Hindu Janajagruti Samiti - Hinduism Articles

Section I: Fundamental principles of dietetics

1. Food itself is Brahma (annam Brahma)
- 1.1 Lord Vishnu - the deity of food
- 1.2 Importance of food as a vehicle for the subtle body (linga deha)
- 1.3 Food provides the structural components and energy
- 1.4 The body is derived from food
- 1.5 Definition of food
- 1.6 Properties of food
- 1.7 Importance of a beneficial diet
2. Constituents and classification of food
- 2.1 What is the composition of the human body ?
- 2.2 What are the functions of these basic elements ?
- 2.3 How are these basic elements available ?
- 2.4 What are the basic elements and the biological elements of the human body according to Ayurveda ?
- 2.5 How are the constituents of food classified ?
- 2.6 How is food available in Nature
- 2.7 What are the basic constituents of the human body ?
- 2.8 What are the differences in the nutritive value of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food ?
- 2.9 Best food items from various categories
- 2.10 Important functions and effect of various food items commonly used in our diet
3. Food processing
- 3.1 What are the various methods of processing food ?
- 3.2 What is the effect of cooking on the nutritive value of food ?
- 3.3 How can one preserve food ?
4. Meals
- 4.1 Kitchen
- 4.2 Dining room
- 4.3 Place for eating
- 4.4 Vastushastra and the arrangement in the kitchen
- 4.5 Utensils used for serving food
- 4.6 Arrangement of food items in a plate
- 4.7 When should a person dine ?
- 4.8 Before meals
- 4.9 Is it advisable to take an appetiser before meals ?
- 4.10 Is it advisable to have an alcoholic drink as an appetiser before meals
- 4.11 Selection of food
- 4.12 How should one serve the courses of food ?
- 4.13 When should one drink water during a meal ?
- 4.14 Qualities of food and its effect on the body
- 4.15 Eating slowly or eating fast
- 4.16 Avoid the following types of food items
- 4.17 Dinner
- 4.18 Quantity of food
- 4.19 Anupana
- 4.20 Should one eat meals in solitude or in the company of family or friends ?
5. Diet and the mind
- 5.1 Concept of food according to the Vedas
- 5.2 Diet of the sense organs, mind and intellect
- 5.3 Factors affecting the purity of food
- 5.4 Activation of the Sun channel (Surya nadi) after meals
- 5.5 Diet and the mind
- 5.6 Classification of diet in relation with the mind
- 5.7 Examples of sattvik, rajasik and tamasik food items
- 5.8 Effect of the state of mind on digestion
- 5.9 Non-vegetarian diet
- 5.10 Respect for food
- 5.11 Diet with sanskars
- 5.12 Effect of an evil eye being cast by animals and people on the food served as a meal
6. Qualities of food
- 6.1 The twenty biological qualities of food
- 6.2 What is the scientific meaning of the words ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ with respect to food items and medicines ?
- 6.3 Hot and cold food items
- 6.4 Who should eat hot food items and who should avoid them ?
- 6.5 Who should eat cold food items and who should avoid them ?
- 6.6 Heavy and light food items
- 6.7 Heavy food items
- 6.8 Light food items
- 6.9 What is meant by oily and dry food items ?
- 6.10 Oily food items
- 6.11 Dry food items
- 6.12 Who should eat dry food items and who should avoid them ?
7. Taste
- 7.1 Six tastes
- 7.2 functions of sweet taste
- 7.3 Side-effects of eating sweet food items in excess
- 7.4 Functions of sour taste
- 7.5 Side-effects of eating sour food items in excess
- 7.6 Functions of salty taste
- 7.7 Side-effects of excessive salt intake
- 7.8 Functions of pungent taste
- 7.9 Side-effects of eating pungent food items in excess
- 7.10 Functions of bitter tast
- 7.11 Side-effects of consuming bitter food items in excess
- 7.12 Functions of astringent taste
- 7.11 Side-effects of excessive intake of food with an astringent tast
