Food in Ayurvedic Samhitas

Charaka Samhita rightly points out that living beings originate from food and diseases too are generated from food

न केवलं सधर्माहारः रोगारा रुद्धिः कथं वर्तते।

रुचिहीनान्नान्ये भवेन्‌ विषाणां च कारणं भवेत्।

(Charaka Samhita Sutra Sthana.28:45).

“A wholesome diet alone does not guarantee the absence of disease; besides unwholesome food, many other etiological factors—such as seasonal changes, intellectual errors, improper exposure, and excessive, wrongful or inappropriate use of the senses (hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell)—are responsible for disease.”

there are several similar references in Charaka Saṃhitā and other Ayurvedic texts that echo the same idea as Sūtra Sthāna 28:45 — that disease is caused not just by faulty food, but also by environmental, seasonal, mental, and sensory misuse.

Here are a few close parallels:

1. Charaka Saṃhitā – Sūtra Sthāna 1:54 (Trividha Hetu)

Asātmyendriyārthasamyogaḥ prajñāparādhaḥ pariṇāmaśca vyādhihetavaḥ

(Improper conjunction of senses with their objects, errors of judgment, and seasonal/age-related changes are the causes of diseases.)

This verse clearly states that unwholesome diet is not the sole factor—misuse of senses (asātmyendriyārthasamyoga), intellectual errors (prajñāparādha), and seasonal impacts (pariṇāma) also produce disease.

2. Charaka Saṃhitā – Sūtra Sthāna 11:45

Hita-āhāra-sevana

alone is not enough; one must also follow proper lifestyle, mental discipline, and seasonal regimen to remain free of diseases.

This section discusses āhāra, vihāra (lifestyle), and ācāra (conduct) together for maintaining health.

3. Ashtanga Hridaya – Sūtra Sthāna 1:20

Rogāḥ sarve’pi māndhyahetavaḥ — āhāra, vihāra, manasaḥ prasādaḥ cha rakṣayet.

(To prevent all diseases, one should protect wholesome food, lifestyle, and mental peace.)

4. Sushruta Saṃhitā – Sūtra Sthāna 24:6

Trividha roga hetu — āhāra, vihāra, manasaḥ doṣaḥ

(The threefold causes of diseases are faulty food, improper lifestyle, and mental disturbances.)

So essentially, the thought in Sutra Sthāna 28:45 is consistent throughout the Ayurvedic canon — wholesome food is necessary but insufficient; the mind, senses, and environment play equal roles in disease prevention or causation.

The single cell called zygote, formed by the fusion of the male and female gametes grows into a full term baby and then to a mature individual by receiving food.

In the womb it originally receives food by diffusion from the uterine lining till the placenta and umbilical cord is formed. Once they are formed, nutrition reaches the baby from mother through the cord. After delivery the baby gets nutrition from breast milk. As the baby grows, it starts to consume other materials as food and is soon weaned off to them. Throughout life, an individual is receiving the exterior world as nutrition. Hence the concept that living thing is the product of food is not an exaggeration. But, everything cannot be food.

A substance can be food only if it can supply some nutrients to the body.

Ayurveda states that satiety is the prime property of food. This satiety is not a feeling of fullness of stomach. We feel hunger when the cells of the body are hungry. The hunger of the cells of the body is to be satisfied to obtain real satisfaction. The hunger of the cells is the craving for nutrition. Hence, only substances containing nutrition can function as food. Sawdust, sand, etc. do not contain any nutrient and hence they are not food materials.

All food materials do not contain nutrients in the same proportion or quality. There are also non-nutrients in most food materials. These non-nutrients may be helpful. Fiber is an example. But some non-nutrients may be deleterious to the system.

In Lathyrus, a type of pulse, there is a poison which may cause the disease Lathyrism which will handicap the individual by lameness.

In cassava (tapioca) there is a poison called hydrogen cyanide which can harm the pancreas. It is fortunate that when boiled and strained, these water soluble poisons are removed. But improper cooking may retain some of the poison in the consumed food.