3 Easy Ayurvedic Tips to Keep your Digestive Fire Strong

Rain on your window panes and smell of spicy fried pakodas is a quintessential feature in this season. There are temptations at every street corner with vendors and their delicious snacks! But most of these are bad news, as once you succumb to the temptation, it triggers a domino effect and your digestion suffers. First your bodily humours (Tridoshas) go out of balance and that can lead to multiple health issues, particularly of the digestive system, which according to Ayurveda is already weak in monsoons.

Ayurvedic Purview of Monsoon’s Effect on Digestion

The months before Monsoons are hot and dry. This often leads to excessive accumulation of vata in the body, which disrupts the digestive fire in the gut. By the time monsoons starts, humidity in the air further weakens the digestive fire. Naturally, this can make you prone to flatulence, bloating, gas, lack of appetite, diarrhoea etc. occur. To counter such issues, Ayurveda has some very effective advice and remedies to strengthen digestion for you and your whole family!

Choose an Easy-to-Digest Diet

Ayurveda considers the time during the monsoon months to be lethargic and heavy. The digestive and metabolic fire is weak during this time of the year. Eating foods that are easy to digest will not leave behind undigested food particles in the digestive tract and prevent ama formation. Ayurveda suggests consuming foods such as whole grains, yellow lentil (mungdaal), corn, chickpea flour, and oatmeal, which are good to eat and yet light on the stomach. Bitter gourd, turmeric and neem has bitter Tikta taste and have anti-microbial properties. Besides keeping your gut healthy, this will cleanse your taste buds and balance out aggravated Kapha dosha.

A Gentle Push to Get Your Metabolism Going

Slow metabolism in monsoon is usually temporary and transient. During monsoons, the two common digestive problems that trouble people the most are indigestion (Ajeerna) and dyspepsia (Agnimandya). To get rid of these problems: 1. Mix amla powder in a cup of water and drink on an empty stomach to keep your digestion strong and active. 2. Chop a 2-inch long piece of ginger in small pieces and mix it with a pinch of black salt (sendha namak) and consume this half an hour before meals. 3. Take half a teaspoon black pepper and grind it in a fine powder, mix this with jaggery powder or with sugar powder and consume it regularly on an empty stomach for a few days to improve your digestion and refresh your taste buds. (Black pepper is used in Ayurveda to improve appetite and relieve gas.)

Stay Active

Mild exercises every morning can whet your appetite and also strengthen your body. No need to break a sweat, walking 20 minutes around the block or in a park and getting some fresh air is enough to keep your metabolism active. Some people may witness an immediate drop in appetite levels after workout, but later in the day there will be a definite improvement.

Pro Tip: For those times when the weather demands pakoda and chutney, go for the homemade kind. After all, there is no competition for mummy’s cooking, is there?

For long term relief , please consult a doctor to get ayurvedic medicine for digestion