Introduction
Water is an important constituent of earth. All human beings, animals, trees, every living individual need water for survival. A fetus is having 90% of water only. A human being has 60-70% of water in it. It gives a medium for chemical reactions to take place, and is the main part of blood. It keeps the body temperature regulation by sweating from the skin. Water helps blood to carry nutrients from the stomach to all parts of the body to keep the body alive. Water also helps the blood to carry oxygen from the lungs to the body. Saliva, which helps animals and human to digest food, is mostly water.
There are many wrong concepts about intake of water. Most of the time, health professionals add this confusion. In this article I will like to state some facts about rules of drinking water. These rules are stated in Ayurveda texts with proper explanation.
Common man gets confused when he heard, that it is good to drink more and more water, as previously his Ayurveda doctor tell him not to drink water unless he is thirsty. I want to take review, if we simply follow rules about intake of water then, it might help people to stay healthy. Many times because of wrong guidance people suffer from serious illness. This article will help all the health professionals and common man to understand facts about drinking water.
Materials and Methods
Review of literature done from all major samhitas and some special samhitas dedicated for diet therapy.
In charak samhita, separate chapter is dedicated for ‘annapan vidhi’ means diet and drinking rules. While explaining diseases, he had explained about specifications of water intake. The same format is followed by other samhitas.’Mahodadhi’ is a samhita dedicated for diet as a therapy concept.
A} Qualities of drinking water
It must be clean, pure, it does not have any smell, taste, it is cold, capable to satisfy thirst, light for digestion and everyone loves it (hrudya). Drinking water must have 6 characters; it should be clean, pure, satisfying, wholesome, light and sweet. 1, 2 Water has 4 effects, ‘chatra’- shadow-for thirsty person, ‘amrut’-nectar-for water drunk in early morning before sunrise, ‘vish’-poison-people, who drink only water when he is hungry and ‘vajr’-iron-if water drunk with food body becomes very healthy like iron.
Water, which is collected from river, kept in an earthen pot exposed to sun in daytime, and moon at night time, crystal clear in appearance, is healthy to drink once flavored with lotus, ketaki-screw pine flower.1
B} Qualities of cold water
It satisfies mind, thirst, digestive, increases intelligence. It pacifies pitta, increases kapha. And also it gives strength.
Water can be cooled by 7methods
Keep it in an airy place, pour water on the water filled pot, to give more air to cool it with the help of machine, keep it below fan, cover it with wet cloth, keep pot in a sand , or place the pot in a wooden stand in airy place.
Water which is kept for overnight is not recommended for intake. It becomes acidic, vitiates kapha, and do not satisfies thirst.
Indication of cold water intake
Increased pitta condition, thirst, fainting, in summer, in burning, in poison or alcohol intake patients, alcoholism, diseases of blood, vertigo, weakness, tiredness, asthma, vomiting, hemoptysis, epistaxis, in all these conditions patients should take cold water. A condition when pitta and blood is vitiated, pitta and kapha is vitiated, fever, diarrhea, three dosha vitiated condition, anorexia, tuberculosis, and also in diseases of eyes, boiled and then cooled water is advised. 1 In short, a condition, where pitta is vitiated cold water is recommended.3, 2
Contraindication for cold water intake
Sneezing, hot water, vata diseases, pharyngitis, gaseous distention, heavy abdomen, patient who undergoes panchakarma treatment, fever, hiccough, patient who took oil or ghee intake as a pre procedure of panchakarma, In all these patients cold water is contra indicated. Chest pain, kapha prominent asthma, abscess, vata disease, constipation, and fever in these conditions, cold water is contraindicated.
C} Qualities of hot water 4, 5
It reduces kapha, vata, fat, and aama (indigested food), light for digestion; it ignites digestive fire, purifies urinary bladder, and helps to improve digestion. It reduces rhinitis, pharyngitis, cough, hiccough, gaseous distention, asthma, muscle cramp and new fever. Hot water is recommended for patient who undergoes panchakarma purification like virechana.
Indications of hot water
Hot water is indicated in indigestion, pharyngitis, hiccough, fever, vata kapha disease, asthma, cough, rhinitis, indigestion, and also after virechana. Hot water is urine purifying by nature.
If one drinks hot water at night, he conquers kapha and vata diseases. Hot water is helpful to digest food.1
Hot water contra indicted in Pitta and blood vitiated diseases.
