Nowadays everyone is facing obesity or belly fat problems due to incorrect lifestyle. But do you know why fat accumulates in our body and specially near belly area? Let's understand through ayurved concepts. In our body there are seven kinds of dhatu. Those types are Rasa (Plasma), Rakta(Blood), Mamasa(Muscle), Medha(Fat), Asthi(Bone), Majja(Bone Marrow) and Shukra (Reproductive Fluids). These dhatus (tissues) are very important for our body because each body organ are made up from these dhatus. First dhatu is Rasa dhatu and it forms in our body only when our food gets digested properly. Each dhatu helps in formation of another dhatu for example Rasa will help in formation of Rakta dhatu.

Reason Of Fat : We already read that our digested food makes Rasa dhatu first. This Rasa dhatu has it's waste product which is Kapha. If our food doesn't get digested properly then Rasa dhatu formation will becomes less and Kapha (Waste of Rasa Dhatu) formation will become more. And this Kapha later gives obesity problem and other skin diseases. If our digestion is good and food get digested properly then fat wont store in our body. So our first objective is to improve our digestive fire.

How to reduce excess fat from body:

1. Body Massage :Do oil massage daily in the morning before bath and rub your body area with besan or barley powder for 10 mins where fat is accumulated more. Oil massage should be done by mustard oil because mustard oil is heat in nature and it reduces Kapha (fat) and Vata (air) from body.

2. Honey Water :Take 1 litre of water and boil it until it becomes one fourth. When water cools down then mix a spoon of honey in water. (Dont mix honey in luke warm water or warm water because as per ayurved it makes toxins). Drink this water sip by sip so that maximum amount of your sliva can mix in it. Honey has property to reduce Kapha from body very fast. You have to drink this water after 1 or 2 hrs of your food.

3. Turmeric Tea :Turmeric has property to remove Kapha from body. It improves our digestive fire and helps in blood purification also. You can drink 1 cup of turmeric tea in a day. Boil 2 cups of water, mix raw tumeric or powder in it when it becomes half then turn off the gas and drink this tea. If you want you can add little jaggery in it while boiling but if you want to add honey then add when it cools down completely.

4. Curd water/Buttermilk :Curd is heat in nature and it increases Pitta by decreasing Vata and Kapha. It improves our digestive fire and open all blocked channels. You can either drink a cup of buttermilk or curd water at the end of your food. Mix a pinch of Sendha namak and ginger powder. If you have bleeding problem or have any kind of burning sensation in body in that case it should be avoided else it will increase it. For more details you can read our Food Types article in which we have mentioned which food we should eat in each season. Note: Women should avoid this during periods else it will increase bleeding.

5. Barley Chapati :Barley is light in nature and easily digestable. You can replace wheat chapati with barley chapati because it gets digested easily. Wheat chapati is heavy in nature and helps in body growth so it is useful for them who wants to grow their muscles. Apply ghee on chapati before eating because cow ghee increases our digestive fire and helps in easy digestion of food.

6. Rice :If you are a rice lover then cook the rice in pot and throw the water once it is cooked. Because cooked rice water contains Kapha and it is good for them who want to gain weight. You can roast the rice for 2 to 3 min then cook it. Roasting any grians (rice, pulses, flour(aata)) for 2 to 3 mins on pan before cooking makes it light in weight and easily digestable. Add a spoon of ghee in rice because ghee makes it smooth and easily digestable.

7. Chew your food properly because it helps our stomach to digest food properly.

8. In your plate keep 50 percent solid items and 25 percent vegetables or liquid items. Keep some free space so that your digestive enzimes can mix the food properly to digest them.

9. Long Pepper (Pippali) :It helps to reduce excess fat (medh dhatu) from body. Take 1 spoon of honey and 1 pinch of Long Pepper powder with it. It can be taken before or after food.

10. Don't eat any thing specially sweet items just after your meal because it disturbs the digestion process. Eat anything after 3 hrs of your previous meal. Because your stomach takes minimum 3 hrs to digest your meal. If you eat anything in the middle then food doesn't get digested properly. Sweet items are heavy in nature and take more time to digest. If you want to eat something sweet then have it first in your meal.

11. If your digestive fire is slow and if you don't feel hungry frequently then try to finish your lunch before 1 pm and dinner before 9 pm or before 8:30pm. Because Pitta time starts from 10 am to 2pm and night 10 pm to 2 am and it helps in our food digestion. After dinner walk for 15 mins because at night time our digestion process becomes slow due to absence of Sun. Walking after food boosts our digestive fire.

12. If your motion is not clear in the morning then skip your breakfast because undigested food releases toxins in our body. You can check our Food Rules article for more details.

13. Don't sleep in the afternoon or just after food. Day time sleep increases Kapha in body, it is good for old people or sick people. During Summer season you can sleep in the afternoon.

14. Add more Bitter, Astringent taste in your food because it reduces Kapha.

15. Do exercise for 30 mins daily. It could be simple walking also. Exercise improves our digestive fire.