with meat, fish, eggs, and fruit (esp. sour fruits and bananas)
Fruit with grains, potatoes, milk, cheese and yogurt
Eggs with fish or meat
Honey when heated e.g honey roasted. Honey should not be heated over 40°C
In general:
Only consume one type of animal protein at a time.
Fruit is best eaten separately from other foods.
Smoothies are a good example of incompatible food combining. It is common to want to add as many ingredients as possible to get the maximum nutritional benefit; fruits, raw vegetables, protein powders, milk, oats and seeds all whizzed together can adversely affect digestion. Particularly for clients that experience bloating I ask them to trial a different breakfast, often one that is cooked and eaten warm. Alternatively I suggest just fruit and water or plant based milk with no ice. Ideally drank at room temperature and no gulping down!
Ayurveda advocates maximising nutrient density and food diversity but in a way that benefits long term digestive capacity.