D} Boiled water
Water, which is boiled to reduce one fourth, is very light for digestion and healthier for consumption. It increases appetite, it is digestive, it is ‘anbhishyandi’ means do not produce edema in body, do not increase bad water content in body, good for pharynx, and it reduces asthma, hiccough, fever, indigestion, and gaseous distention and kapha vata diseases. It is good to cure kidney diseases. It is recommended when patient undergo panchakarma therapy. It cures cyst, any growth in body and also capable to cure pain in chest, abdomen.1
Water boiled and then cooled is light for digestion, it does not increase kapha and it is recommended for pitta vitiated diseases. It is kapha reducing, can be used for pitta disease, alcoholic individual, three dosha vitiated disease. But avoid its use after 1 day- left over water vitiated all dosha. It is advised in burning, diarrhea, bleeding disorder, fainting, alcoholism, poisoning, thirst, vomiting and vertigo. 5, 6
Water boiled and reduced to remain ¼ th is very light for digestion, and helps to reduce weight and kapha. Water is boiled to reduce ½ it is good for pitta condition, and when it is reduced to remain 3/4th it is good for vata vitiated condition. In rainy season it is compulsory to boil water to make it pure drinking water.1
When we boil water in the morning, and drink in the evening, or we boil it at night and drink in the morning, it becomes heavy for digestion, hence not recommended.
D} Coconut water- coconut water is unctuous, sweet, aphrodisiac, cold, heavy, thirst, pitta and vata balancing, appetizer, and urine purifier.5, 4
E} Slowly sip by sip water intake is recommended in sneezing, tastelessness, excessive salivation, edema, loss of appetite, ascites, fever, eye disease, wound, and diabetes.
Table 1
In short, qualities of water are compiled in below table
F} Intake of water contraindicated in7, 5, 6
Water is life. Absolute not drinking water is not recommended, but such patient should consume very less water, only to continue prana factor. In some diseases where appetite is very less, kleda-bad water content in body is more, water is contra indicated. One should not consume water if weak, having loss of appetite, coryza, excess growth, cyst, anemia, ascites, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, anorexia, pharyngitis, coma, eye disease, vata disease, kapha disease, skin diseases, diabetes and edema. In all these conditions, digestive fire is diminished, patient is very weak due to chronic disease and doshas are in imbalance, so patient is unable to digest very less amount of water also.1, 2
Every individual should drink less water except summer and autumn season.
G} Water with food5, 6
If we drink water before food, person becomes thin, it diminishes his digestive fire, hence unable to digest balanced diet, diminishes metabolism leads to weakness.
If we drink water with food, food is soaked in it, gets digested properly; because of good digestion all doshas gets balanced hence all dhatus are also balanced.
If we drink water after food, digestive fire gets diminished; increases kapha in stomach, unable to digest food although it is wholesome diet; after digestion of food only meda increases, other dhatus decreased or not nourished properly, person becomes obese.
H} Ushapan
One who drink water immediately after night, at the time of sun rise, his three doshas gets balanced, may be free from, cough, cold, diarrhea, asthma, fever, skin diseases, lumber pain, urticaria, diabetes, renal failure, ascites, piles, edema, helminthes, skin diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, bleeding disorder-raktpitta, diseases of head, lumber region and vomiting. Also his sense organs become sharp, he will free from diseases of ear, nose, head, throat and eyes. By regular use of ushapan one can be free from all diseases of vata, pitta, kapha and also from exertion induced diseases. 1, 3
Daily, if one drinks 8 handful water, early in the morning, he gets energy as like as elephant and lives healthy life for 100yrs age. 1, 3
I} Nasika pan
One, who drinks water early in the morning by nose, he gets sharp eyesight as like as eagle. He becomes free from all diseases, and stays free from wrinkles and grey hairs,1, 3 melasma, coryza, hoarseness of voice, cough and edema.3 Drinking water by nose increases his intellectual capacity.3 Three handful of water is a recommended quantity for drinking water by nose.3
One who daily perform plain cold water gandush [mouth full of water so that unable to move water inside mouth], and sprinkle water over his eyes, three times a day, gets sharpest eyesight.1, 3
Non eligible candidate for nasa jalpan: 3
People who had taken lots of oil for panchakarma, one who had done panchakarma recently, who has wounds, who has loss of appetite, gaseous distention, hiccough or one who is suffering from any vata or kapha disease is not allowed to drink water by nose.
