Why we must adopt ancient food practices / 为什么我们必须采取这些古老的饮食习惯

Food habits have played a major role even in the rise and fall of civilizations. Aryans would not have migrated to India in 1500 BC had their lands in Central Asia not fallen short of pastures for their cattle. The simple 'Mediterranean' foods that dieticians are tardily recommending us today must have played a great part in the remarkable achievements of the Greeks. Even the small habits that we have grown up hearing like, "don't go out on an empty stomach, do not talk while eating, do not share glasses, do not chomp...are much more than good manners. In fact going back to some of these habits can magically impact our health.

即使在文明的兴衰中，饮食习惯也发挥了重要的作用。 雅利安人在公元前1500年不会迁徙到印度如果他们的土地并没有牛了。 营养师今天推荐给我们的简单的“地中海式”食品必定在希腊人的显着成就中发挥了重要的作用。 即使是我们长大后听到的小习惯，“不要空腹出门，不要一边吃饭一边说话，不要分享眼镜，不要唠唠叨叨。 这些小习惯神奇地影响着我们的健康。

Sitting on the floor while eating: In an age when there were no dining tables, everyone sat on floor while having food and very few suffered from lifestyle diseases that have become so rampant in our times. According to experts, sitting on the floor cross legged while having food as practiced in India is typically a yogic posture called Sukhasan which is said to massage the abdominal muscles, boost circulation in lower part of the body and increase flexibility. So ditching the dining table or couch while having food is not a bad idea!

一边吃饭一边坐在地板上：在没有餐桌的时代，每个人都坐在地上，同时有食物，很少有患有我们这个时代猖獗的生活方式疾病。 据专家介绍，在印度练习食物时，盘腿坐在地板上，典型地是一种称为Sukhasan的瑜伽姿势，据说可以按摩腹部肌肉，促进身体下部的循环，增加柔韧性。 所以在吃饭的时候放开餐桌或者沙发也不是一个坏主意！

E arly morning breakfast: The roots of having an early morning breakfast go long back in history. The legendary Roman breakfast called "jentaculum" was taken immediately after the sun rise. It must have been considered healthy to indulge in nourishing food early in the morning. Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar recommends, "Eat within 15 minutes of waking up, if you want to lose weight." Postponing or skipping your breakfast not only makes you ravenous during lunch time, but also reduces your metabolism.

早晨的早餐：清早吃早餐的根源早已历史悠久。 太阳升起后，传说中的罗马早餐叫做“jentaculum”。 一大早就沉迷于滋润的食物一定是健康的。 名人营养师Rujuta Diwekar建议，“如果你想减肥，在醒来后15分钟内吃。” 推迟或跳过你的早餐，不仅使你在午餐贪婪摄入，但也在减少你的新陈代谢。

Food contamination with saliva: Sharing drinks from common glass, food from the same plate and taking bite from the same pizza slice appears to be quite a normal practice for many of us and rather impolite to refuse if a friend is offering it. But it was a taboo in ancient India and is still held in abeyance and considered forbidden in a number of traditional Indian families. The concept of contamination with saliva called uchchishtam (sanskrit), "engili" (Telugu), "jutha" (in North India) is considered unholy and extremely unhygienic and washing hands after eating or putting them in the mouth is considered a must lest the food/person/thing touched would be contaminated.

唾液中的食物污染：共享普通玻璃的饮料，同一盘子里的食物，以及从同样的披萨片上咬下来的东西似乎对我们很多人来说是相当正常的做法，如果朋友这样做的话，这样是很不礼貌的。这是古代印度的一个禁忌，现在仍然在印度的许多传统家庭中被禁止。被称为uchchishtam（梵语），“engili”（泰卢固语），“jutha”（在印度北部）的唾液污染的概念被认为是不圣洁和非常不卫生的，并且在进食之后洗手或将其放入口中被认为是必须的食物/人/接触到的东西会被污染。

While it has time and again been given religious connotations, it should actually be looked upon as a practice of hygiene and a wise way to prevent spreading of diseases. Don't we live in an age of paradoxes when at one hand we use sanitizers and medicated hand-washes and on the other do not mind liking into someone else's ice-cream with traces of the other person's saliva?

虽然它一再被赋予了宗教内涵，但它实际上应该被视为一种卫生习惯，并且是防止疾病传播的明智之举。我们是不是生活在一个矛盾的时代？一方面我们使用消毒剂和药物洗手，另一方面不介意分享别人的冰激凌和其他人的唾液？

Not talking while eating: Most of us have grown up hearing that talking while eating is a bad manner. In older days, it was considered a taboo to converse while eating. The main reason behind it probably was the fear of choking on food or hurriedly gulping it down without chewing. Nutrition scientists and doctors say that chewing food well enables in better digestion.

