Currently, large part of world’s population is being highly concerned about their health.

And, health; on no occasion can be attained without intake of healthy (proper) food.

Despite including plenty of healthy and nutritious foods in our plate every single day, if we are not getting the desired improvement on our health or we regularly experience bloating, gas, pain in the abdomen, headache, skin irritations etc. then it is an alarming indicator that we should be paying serious attention to the food combinations that we consume.

In the long run, continuous use of wrong food combinations gives rise to serious health problems.

Viruddha Aahaara (Incompatible food combinations) is one of the unique concepts of Ayurveda that lets us know the sort of foods that do not really ‘go together’.

The literal meaning of word Viruddha is opposite.

And, Aahaara means food that we eat.

Food (even the healthiest ones) might become Viruddha (incompatible) due to the wrong choice of combinations or when processed in wrong way or consumed in incorrect time of day or in wrong season. And this could be real fatal.

Ayurvedic Definition of Viruddha Aahara:

Aacharya charaka defines Viruddha Aahaara in charaka Samhita; chapter-26, verse-81 as:

“देहधातुप्रत्यनीकभूतानि द्रव्याणि देहधातुभिर्विरोधमापद्यन्ते; परस्परगुणविरुद्धानि कानिचित्, कानिचित् संयोगात्, संस्कारादपराणि, देशकालमात्रादिभिश्चापराणि, तथा स्वभावादपराणि||

Food articles which –

1. Interrupts the metabolism of tissues,
2. Inhibits the process of formation of tissues,
3. Have opposite property than that of tissues;

Are viruddha.

When the food articles provoke/increase the dosha in the body but do not expel them out, they remain inside the body as the antagonist to the body tissue and thus are referred to as Viruddha Aahaara or incompatible diet.

Now that we have learnt that healthiest of foods can act as viruddha aahara, let’s see the types of incompatible food as per Ayurveda.

Viruddha Aahaara is described in the following verses

यच्चापि देशकालाग्निमात्रासात्म्यानिलादिभिः|

संस्कारतो वीर्यतश्च कोष्ठावस्थाक्रमैरपि||

परिहारोपचाराभ्यां पाकात् संयोगतोऽपि च|

विरुद्धं तच्च न हितं हृत्सम्पद्विधिभिश्च यत्||

Categories of Viruddha Aahara

1. Desha Viruddha (Place Incompatibility)

We all are aware that our body is made up of the food that we consume.

Therefore, the food that we consume must be according to the place where we live. We cannot be taking dry, hot, sharp, and highly spicy food if we live in hot/arid areas. This leads to extreme increase of vata and pitta dosha and thus is incompatible for ‘that place’.

Similarly, taking foods or drugs which have cold and          unctuous properties in cold/marshy/coastal areas is also incompatible.

2. Kaala Viruddha (Contradictory to time)

Not taking foods as per season or climate is kaala (time) Viruddha. Taking pungent food in summer and cold food in winter are contraindicated. Also, consuming Sattu and curd at night is also to be avoided.

3. Agni Viruddha (Contradictory to digestion)

Agni refers to the digestive fire of our body. Agni Viruddha refers to the intake of food that is not in accordance with one’s power of digestion. When, people with low digestive power takes excess amount or heavy kind of foods and the person with high digestive functioning takes low amount or light kind of foods than it becomes Agni Viruddha.

4. Matra Viruddha (Dose incompatibility)

Everyone knows that Ghee and Honey are really good for health. But we should never take them in equal quantity; (one greater than other is fine.)This combination is real deadly and show poisonous effects. Taking honey and water in equal quantities is also Matra Viruddha.

5. Saatmya Viruddha (wholesome incompatibility)

Consumption of food substances to which we are not habituated becomes Saatmya Viruddha. Like, the use of pungent and hot substance by a person accustomed to sweet and cold substances is antagonistic (Viruddha) in terms of suitability.

6. Dosha Viruddha (Contradictory to Doshas)

Having foods which has qualities similar to that of vitiated Doshas, comes under Dosha Viruddha.

7. Samskara Viruddha (Food processing incompatibility)

Food becomes Samskara Viruddha if it is prepared or processed in a particular way which produces poisonous/toxic effect.

