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I think it depends a lot on the content makeup of the food. In India, in a typical meal with rice or chapathis (baked wheat flour), the base items form bulk of the food, weight wise. Curries and gravys are mostly garnishing. And there is a lot of spice and chili in most foods. So even among those who eat meat, the portions are relatively small. And milk, curd and milk derivative products are a huge part of the Indian meal. In fact, in India, food is a carefully curated science, especially the traditional dishes. There are a lot of thumb rules for what to eat when, time of the day wise, day wise, day of the week wise, season wise and what not. The cuisine keeps changing. For example, in the south, most evening dinners have a dish called 'rasam', which is just tamrind juice with tomatoes and a few spices. A very watery dish, where a litre of water is boiled with about 20 grams of tamrind. The reason it is usually taken in the night and during a heavy afternoon meal, is because it very much improves indigestion and constipation. Indian scriptures give a lot of research on Food, Health, sex and spirituality. Edit: Fasting is catching on in recent times in the west, but has been a staple part of Indian life since always. But it was never recommended for those whose life depends on manual labour, like farmers. They were always encouraged to take food, in good quantities every day. Lots of meat and sweets were recommended for the warrior class. Meat was forbidden for thise who are in knowledge work, like scholars, poets etc. This class had the most stringent food restrictions, because they essentially sit and think, and eating meat or drinking wine dulls a sharp mind. |