B.I.T’s
Body Intelligence Techniques
We’re going to go over some basic principles regarding the preparation and eating of a meal that will help optimize digestion. We refer to these principles as Body Intelligence Techniques or BITS. By adhering to these common sense rules for eating you can help your system extract the highest levels of nourishment from everything you eat.
Eat in a quiet, settled, comfortable environment. Eating is a celebration. Eating food in a distracting environment diminishes your body’s ability to digest what you have eaten
Eat only when you feel hungry. Most of us were told that we should eat our meals at specific times but eating when you are not hungry is like trying to fill your car with gas when it is already full. It is wasteful.
Do not eat when you are upset. Food is not the ideal way to calm emotional turbulence. We’ll discuss more effective ways to meet your emotional needs in another chapter
Always sit down to eat. Eating while you are driving in your car does not count. The basic idea os this principle is to have your attention on the act of eating, not divided between other activities.
Refuce ice cold foods and beverages. Our digestive system evolved over millions of years and is designed to process foods at body temperature or slightly warmer. The taste buds become numb when we drink or eat ice cold food, making us less discriminating about what goes in our mouths.
Eat at a comfortable pace, stay conscious of the process. Air types will naturally eat faster than Earth types. Honor your own natural rhythm.
Listen to your appetite, digest the previous meal before starting the next one. Consider your appetite as a gauge with 1 + empty and 10 = full. Eat when you are at level 2 or 3 and stop when you are at a level 7. This requires being sensitive to your body. If you have a feeling of lightness and no longer taste or feel the effects of your last meal, chances are you are genuinely hungry.
Don’t overeat, leave 1/3 of your stomach empty to aid digestion. If you’ve ever stuffed your washing machine so tightly with clothes that it had trouble doing its job, you know what your stomach feels like when you overeat. The stomach liquefies the food through a churning action that requires space to function.
Eat freshly prepared foods. Lightly cooked foods are preferable to raw or over cooked foods. The process of heating and cookin gfood renders it more delicious and more digestible. Raw foods are fine for those with a very strong digestion or in the summertime when the Fire principle is naturally more enhanced.
Favor fruits, vegetables, grains, almonds, and organic dairy.
Include all six tastes at every meal, while favoring those that are balancing to your dosha. This is easy to do. You don’t need a lot of taste in order to be fully satisfied. Consider using specially formulated spice mixtures, called churnas, or having just a bite of a radish or pickle to balance out your meal.
Sit quietly for a few minutes after finishing your meal. Focus your attention on the sensations in your body. Give your body some time to digest what you’ve eaten before you go on to the next experience.
