Dinacharya- A Schedule for Health (2)

DOSHA: PITTA

PIX: While people in the North are bundled up against cold winter, those in the Southern Hemisphere are frolicking on the beach.

Summer and the searing heat of noon that makes us sweat and aggressively burns our skin is reflective of the characteristics of Pitta.

Ayurveda advises eating the biggest meal of the day in this time segment as metabolism and digestion are strong. The meridians that are strong at this time also support this sagely Ayurveda advice.

TIME SEGMENT:

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Elemental characteristics:

Fire and water: hot, fluid, liquid, sharp and aggressive.

(Heat, metabolism, transformation)

Functions:

Pitta governs bodily processes that produces or needs heat to occur such as metabolism and energy production. Its scope includes the digestive process, transforming nutrients into useful substances such as    red blood cells and formation of various secretions and excretions that are either the means or the ends of tissue combustion.

ACTIVITIES:

• By the time Pitta takes over from Kapha, the Spleen meridian is at its strongest. Some people may feel the need to snack at mid morning to fuel Pitta’s energy demand. If you want to lose fat, STOP YOURSELF FROM SNACKING!

When your body has used up its horde of sugar (glycogen) from your breakfast, it starts to use your store of fat and glycogen for energy. Your body's fat burning processes are controlled by your sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Your SNS is activated by both exercise and lack of food. That is why in the previous article exercise is scheduled before breakfast. Experts found that exercising on an empty stomach helps you to burn up your fat reserve stored in the muscles. Eating carbohydrates interrupts the process of metabolizing fat for about six hours afterward.

Peter Hespel, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Leuven in Belgium suggested, “Exercising without eating produces muscles that are better at absorbing glucose — which is important for preventing diabetes.”

• By 11 a.m., the Heart meridian asserts itself to transport nutrient rich blood to all parts of the body. With nutrients pouring in, you get another energy boost to continue working or studying.
  
  
• Have lunch at around 12 – 1 p.m. According to Ayurveda, this is the peak period for digestion. Eat your biggest meal at this time to take advantage of the strong digestion.

You can eat cool, raw food such as salad if you have good digestion (strong digestive fire). Those with weak digestion, stick to warm, easily digestible food. You can take small amounts of fermented food with your lunch to aid digestion. Examples of beneficial fermented foods are miso, temper, kin chi and sauerkraut.

Concentrate on your meal and chew your food well. Do not do other activities while you eat such as reading, watching a show or work in between each bite.

• Wash your face, ears, eyes, hands and feet just before and after each main meal. Rinse your mouth as well. Brush your teeth after the meal.

• Drink water an hour before and an hour after each meal. People with Vata constitution should drink warm water. Kaphas and Pitas can drink tepid water.

• Stroll around after your meal for a few minutes to help the food to go down for digestion. Moreover, walking assist the pumping action of the heart to carry blood and lymph throughout the body.

The Small Intestines meridian is active from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The function of the small intestine is the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients and minerals found in food.

Hey! Isn’t the food supposed to go to the small intestine first for digestion and absorption before their nutrients are moved to the spleen for transformation? Aha! Western translators (not the Chinese) do all the labeling of meridians in English according to organ names! There is some doubt whether the ‘Spleen meridian’ as named by Westerners was appropriate!

Let us follow the pathway of the Spleen meridian. From the Big Toe, the meridian goes to the Abdomen and enters the Spleen, continues to Stomach then up to root of the Tongue. Another branch continues from the Stomach to the Heart. As you can see, the Spleen meridian goes to a number of organs. The ‘Spleen meridian’ is involved in digestion, transformation, transportation and distribution of nutrients. Digestion starts in your mouth when saliva breaks down starch and continues in the stomach.

Other meridians may go to a number of organs, glands and/or body extremities including toes, fingers, crown of the head etc.

The information I gave about function of specific organs is culled from modern scientific sources, not traditional Chinese ones. As one Zen master once said, a word/name is like a finger pointing to the moon. The word/name is not the moon itself.

Dinacharya provides a skeleton with some recommendations for an ideal routine to harmonize your body’s circadian rhythm to the Master clock in Nature for a healthy lifestyle.  Consider your own constitution and be sensitive to your own biological rhythm when fleshing out your personal Dinacharya.

NOTE: This Dinacharya is for adults. Growing children who are not obese can take healthy snacks for brunch and tea (Tiffin) in addition to their main meals.