Food - does it cause heat?

"My stomach gets hot if I eat these foods." Have you heard yourself or someone you know say something like this? Do you believe that your stomach can get hot?

Is it even possible for you to feel heat in your stomach? Doesn't Ayurveda tell you that some foods cause heat and should be avoided? At least in some seasons?

If not, then what is that strange sensation that you feel in your stomach right after you eat foods that you think irritate or heat your stomach?

So what is going on?

When food enters your stomach, it obviously interacts with the contents. Your digestive system responds to the food by producing enzymes and bile to break down the food. You call it digestion.

So many of the things you are consuming stimulate more bile production. Lemon, parsley, cilantro, ginger, and garlic, to name a few. This is a good thing. You want bile to be produced to digest your food.

So then, what is the problem?

The problem occurs when you produce too much bile. Or if you eat too much food and your stomach is unable to digest it, imagine a situation where you have excess food and excess bile production from the consumption of certain types of food.

Naturally, you will feel like your stomach and even your throat are burning. You will blame the garlic or the ginger. But the G & G are not to blame.

The problem is with your digestion. You are not digesting your food well; you are likely eating more than you can digest, causing excess bile production.

The G & G only aided in the process.

So instead of blaming the garlic, work on fixing your digestion. Once your digestion is better, chances are that you can digest better. Once you digest better, your bile production will be closer to normal.

In such a situation, maybe you can digest the G & G and other similar foods and benefit from their many virtues.

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