Foods rich in Ojas

[sky]

@ajay00..
Can you recommend any further article's/books please about the life of Sushruta...

[ajay00]

Originally Posted by Gem

My way of looking at it is a five step priority.

Yes, the steps mentioned should be used by anyone venturing into veganism for ethical reasons so as to ensure a balanced diet having all nutritional components adequately. Most get into veganism without doing their due diligence and then revert back .

I would say vegetarians can also profit from the steps mentioned.

As I mentioned with respect to fermented rice and dough , there are cooking methods that can plug any shortfalls in nutrition.

Nonvegetarian foods are correlated with higher incidence of cancer, cardiovascular diseases (which are the two biggest killers in the west) along with dementia, diabetes , Alzheimer's Disease, kidney stones and so on.

Unlike stale vegetarian foods, stale nonvegetarian food is also bound to result in harsher food poisoning issues and possible death as well.

[HITESH SHAH]

Hi All ,

I am bit delayed in my response on this . I read Ajay and Gems response along with URLs shared and comment on URL . In general you both have valid points.

@Gem ,
I agree different region and different time of year the food can be and should be different . There is no denying it . But Krishna too avoids giving specific food advice. Instead he just give generic guidelines which are more less what today's nutritionist and even you agree more or less .

Re dairy products we dont have any ethical issue if the bovine animal's calf is given enough milk and only residual milk is what we take. In the modern era determining this may not be possible or feasible but it was certainly case earlier.

Re balanced diet and workouts , Krishna also say similar thing in Chapter 6 verse 17 .

who are temperate in eating and recreation, balanced in work, and regulated in sleep, can mitigate all sorrows by practicing Yog

So there is great emphasis on regulation on food,workouts ,recreation,sleep ,exposure to sunlight / water/fresh air for good life which can result in general well being .

One subtle but crucial difference in our approach is that you measure everything like calorie in numbers and ours is experience based approach devoid of any number comparison .Few reasons we may not be measuring food calories may be our ignorance , our unwillingness to regulate our self and lack of faith in accuracy of it . That said , even numbers too can differ from region to region , weather to weather ,age to age ,profession to profession for different sex. And further these numerical yardstick may differ from one medical council to another or from one period to another by same medical councils.

Whatever approach we take , we can/should take care of proper context for the same & decide what's best in our situation

[kralaro]

Originally Posted by kralaro

Ojas vs Tejas vs Prana

Defining them as Miss Hepburn had instructed in this thread.

These are subtle, not physical terms. To the best of my limited knowledge, these are the types of energies produced when Satva (equanimity) interacts with Kapha (earth and water), Pitta (fire and water), Vata (space and air) respectively. Of course not the physical earth / water etc. but the subtle elements.

Coming to food, first let's acknowledge that subtle classifications of food exist; physical classifications are e.g. calcium, iron, calories while subtle classification would be e.g. the way we reach for warm foods or cooling foods to counter the weather even if those foods are at room temperature. Heat countering foods are a common knowledge here in India, e.g. eating rose petals mixed with sugar in summers.

Vata, Pitta, Kapha are subtle classifications of food according to the elements they promote, and so are Satva (equanimity), Rajas (transformation/activity), Tamas (inertia).

So those foods which promote equanimity (Satvic foods) and also promote Kapha (earth & water elements) would promote Ojas to the maximum. But i think Rajasic (Rajas promoting) and Tamasic (Tamas promoting) foods of Kapha type should also promote Ojas in lesser degrees.

Let's take an example of someone building muscles then he may want to focus on Rajasic Kapha foods. Kapha foods being earth & water, so heavy & watery foods. Or even Tamasic Kapha foods, e.g. buffalo milk as i know wrestlers in villages of India prefer Buffalo milk for their profession. Indian cow milk is Satvic while Buffalo milk is Tamsic.

When we see shine of health on someone's face, that's Tejas. Ojas as i understand is vitality. Prana is the life force in the body. Hindu god Hanuman being the deity of Prana. He's the son of god of wind and also we do Pranayam (breath control) exercises to promote Prana in the body :)

[Gem]

Originally Posted by HITESH SHAH

Hi All ,Krishna too avoids giving specific food advice. Instead he just give generic guidelines

Re balanced diet and workouts , Krishna also say similar thing in Chapter 6 verse 17. there is great emphasis on regulation on food,workouts ,recreation,sleep ,exposure to sunlight / water/fresh air for good life which can result in general well being . Whatever approach we take. what's best in our situation

That's exactly right.

I have my 5 priorities because it can be generalised to any individual preferences.

In modern times we can measure energy in calories and have identified the vitamins and minerals, so we can do the math and we can say which food contains what, but in practice, we try to introduce more fresh food to replace the processed, hyper-palatative, calorie dense, nutritionless food people are eating these days.

We tend to use calorie and macro counting for obesity weight-loss, weight categorised sports and body building, but the general aim is to exercise moderation based on your own hunger signals. If you want to lose weight, you can feel a bit hungrier. If you're trying to bulk up some muscle, feel a bit fuller. Keep track of bodyweight by averaging 3 weigh ins a week (first thing in the morning) and you can adjust your level of hunger to the weight you want to be by eating a bit more/a bit less.

I'm not a fan of ambiguous terms like a food has 'vigour', and I certainly am against the idea of 'toxic food'... but I think the visualisation of oja being contained in wholesome food promotes a positive mentality and a harmonious relationship with food, so I'm all for it.

[Gem]

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