Some of the examples are :

1. Ghee kept continuously for ten nights in bell metal (kansya) vessel.
2. Meat of sparrow, peacock etc roasted on castor oil (Eranda taila)
3. Heated honey: If honey is heated, the molecules become a non-homogenized glue that adheres to mucous membranes and clogs subtle channels, producing toxins.
4. Uncooked honey is considered nectar but it becomes poisonous when cooked. (Sadly, honey of maximum brands are strongly heated before packaging). You can buy this honey for the best results.

8. Veerya Viruddha (Potency incompatibility)

    

In Ayurveda, foods/drugs are categorized as ushna veerya and sheeta veerya i.e.  as per their heating or cooling effect on body respectively.

It is never advised to take food articles having opposite potencies (Veerya) together since they become Viruddha.

We might have heard about not taking fish and milk together, the reason behind it is, Fish is Ushna Veerya (producing heating effect) and Milk is Sheeta Veerya(producing cooling effect)  And, thus when we take them together- they vitiate the bodily tissues.

Also, having deep fries with cold-drinks is a terrible combination take.

9. Kostha Viruddha (Contradictory to bowel specific)

Foods/drugs become incompatible, when they are not in accordance with the bowel (kostha). Let us imagine there are two person: one with strong bowel functioning and next with delicate/weak bowel functioning.
Now, if we give mild, light and too little food to the first one and strong, heavy and too much food to second one, it becomes opposite and incompatible as per their bowel functioning.

10. Awastha Viruddha (Incompatible due to current physical and psychological status)

Consuming food substances having qualities contradictory to the state of health becomes Viruddha. Such as:

• Advising Vata vitiating food (cold,dry,light) to emaciated person.
• Consumption of kapha aggravating food (Heavy,Unctous) soon after sleep.
• Having light, dry foods after heavy physical exertion or intense workouts.

11. Krama Viruddha (Order Incompatibility)

We need to take care of few things about order/sequence while eating so that the food we take does not become incompatible and vitiate the Doshas. For that,

We should not take:

• Food , without clearance of bowel(poop) or bladder(we should not initiate eating when there is the urge to pee)
• Food, when not hungry
• Hot water after taking honey
• Hot things after intake of pork
• Ayurveda has classified foods in terms of taste as: madhura(sweet), amla(sour), lavana(salty), katu(pungent), tikta(bitter) and kashaya(astringent). And, recommends your main course to be in the order starting with sweet taste and ending with astringent taste. It becomes viruddha when:
  • Bitter and Pungent substances are taken at the starting of meals
  • Sweet substances at taken the end of meals. (Desert culture is wrong!!)
• Consumption of water: We all are drinking water the wrong way, most of the time. We have written a detailed article on this. You can check it out here.

12. Parihara Viruddha(prescription Incompatibility)

     

13. And, Upachara Viruddha(Treatment incompatibility)

It is not compatible to take

14. Paka Viruddha (Cooking incompatibility)

Consuming food articles which are not cooked properly, overcooked or burnt during process of preparation is Paka Viruddha.

15. Samyoga Viruddha (Combination incompatibility)

     

One should not consume two substances in combination if they have poisonous effect.

Milk should not be taken with anything other than almonds, dates and grains.

Especially when milk is taken with fruits/ sour foods, it curdles in stomach and becomes difficult to digest.

Milk is complete and fulfilling food in itself. So it is better to not combine with anything. We should take proper note of this. Mainly, while giving milk to kids.

Others foods that become incompatible when combined together are:

• Night shades (potato, eggplant, tomato, pepper etc.) with yogurt, milk, cheese, cucumber. As much as pizza sounds tempting, it is equally not good for your health- potato and cheese!
• Eggs with melons, beans, cheese, milk, yogurt, khichari (porridge), meat, fish.
• Fruits with any other foods. Taking fruits half an hour before taking your meal is more appropriate.
• Beans with fruit, cheese, milk, yogurt, tomatoes.
• Lemon with cucumber, milk, tomatoes, yogurt.
• Milk with salt (khichari etc), non-veg, and also with leafy vegetables.

