We had a client last week.
Yes, yes… I know. It’s taken me a week to actually sit down and write this out with all the other things going on – but that’s not the point. Stay with me, because this one’s important.
So, there we were, after nadi pariksha, mid-consultation, and I asked her to avoid paneer and curd and other foods such as processed chips, aerated drinks etc… during the rainy season. She blinked. “Wait, what? No paneer? No curd? But why? I thought curd is healthy?”
I know, I know. You’re probably thinking the same. And trust me – you’re not alone. So many of us assume that if something is generally good for health, it must be good all the time. But here’s where Ayurveda steps in and says, “Hold up. Context matters.”
During the rainy season, your body is in a completely different state than it was in summer or winter. The digestive fire (Agni) is at its weakest right now. It’s sluggish, sleepy, almost like it’s had too much to eat and now wants to lie down and do nothing. Combine that with the cloudy skies, the dampness in the air, the musty smell of wet clothes, and the weird warm-yet-cold feeling outside, and boom, the Vata dosha in your body starts doing backflips.
And what do paneer and curd do? Oh, they’re not innocent little dairy darlings. They are heavy, cold, sticky, and Kapha Pitta aggravating, which, during this season, is a terrible idea. Your gut can’t digest them properly, they clog up your channels, and next thing you know – sinus congestion, ear blocks, enlarged adenoids, that weird post-nasal drip you keep ignoring, or just an overall feeling of “meh” in your body.
So what do we do instead? We go back to basics. Warm, freshly cooked food. Simpler meals. A little ghee rice, some well-cooked dals (Masoor and moong – Avoid toor, urad, chana dal as they increase vata dosha), soft masoor soup, or a comforting bowl of carrot or pumpkin with a bit of coriander leaf powder and lemon – these are your monsoon soulmates. You want food that makes your gut go, “Ahhh, thank you,” not “Ugh, why now?”
And yes, you can have peanuts, but please, not the roasted and salted ones that come in a crinkly pack and make you feel like you’re being good when you’re secretly stressing your body. I’m talking about the good old-fashioned boiled ones.
Oh, and while we’re here – leafy greens? Not now. In the rainy season, they’re parasite magnets. Their close-to-the-ground growth means they often carry tapeworm eggs and other microscopic nasties that not even your fancy triple wash and cooking can get rid of. You won’t even know something’s wrong until you start getting weird abdominal pain, bloating, random nausea, or worse cases like anemia, seizures, and even organ damage due to cyst formation.
So no, it’s not about being strict or restrictive. It’s about being smart and in tune with what your body actually needs now. Ayurveda doesn’t believe in one-size-fits-all. It believes in rhythm, in aligning your food with the season, your state, your digestion, your life.
And right now, your body doesn’t want paneer or curd. It wants warmth. Simplicity. Support. And a little bit of breathing space from all the cold, damp, sticky things we usually throw at it without thinking.
So the next time you reach for that bowl of curd during the rains, just pause. Ask yourself, “Is this helping my gut or slowing it down?” And if you’re still unsure, well, now you know who to ask.