J} Time to digest water2
Water gets digested within 6 hours. If we boil water then drink when it comes at room temperature, it takes 3 hrs to digest. If we drink boiled water when it is lukewarm, it takes 1.5 hrs to digest.
K} Rules to drink water
Avoid drinking water at night. You can drink water as much you needed before sunset. After sunset drink only when it is very essential.1
In patient of indigestion, drink water sip by sip, it will help to digest the food.
To drink water after the food get digested is also good to give strength1
To drink water in excess or to avoid water while eating, both of them are not good for digestion, so always drink sips of water while eating.
If one is hungry and thirsty, his heart and throat is dry, at that time one should not start eating immediately, first take little amount of water, it satisfies his thirst, dryness of throat reduced, feels happy after that he can start eating.1
When we start food, first take liquid diet, with that don’t drink water, in the middle take hard food products, with that drink water, otherwise they will not get soaked and digested properly. At the end of food if food is more with liquids, then don’t drink water, preferable take liquids like milk, buttermilk.5, 4, 1 Drink milk after eating very hot and spicy food to pacify pitta dosha. 1, 3
If we drink more water before food then it hampers your digestive fire and tends to produce diseases, little water intake like ‘aachman’, means with remembering God, drink 3 sips of water, is beneficial to start food. When we drink water before we start our food body becomes thin.5, 4, 1 After food also ‘aachman’ is advised to clean mouth.3
If we drink water, when we finish our food, it increases kapha, and heaviness in body, person becomes obese. If we drink water in the middle of food then body becomes balanced, medium sized, with good nourishment. Do not drink water intermittently in the middle of the food, it is advised to drink once only, or you can drink some liquid like buttermilk with food to help digestion.5, 1, 3
Water if we used with its rules it acts like nectar, otherwise it may act like poison.
While eating one should take half of his requirement solid food, 1/4th water or liquids and ¼ should keep empty for vata to facilitate digestion.5, 3
Never drink water when you are very hungry, and never eat when you are thirsty. If we do so you may suffer from ascites or cyst/growth respectively.3
Drink clean water flavored with flowers, purified with hot iron balls.
Drink water as much you want to drink in summer and autumn season, but drink less water in other seasons to avoid vata and kapha vitiation.
Water is life, proper intake of water is essential for human being2
‘Harit’ states that, excessive thirst must be pacified as early as possible otherwise patient faints and after that may die.2
Observations (Table 1)
In our text, qualities of water, its uses, indications, contraindications, rules are described in detail. Secrets of healthy and long life are described with the help of healthy water drinking habits.
Water also requires good digestive fire to get digested. That’s why as long as sun is there in the sky you can take water. Avoid water intake after sunset. First intake of water in a day you can start just before sunrise. While eating start with 3 spoons of water, In the middle you can drink water but after food you can drink water only when the food gets digested. Water is contraindicated or should be consumed very less in the patients of kleda- bad water content diseases like skin diseases, injured patient, diabetes, obesity, sneezing etc. Coconut water is good for healing, balances pitta and vata. Water is essential for life, so it cannot be totally prohibited.
Conclusion
Water is life, it acts as nectar, having good healing property, if consumed properly can cure diseases. Bad water drinking habits leads to increase dosha, and may provoke diseases. Cold water increases vata and kapha, so advised to take in pitta and blood vitiated conditions. It is good for eye diseases, bleeding disorders, and alcoholism. Coldwater should be avoided by low appetite individuals, chronic diseases, respiratory system diseases, kapha prominent diseases, and in constipation. Hot water is pitta and rakt vitiating and vata kapha balancing, It helps to increase digestive fire reduces fat and kapha. For every one, warm water is indicated; especially boiled and ½ reduced water is good. To drink water before sunrise is good practice, 8 handful of water is recommended, and with that one can live long and healthy life; it balances all three dosha. Early in the morning to drink 3 handful of water with nose is also good practice to sharpen your sense organs, brain, and eyesight. It allows you to stay young. Cold water takes 6 hours to digest; boiled and reduced to half and taken when it is warm, takes only 1.5 hours to digest.
All this is a study of our text. We have to validate it with practical experiments. This may be the next subject of study for scholars.
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