by Sheela Rani Chunkath
Sabudana khichdi, arbi masala, aloo paneer kofta, kaddu ki sabzi, rajgira ki poori, aloo tamatar sabzi, sabudana pakora, banana chips, potato finger chips, sabudana bhel, sabudana ladoo, papaya halwa, sweet potato halwa, lauki ka halwa, apple halwa, dry fruits ladoo, sweet lassi, dry fruits milkshake, banana milkshake and the list goes on. I don’t know if you guessed it but the above is a list of foods that can be eaten during the Navarathri fast. Yes, you got that right; it is fasting food! No wonder that many people love to go on a 'fast'.
In Ayurveda the concept of a fast is a little different. A fast means that you go without any food during a specified period of time. You are allowed to sip hot water.
Ayurveda states that if your digestion seems a little disturbed or if your bowel movements are not smooth, then going on a fast i.e. skipping your next two meals may be a good idea to restore the digestive process to normal.
The vrat or fast was perhaps formulated with this in mind, so as to give your entire digestive system a periodic rest. But the vrat of modern times seems to be a time to indulge in more and newer exotic dishes. It was fascinating to see the number of recipes posted on the net for the Navarathri fast. There was an incredible range of recipes in the net starting from main courses to side dishes to snacks (in case the main dishes were insufficient) and desserts to top it all. These were further classified into North Indian and South Indian recipes to suit regional palates.
Periodic fasts have been prescribed in all religions to perhaps test your 'willpower' and to give your digestive system a rest. Ayurvedic texts state that digestion is critical and central to good health. So a lot of thought has gone into this aspect of our daily lives. One’s digestion or digestive fire must be just right. The fire should not burn too violently or in too subdued a way. It should be a moderate steady flame. So if you have a digestive fire which is dull in that you are unable to digest what you have eaten, always feeling full, not really feeling hungry etc. what you can do first is to fast. And this is a real fast, not the Navarathri type of fast but fasting completely from food for perhaps one or two meals. Fasting increases agni. Fasting from food is called khust. Fasting from water or limiting fluid intake called trit can also be done to increase agni.
A word of caution, this is to be done for normally healthy people who feel that their digestion has become sluggish. Definitely not for diabetics who are on diabetic medication.
Drinking plain hot water increases agni. So if you have consumed a heavy marriage feast you can sip some hot water to improve digestion or use herbs such as fennel, calamus, dry ginger, plumbago, turmeric, cumin or asafoetida. The famous ayurvedic preparation Trikatu containing dry ginger, pippali and black pepper can also be taken. Agni or digestive fire is increased by these heating herbs i.e these herbs have a hot 'virya'.
If there is ama, detoxification can be done by using herbs such as guduchi, cilantro leaves, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric and calamus. Agni is improved by exposure to sun, heat wind and fresh air. So take a walk early in the mild morning sun or at sunset and let the fresh air improve your digestive fire.
Many of these prescriptions may be well known to us but in the grind of daily living we forget them. So this Navarathri, try a real fast and an invigorating walk and see your digestion improve.
--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/