Dal, easy on the stomach

Do you also feel discomfort in your stomach after having some dals?

Yes, dals (lentils) are good food by any definition, but sometimes they may leave some people with discomfort in the stomach.

If this happens to you from time to time, don’t take it lightly. The short-term discomfort might die down, but the end products might still cause damage to your system. They might create imbalances in your body that could one day ripen into diseased states. Beans like particularly rajma (red kidney beans), chhole (chickpeas), urad (black gram) and Adzuki beans are particularly difficult to digest.

Ayurveda tells us that we are all made differently and should therefore eat in accordance with our nature. Otherwise, the body will go out of balance and eventually become diseased.

So if you, like me, are a fan of rajma and chhole and can’t think about not having them any more, don’t worry. Ayurveda also tells us ways to prepare them so that they become more digestible and do not harm your system.

1. Always soak the dals overnight and change the water a few times.
2. Cook slowly with plenty of water without using the pressure cooker.
3. Use ghee, along with spices like cumin and coriander that make it easier to digest the dals.
4. Most importantly - portion control! Eat less than your ‘hunger’. One easy way to do this is to eat slowly. This way, your body gets more time to process the arrival of food in your stomach and to generate the satiety signal.
5. Chew slowly: Ayurveda says 32 times! Most of us don’t have that kind of patience - but these are the kind of habits we must inculcate - in ourselves and in our children. This is perhaps one habit that can have the highest impact on lifelong health consequences.
6. This brings us to another important aspect: digestion starts in the hypothalamus. Let the food sit in front of you for 2 minutes before eating.