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Nothing can be as divine as a chilled glass of smoothies on a hot summer day, isn’t it? It refreshes you and of course, is a healthy option as it has milk, yogurt, and fruits. Unbeatable, right? WRONG! Here’s the news – Ayurveda ke mutabiq, mixing fruits with dairy, especially with milk can be a big mistake.
Now that’s a googly that knocked us completely because since childhood we have been savouring these shakes and custards. But Ayurveda has a rock-solid logic that might push you to drop these delish drinks forever. Come let’s learn why Ayurveda does not favour mixing fruits and milk.
The Ayurveda rule book suggests that mixing fruits and milk is bad for your gut.
According to Ayurveda, poor mixing of meals can cause systemic disorders in the body.
Dr Archana Batra, a dietitian and a nutritionist, suggests that poor mixing of meals can cause systemic disorders in the body. It can give rise to impotence, blindness, insanity, infertility, digestive illnesses, indigestion, fermentation, putrefaction, and gas generation, as well as toxaemia, if left untreated.
In fact, another renowned nutritionist, Neha Premjee, says that combining fruit with milk, and consuming them together can also lead to acidity and congestion in the digestive tract. You may find yourself experiencing gas due to the fiber from fruit and the incorrect digestive combination. This is because milk and dairy have heavier energy, and contain protein and fats which digest much slower than fruits.
As a result, fruit digestion will get delayed, and ferment in your tract which could lead to poor gut health down the line. To prevent indigestion and simply optimize your body’s absorption of vitamins and minerals from fruit make sure you consume them on an empty stomach.
Certain fruits such as bananas, strawberries, pineapple, limes, and oranges produce heat during digestion. Milk, on the other hand, acts as a coolant. These fruits become sour when they are broken down in the stomach. When milk and these fruits are combined, their mutually antagonistic properties can help to calm the digestive fire. The enzyme system is inhibited, leading to the synthesis of toxins. As a result, your gut flora may become unbalanced, hence leading to colds, coughing, phlegm, and allergies due to the frequent combination of milk and fruit meals.
“For example, milk and melons are not recommended to be consumed together. Milk and melon are both cooling, yet milk is a laxative and melon is a diuretic. Milk takes longer to digest than other foods. Ayurveda warns against drinking milk with sour meals because the stomach acid required to digest the melon causes the milk to curdle. These unsuitable food combinations cause digestive problems and confuse our cells’ intellect, which can lead to a variety of diseases,” suggest Dr Batra.
She added, “Milk should also not be combined with purely sweet and ripe fruits.”
To reduce the effects of bad food combinations, an intense digestive fire is the most important factor. Certain spices and herbs can be added to help make food compatible with Ayurveda. The negative impacts of these combinations may not show up right away in our bodies, but it may take years of poor nutrition to develop health problems. Thus, you should avoid combining milk with foods that are incompatible with it.
So whether it’s your favourite smoothie bowl or maybe that refreshing fruit cream – now you know why mixing fruits and dairy can be vicious for your gut.
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