8. Constitution (prakruti) and the diet
- 8.1 Vata, pitta, kapha and balanced constitution (sama prakruti)
- 8.2 Taste of food items and the humours (doshas)
- 8.3 Beneficial and harmful diet and activity for vata constitution and vataja (vata induced) diseases
- 8.4 Tonics for vata constitution and vataja (vata induced) diseases
- 8.5 Beneficial and harmful diet and activity for pitta constitution and pittaja (pitta induced) diseases
- 8.6 Tonics for pitta constitution and pittaja (pitta induced) diseases
- 8.7 Beneficial and harmful diet and activity for kapha constitution and kaphaja (pitta induced) diseases
- 8.8 Tonics for kapha constitution and kaphaja (kapha induced) diseases
9. Season and the diet
- 9.1 Seasons in North and South India
- 9.2 Effect of seasons on man
- 9.3 Seasons and the three humours (doshas)
- 9.4 Seasons and vata
- 9.5 Seasons and pitta
- 9.6 Seasons and kapha
- 9.7 Modification of diet in different seasons
- 9.8 Spring season (vasant rhutu)
- 9.9 Summer season (grishma rhutu)
- 9.10 Pre-monsoon season (pravrut rhutu)
- 9.11 Monsoon season (varsha rhutu)
- 9.12 Autumn season (sharad rhutu)
- 9.13 Early winter season (hemant rhutu)
- 9.14 Late winter season (shishir rhutu)
- 9.15 Diet and activity in different seasons
- 9.16 Panchakarma treatment
- 9.17 Exercise
- 9.18 Afternoon nap
10. Digestion
- 10.1 Digestion of food
- 10.2 Digestion in the stomach and the intestines
- 10.3 Digestive power
- 10.4 Factors affecting the digestive power
- 10.5 What is the effect of diet on the qualities of the mind ?
- 10.6 Guidelines to maintain the digestive organs healthy
11. Dietetic incompatibility (viruddha anna)
- 11.1 Incompatibility of food items with one another
- 11.2 Incompatibility due to various conditioning factors
  - Nisargattaha viruddha (naturally incompatible)
  - Desh viruddha (regionwise incompatibility)
  - Kala viruddha (timewise incompatibility)
  - Agni viruddha (digestion power incompatibility)
  - Koshtha viruddha (digestive capacity incompatibility)
  - Parimana viruddha (fixed proportion of two food items)
  - Satmaya viruddha (habituation incompatibility)
  - Dosha viruddha (constitution incompatibility)
  - Increase in the same humour (dosha) caused by two or more food items
  - Sanskar viruddha (mode of preparation)
  - Incompatibility between a food item and the cooking utensil
  - Virya viruddha (combination of food items with opposing action)
  - Avastha viruddha (mental state of an individual
  - Krama viruddha (prescribed course
  - Paka viruddha (degree of cooking)
  - Sampat viruddha (quality of food)
  - Sanyoga viruddha (way of combination of food items)
  - Vidhi viruddha (breaking of dietetic rules)
  - Parikar viruddha (order of food)
  - Mana viruddha (against one’s liking)
- 11.3 Diseases resulting from dietetic incompatibilities
- 11.4 Treatment
12. Place and food
- 12.1 Effect of place on the quality and digestibility of food
  - Place where the food is grown
  - Place where a person has spent his childhood
  - Place where the food is eaten
- 12.2 Time (kal)
  - Effect of time on food
  - Natural time for eating food
  - Time of the day for eating food
  - Season and food
  - Stage of a disease and food
  - Effects of food eaten at an inappropriate time
  - Upayukta
13. Tolerance and intolerance (satmya and asatmya)
- 13.1 Tolerance (satmya)
  - Pravara satmya (good tolerance
  - Avara satmya (poor tolerance
  - Madhyama satmya (moderate tolerance)
  - Oakasatmya (tolerance after constant use)
  - Jatisatmya (tolerance in a species)
  - Deshasatmya (tolerance according to the place or region)
  - Rhutusatmya (tolerance according to the season)
  - Prakrutisatmya (tolerance according to the constitution)
  - Vayasatmya (tolerance according to the age)
  - Vyadhisatmya (tolerance in a disease)
- 13.2 Intolerance (asatmya)

