Six areas to embrace during quarantine:

Episode II . Food as medicine

From an Ayurvedic point of view, food is seen as medicine. If we adhere to the concept that our body is comprised of the food we have eaten throughout our lives, then, obviously, what we eat on a daily basis is very important.

But more than focusing on giving you an accurate diet for your particular body/mind constitution (what we in Ayurveda call Dosha, your metabolic principle), today I would like to focus on three basic principles that everyone can follow at this particular moment.  

✓ Portion control: Be sure to control how much food you eat at each meal. Raise awareness of your relationship with food and take action. The suggested amount of food per meal should not be larger than the size of your two fists together. This is important when cooking, especially if you live alone.  Be aware of how much you prepare and then serve on the plate. If possible, avoid eating meat in the evening and try to eat a light dinner before 8PM. 

✓ Food in the form of liquid: Twice a week at one of your meals, preferably dinner, try not to eat solid foods. This is related to digestion and toxins. If you eat a piece of meat, your body spends more than five hours digesting it. If you eat food in the form of liquid, it only takes 25 minutes to metabolize it. With this simple action, you will allow your body to dedicate more time to the removal of toxins, which will give you a great feeling of internal cleansing. I also deeply recommend that you start the day by drinking a large glass of water, preferably warm, but at least room temperature. Your throat can be soothed by drinking warm water during the day and avoiding cold drinks, which also interfere with the digestive process.

✓ Fasting: Fasting, is usually related to religious traditions. But my suggestion is based on toxin control. We constantly generate toxins, which we eliminate through perspiration, feces and urine. We usually eat a lot more than we need and we eliminate the excess.  On the other hand, the whole metabolic process requires a large amount of energy expenditure. Through fasting, this energy can be redirected to cleanse our organism of toxins. 

The way I suggest fasting is this: eat a good breakfast, then have a satisfying lunch. Set aside dinner and, the next morning, set aside breakfast. Once again, ingest light solids at lunchtime. I suggest warm and cooked solids and from there we return to our normal routine. In this way we stop eating food for 24 hours. If, in the morning, you wake up feeling that it is too difficult to avoid food until noon, eat a light breakfast. You will have gone about 18 hours without eating food.

It is necessary to drink water on a regular basis, at least every two hours until bedtime, and again regularly throughout the morning.