16. Hridaya Viruddha (Palatability incompatibility)

Hrit here refers to ‘like’ or ‘palatability’ of the person. So, Hridaya Viruddha occurs when we consume food articles which we do not like or which are not palatable to us. We should never force our friends/ relatives to have our favorite dish if they don’t wish to.

Children usually despise veggies like bitter-gourd , brinjal (egg plant) etc. It is better to change the way of cooking to make it palatable rather than forcing them to eat.

17. Sampad Viruddha (Antagonism in terms of richness of qualities)

It is incompatible if we consume food particles which do not have their proper qualities. Example of Sampad Viruddha is intake of substances that are not Matured, Over Matured, or Putrefied. Do not consume over ripened bananas or mangoes just for the sake of not throwing them away. It will degrade your overall health.

18. Vidhi Viruddha (Rules while eating)

Food articles, that is not in accordance with the Dietic rules shows incompatible/antagonist property on body. Foods become Vidhi Viruddha:

• If taken in public/ crowdy places
• If we keep on eating other stuffs soon after finishing meal
• If they are prepared from vegetables or grains of inferior quality.
• If foods having predominance of pungent, sour, astringent, and salty taste are taken.
• When foods of only one rasa (taste) is taken.

Also, we should not take those foods which cause burning sensation during digestion, which are not easily digestible and the one which cause dryness in the body.

Viruddha aahara shows toxic effect on body or make the body easily prone to diseases.

It also leads to formation of Ama (Toxins), vitiation of rakta(blood) and srota avarodha(blockage of body channels)

Hence, we should always be aware about what we eat and make sure that it doesn’t turn out to be Viruddha and cause harmful effect on body.

What specific diseases do Viruddha aahara result into?

षाण्ढ्यान्ध्यवीसर्पदकोदराणां विस्फोटकोन्मादभगन्दराणाम्|

मूर्च्छामदाध्मानगलग्रहाणां पाण्ड्वामयस्यामविषस्य चैव||

किलासकुष्ठग्रहणीगदानां शोथाम्लपित्तज्वरपीनसानाम्  |

सन्तानदोषस्य तथैव मृत्योर्विरुद्धमन्नं प्रवदन्ति हेतुम्||

In 26^th chapter of Charaka Samhita, sutrasthana  (verse 102,103) certain diseases are clearly mentioned which can manifest as a result of continuous consumption of Viruddha Aahaara. They are:

Impotency, Erysipelas, Blindness, Ascites,  Bullous(large, fluid-filled blisters) Insanity, Fistula in ano, Coma or Fainting, Intoxication, Abdominal distension, Stiffness in neck, Varieties of anaemia, Indigestion, Various skin diseases, Diseases of intestines, Swelling, Gastritis, Rhinitis, Infertility, Boils, Swelling, Toxicity, Abscess, Tumours of abdomen, Tuberculosis, Loss of -vigour, Strength, Memory, Sense of perceptions and intellect, Pyrixia(fever), Haemorrhagic diseases, and Sometimes even Death.

From above mentioned diseases due to consumption of Viruddha Aahaara what we can notice is that, consuming incompatible foods in general has effect on our Endocrine system, Digestive system, Nervous system, Circulatory system, and Immune system.

How to move ahead?

Purgation, emesis, pacification or prior use of wholesome substance and avoiding Viruddha Aahaara alleviates the disorders caused by antagonistic (Viruddha) food.

When we decide to discontinue consumption of Viruddha foods then Ayurveda suggests to do so ‘gradually’ instead of avoiding everything all of sudden.

Various factors that helps to compensate the harmful effect of bad food combination:

• Strong agni (digestive fire) is the most powerful weapon to prevent and counteract the adverse effects of ‘bad’ food combinations.
• Viruddha Aahaara when taken ocassionally (once in a while) or in low quantity doesn’t provide the body with any prominent harm.
• If our bodies have become habituated to a certain food combination through many years of use, then it is likely that our body has made some adaptation or become accustomed to this.
• Young age
• Good strength
• Exercising regularly. You can check out our  free workout and yoga program.

What specifically were you doing wrong and suffering from the consequences of viruddha aahara? Let us know in the comments section.

Wishing you a good health and a good life.