AYURVEDA PERSPECTIVE ON FATTY FRIED FOOD

We understand your concern.

After all, the sizzle of french fries in a deep fryer or the sight of a funnel cake at your local fair can be hard to resist. These foods are fun ways to enjoy life.

But how do you feel after eating fried food at your favorite restaurant or on a hot summer day at the fair?

A little queasy, perhaps? Queasiness is a sign you've hit your upper limit on fried foods. Uggh! The hot sun continues to beat down on you as the food churns in your stomach.

So how much fried food can you digest? And how much is too much?

Your liver and your bile have answers for you.

Let's take a look.

The Hidden Reality of Fatty Fried Food

They may taste great, but aren't so great for you.

Packed with difficult-to-digest fats, they are especially stressful for your liver, your body's chemical processing plant.

And doctors who specialize in liver disease will tell you, the link is clear and alarming.

A consistent diet of fatty, fried foods can accelerate conditions like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

So, the next time you're eyeing that extra serving of fries, remember: your liver's on the line!

Bile: Your Body's Fat Digestion Superpower

Made in the liver, bile is collected, concentrated and stored in the gallbladder.

When you understand how bile works in the body you can assess how much you're producing. And that helps you make informed decisions about how many funnel cakes and fries to eat.

Stored bile is released and mixed with your fries when they reach your small intestines. The bile helps break up the large fat globs into small droplets for easy digestion (a process called emulsification).

Fatty, fried food demands a lot of bile and puts the liver under pressure to make more and more of it. And it can't always keep up.

If you overdo your fry intake, there might not be enough bile to break up the fat.

Then you start experiencing nausea or diarrhea, symptoms that don't exactly scream "Pass the ketchup."

Bile also plays a big role in cholesterol metabolism. Fried foods like deep-fried meats, cheese sticks, or fish and chips can increase cholesterol levels.

You can lower cholesterol levels by stimulating bile flow, which is how herbal formulas like Bitter Ghee work to help those with cholesterol problems.

Stimulating bile flow also flushes your gallbladder, preventing it from getting clogged with stones.

In a country, like the US, where half a million people lose their gallbladders annually and a third of the population has high cholesterol, those stats make bile a hot topic.

The Dosha Connection

The answer might lie in Ayurveda's concept of doshas or body types, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.

Kapha people tend to have thick bile, which gets congested in the gallbladder causing gallstones.

And eating too many fried, fatty foods increases the likelihood of stone formation.

Congested bile causes a deficiency of bile for digestion. It is also associated with poor fat digestion and metabolism.

Bile congestion and stagnation can cause side effects like headaches, nausea, indigestion or constipation after you eat a high fat meal.

Vata bile is thin and tends to be deficient due to dryness, which also causes constipation.

In both cases, you know you have a deficiency of bile when stools are lighter colored or you have trouble digesting fats.

Excess bile production can also cause problems. The dosha most closely associated with its increased output is Pitta, making these folks prone to bile excess.

Too much bile can irritate your intestines, give you diarrhea, and overstimulate your mind causing you to be irritable and angry.

However, we all tend to produce more bile in hot summer months, the Pitta time of year.

Reducing bile production is key to less irritability during hot weather.

Whether it is congested, excessive, or not enough, the right amount of bile production is essential to effective digestion of fried foods, and your health in general.

Ayurveda's Answer to Healthy Food Choices

While this might sound daunting, it doesn't have to be.

With Ayurveda, you don't have to give up on taste for good health.

Following an Ayurvedic diet is easier than you think. And you don't have to memorize a list of foods.

Instead, Ayurveda teaches you to classify foods according to some well established and basic principles.

As each dosha benefits from emphasizing foods with specific qualities, you must first discover your body type.

If you don't know what it is, take our free dosha quiz to find out. Then, choose one of the buttons below to discover the best diet for your dosha.

The possibilities are endless. And your liver will thank you.

Enjoy a Healthy Liver with Ayurveda

Bile, the unsung hero, needs your help to keep your digestion smooth and your cholesterol levels in check.

Fortunately, you have a world of flavorful alternatives waiting for you.

And whether your dominant dosha is Vata, Pitta, or Kapha, there's a diet and lifestyle plan that's just right for you.

Take your first steps towards a healthier liver and bile production today.

Your body will thank you for it.

Read a longer article on Healthy Bile Production here.

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