吃饭的时候不要说话：我们大多数人在成长过程中总能听到说一边吃饭一边吃东西是不好的。在过去的日子里，吃饭时被认为是禁忌。背后的主要原因可能是害怕食物窒息或匆匆吞下而不咀嚼。营养科学家和医生说，咀嚼食物才能更好地消化。

Cooking in earthen utensils: Our ancestors must have cooked food in earthenware because they did not know about plastic, steel and aluminium. But that was not the only reason for it. Cooking in clay pots adds calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, sulphur and several other minerals to food. Clay pots are also alkaline in nature so they mix well with acidic food and balance its PH level. Remember, deadly diseases like cancer do not develop in an alkaline atmosphere.

在土制器皿中烹饪：我们的祖先必须在陶器中烹饪食物，因为他们不知道塑料，钢铁和铝。但这不是唯一的原因。原因也许是在陶罐里做饭在食物中添加钙，磷，铁，镁，硫和其他几种矿物质。泥锅也是碱性的，所以它们与酸性食物混合并平衡其PH值。像癌症这样的致命疾病不会在碱性环境中发展，所以人们习惯在土制器皿中烹饪会更加营养。

Not stocking up prepared meal for the whole day: Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar in her bestseller, "Don't lose your mind, lose your weight" recommends that if possible one should consume meal within four hours of preparing it, to get the maximum benefits. In ancient times when there were no ready to eat and frozen foods, there were fewer lifestyle diseases. Food starts losing its nourishment as soon as it is prepared. So it is advisable to eat it fresh. While in most busy households today the concept of preparing meals three times a day has given way to bulk preparation once, it is an unhealthy practice that should be given up.

不要一次备份全天的用餐：名人营养师Rujuta Diwekar在她的畅销书“不要失去理智，失去你的体重”建议，如果可能的话，应该在准备之后的四小时内吃饭，以获得最大的利益。在远古时代没有准备食用冷冻食品的时候，生活方式的疾病就更少了。食物一旦准备好就开始失去营养。所以最好吃新鲜的。今天在大多数繁忙的家庭中，每天准备三餐的概念已经让位于一次批量准备，这是一种不见抗的做法，应该放弃了。

Early Dinner: In ancient Rome, dinner was called "cena" and was the main meal of the day. It was taken late in the afternoon or when the sun started going down. Are not nutritionists asking use today to have dinner before 7 pm? The simple reason behind this healthy practice is that the earlier you have your food, the more time the body has to digest it before it goes to rest during sleep. This practice prevents body from piling weight. Eating late also negatively impacts sleep.

早一点食用晚餐晚餐：在古罗马，晚餐被称为“cena”，是当天的主餐。这是下午或太阳开始下降开始吃的。如今的营养学家却要求晚上7点之前食用晚餐？这个健康的做法背后的一个简单的原因是，你越早有食物，在睡觉之前，身体消化它的时间就越多。这种做法可以防止身体堆积脂肪。进食迟也会对睡眠产生负面影响。

Eating food with hands: Even as a number of people proudly claim that they are not able to eat unless they have a spoon, the ancient shastras recommended eating with hands "which had to be cleaned thoroughly before and after the meal". Eating with hands is neither uncouth nor tacky, but is extremely healthy. According to Ayurveda when we put food in our mouth through our hand, the five fingers together form a mudra (a yogic position) which activates the sensory organs that keep prana in balance. It also improves digestion because when the hand touches the food, the brain sends signals to the body releasing digestive juices. This is probably the reason why food tastes better when eaten with hands.

用手吃饭：即使有很多人自豪地声称，除非有勺子才能吃东西，古代的沙拉士却建议用手“吃饭前后必须彻底清洗”。 用手吃饭既不粗俗也不俗气，但是非常健康。 根据阿育吠陀（Ayurveda），当我们通过我们的手将食物放入口中时，五指一起形成一种手势（mudra）（一种瑜伽姿势），其激活保持呼吸平衡的感觉器官。 它也改善了消化，因为当手触摸食物时，大脑发出信号给身体释放消化液。 这可能是食用双手食用时口感更好的原因。

According to Luke Coutinho, Holistic Nutritionist, author and Exercise Physiologist, "Eating with your fingers helps your mind connect with your food better and you tend to eat less and more mindfully. Food tastes better when eaten with the fingers in a hygienic way. I spoke to many people across rural and urban India when I noticed so many of them eat with there hands and they said it is ancient Indian tradition and makes food more enjoyable..and to me, enjoying food is very important for digestion, and even absorption of nutrients."

营养学家，作家兼运动生理学家Luke Coutinho认为：“用手指吃东西可以帮助你的思想更好地与食物联系起来，而且能让你吃的比较少可是精神上会觉得已经吃了很多。 当我注意到印度有很多人用手吃东西的时候，我问他们为什么他们说这是印度古老的传统，使食物更加愉快。对我来说这是享受食物，而且对消化，甚至吸收都是非常重要的 的营养素“。

So, chill! You are not a culinary barbarian if you are using your hands to consume food. You are wise!

所以，冷静！ 如果你正在用手去吃东西，那么你不是一个烹饪的野蛮人。 你很明智！

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