Section II: Dietary Components and Their Functions

14. Calories
- 14.1 How does food supply energy ?
- 14.2 What is a calorie in the context of food ? How does food supply energy to sustain all the body activities ?
- 14.3 How many calories are supplied by common food items ?
- 14.4 Which factors affect one’s food requirements ?
- 14.5 How many calories and proteins do children and adults normally require?
- 14.6 How does one’s activity affect the caloric and protein requirements of one’s body ?
- 14.7 What are the manifestations of deficiency in calories ?
- 14.8 What are the manifestations of taking food, i.e. calories in excess ?
- 14.9 How is it that some people eat a lot and yet are thin whereas others may eat very little and yet gain weight ?
- 14.10 What is the percentage of fat in the human body ?
15. Proteins
- 15.1 What are proteins ?
- 15.2 What are the functions of proteins ?
- 15.3 Why do children require more proteins?
- 15.4 What are the sources of proteins ?
- 15.5 Why are animal proteins rated as first class proteins and vegetable proteins as second class proteins ?
- 15.6 Can vegetable proteins replace animal proteins ?
- 15.7 What are the symptoms of protein deficiency ?
- 15.8 Is it risky to consume proteins in excess ?
16. Fats
- 16.1 Components of fats
- 16.2 Circulating lipoproteins
- 16.3 What are the functions of fat ?
- 16.4 What are the dietary sources of fat ?
- 16.5 What are the differences between fat from animal source and that from vegetable source ?
- 16.6 What are essential fatty acids ?
- 16.7 What are the symptoms of fat deficiency ?
- 16.8 What are the symptoms of excessive intake of fat ?
17. Carbohydrates
- 17.1 What are carbohydrates ?
- 17.2 What are the sources of carbohydrates ?
- 17.3 What are the functions of carbohydrates ?
- 17.4 Types of carbohydrates
- 17.5 What are the symptoms of deficiency of carbohydrates ?
- 17.6 What are the symptoms of consuming carbohydrates in excess ?
18. Minerals
- 18.1 What are the functions of minerals in general ?
- 18.2 Iron
  - What are the dietary sources of iron ?
  - What are the functions of iron in our body ?
  - How can one recognise iron deficiency ?
  - What are the daily requirements of iron and calcium in children and adults ?
- 18.3 Calcium
  - What are the functions of calcium in the body ?
  - What are the sources of calcium in our diet ?
  - What are the symptoms of calcium deficiency ?
- 18.4 What are the sources and functions of other minerals in the body ?
- 18.5 Harmful effects of some minerals when absorbed into the body in excess
- 18.6 Salt (lavan)
  - Saindhav
  - Sauvarchala (sanchala or padelona)
  - Bidalavan (bida salt)
  - Samudra lavan [common salt (salt from the sea)]
  - Oudbhida salt
  - Krushna lavan (black salt)
  - Romak
- 18.7 Caustic salts (ksharas)
  - Yavakshara
  - Svarjikakshara or sajjikshara
  - Tankanakshara (borax)
19. Vitamins
- 19.1 What are vitamins ?
- 19.2 What are the daily requirements of various vitamins ?
- 19.3 Can vitamins be stored in the body ?
- 19.4 Vitamin A
- 19.5 B-Complex
- 19.6 Vitamin C
- 19.7 Vitamin D
- 19.8 Vitamin E
- 19.9 Vitamin K
20. Water
- 20.1 What are the functions of water ?
- 20.2 How much water should one drink daily ?
- 20.3 When should one drink water ?
- 20.4 Rain water (divya jal)
- 20.5 Properties of water according to the soil
- 20.6 Sources of water
- 20.7 Water during the day and night
- 20.8 Testing water
- 20.9 Purification of water
- 20.10 Boiling of water
- 20.11 Who should drink water which is cooled after boiling ?
- 20.12 What are the indications to drink less water ?
- 20.13 What are the symptoms of drinking excessive water ?
- 20.14 What are the symptoms of deficiency of water in the body ?
- 20.15 What are the indications to drink warm water ?
- 20.16 What are the indications to drink cold water ?
21. Balanced diet
- 21.1 What is good nutrition ?
- 21.2 How much food should one eat ?
- 21.3 Food exchanges
- 21.4 Principles for calculating calories in the diet
- 21.5 Principles for selection of diet
- 21.6 Outline of food exchanges
- 21.7 What are the differences in the nutritive value of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food ?
- 21.8 Is it possible for poor families to have a well balanced and nutritious diet ?

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