How safe is our food?

How safe is our food?

*Dr.E.Anu Sankar
PG.Scholar, Dept. of Agadatantra, Govt.AVC, Tvpm

Food is the most basic of necessities. Ayurveda mention it as one of the tristhoona that sustain life. The close relationship between food, life, and health has been amply stressed in the vedic texts.  Discussing the role of food Caraka opines that “aahaara sambhavam vastu rogaashcaahaara sambhava:”.Body and diseases are the products of food; the wholesomeness and unwholesomeness of food are the causes of health and diseases respectively.   He has elaborated the various aspects regarding consumption of food under aahaara vidhi viseshhayatanani, which can be put under 5 main headings.

1.       What food?

2.       When to eat?

3.       How much food?

4.       How many times?

5.       How to take food?

What food?

                In the book ‘Defense of food’ author Michael Pollen quotes that “the chronic diseases that now kill most of us can be traced directly to the industrialization of our food”.

The oral route is a major site of entry into the body for many toxic compounds. Food additives, food toxins, licking or rubbing, and airborne particles excluded from passage to the alveoli and returned to the glottis are among potential avenues for accidental ingestion.

Humans have adapted to a multitude of food around the world. Food allergy and food poisoning are two common problems nowadays. The different food combinations and interaction between exogenous and endogenous food components exert antagonistic effects. This has been explained as the viruddha concept in Ayurveda. Along with normal food intake humans are constantly exposed to a number of chemicals that are foreign to their bodies, like the pesticides, insecticides, additives etc. irrespective of whether they have nutritive value these compounds referred to as xenobiotics are also subjected to metabolic transformations. They interfere with the normal metabolic pathways resulting in toxic actions. These chemicals involve in the induction of new enzymes or modification of pre-existing enzymes to deal with the new substrate and results in the gradual elimination of genetic lines incapable of making adjustments. Food safety therefore does not refer to food itself but also to the person consuming it.

                Pesticides get mixed with air, water, soil and food materials to affect the human body causing acute and chronic cumulative toxicity by virtue of the pesticide residue resulting in conditions like carcinoma, autism, etc.

                For centuries, food additives have been used for flavoring, coloring, and extension of the useful shelf - life of food, as well as the promotion of food safety. Sensitivity to food additives is a potential adverse response in patients with sensitivity to multiple, unrelated foods and with negative diagnostic workups for food protein allergies.

Food adulteration is another age old problem. Food adulterants are cheap substitutes that resemble the parent food compound. Mixing, substitution, concealing the quality all comes under the purview of adulteration. Some of the adulterants are injurious to health, even resulting in death.

Metal contaminants such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium come from factory emissions, mining operations, and metal - containing industrial products used in food production. They tend to accumulate in the food chain, later enter the body and act as poisonous interferences to enzyme system and metabolism to create detriment to health. Heavy metal overload can result in complications like vascular blockade, osteoporosis, etc.

When to take food?

One can eat the best food and take the most well balanced nutritional supplement, but if cannot digest and absorb these will suffer from malnutrition and less than optimal health. Hence food should be taken only after digestion of previous meal and during aahaarakaala.

                Unfortunately what we practice today is samashana, vishamaashana and adhyashana that lead to death and other ailments. Toxins from food and its digestive byproducts can enter the bloodstream when digestion is poor and once these settle into the tissues will create immediate disease state.

How much food?

 We must not only be concerned with what is required in a diet, but with what is actually consumed. We should also be equally concerned with the problems caused by an excess of a food component as we are with the problems caused by the deficiency of an essential nutrient. Very high nutrient intake may exceed the metabolic capacity of the organism causing pathological effects and deterioration of health. In considering the physiological effects of food components, it should be noted that these effects are always related to the level of their intake. A useful concept is that for every food component, there are three ranges of intake: one associated with physiological inertness, a second with physiological function or benefit, and the third with potential hazard. Hence consume food as shaastraas advocate. Annena kuksher dwaavamsham paanenekam prapoorayet;aashrayam pavanaadeenaam caturtham avaseshayet. After dividing the stomach into four quadrants, two fourth the capacity should be filled with food, one fourth with water and the remaining should be left vacant for movement of vaata.

How many times?

Ayurveda mentions two aahaara kaalaa for food consumption. Binge eating can disrupt natural rhythm of body.

How to take food?

Even though shaastraas give general rules for taking food, modern man has little time to spare for food from his busy and hectic work schedule. The usual stress can trigger the body to release excessive amount of cortisol, the craving hormone that makes one reach for comfort foods high in fats and sugars.

One should also have an assessment about the health and needs of self along with presence of mind while eating. Because most of what we are consuming today is not food and how we are consuming it-in the car, in front of television and increasingly all alone- is not really eating. Instead of food we are consuming edible food like substances-no longer the products of nature but of food science. Here one is not only eating more but burning less. All these practices render our food and food habits unsafe.

How to make food safe?-preventive aspect

         i.            Treatises mentions that prepared food should be sprinkled with vishaghna oushadha before consumption. This is to wardoff the ill effects due to poisoning as the ordinary doshahara dravyaas may not be sufficient to destroy its effects. When compared with other diseases, visha requires immediate treatment.

       ii.            Always eat freshly prepared food.

      iii.            Avoid unhealthy food practices.

     iv.            Avoid substances that are distinctly harmful to the body.

       v.            Overcome stressful situations as stress can derange metabolism and deteriorate health.

Managing morbidity-curative aspect

                Food that becomes viruddha are transformed into visha and gara in a long run. The principles of toxicology can be easily applied in general practice. The shodhana procedures and pathyaahaara mentioned in gara cikitsa can be resorted to.

                The entire concept of toxicity needs to be evaluated from the viewpoint of a risk or benefit concept associated with the consumption of any given material. Infact, Paracelsus over 400 years ago pointed out that “all substances are poisonous; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy.”

 *The Author won the 'Best Paper presenter Award'  of 'Nirvisha 2009', national seminar on Agadatantra

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