Garam and Thanda Foods: The Unani and Ayurvedic Logic Explained (Video)

Transcript

Warm and Cool Foods

Ever wonder why your grandma says mangoes are too garam in June? Let’s explore the old Indian ideas of hot and cool foods.

A familiar warning

If you grew up in a desi home, you’ve probably heard that line a hundred times. It comes from generations of observation, not a lab test. The rule sticks because it felt right for the family.

At a glance

In short, garam and thanda talk about how a food makes you feel after you eat it. Unani uses four qualities, hot, cold, wet, dry, while Ayurveda talks about virya, the heating or cooling potency.

Temperature isn’t the point

A glass of hot milk isn’t necessarily garam, but a chilled mango shake can be. The terms describe the body’s response, flushed, restless, heavy, or settled, not the dish’s actual temperature.

Unani's four qualities

Unani Tibb, rooted in ancient Greek humoral theory, pairs hot or cold with wet or dry. Mixing them gives four temperaments, sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic, each linked to a humour. Foods are then graded from first to fourth degree.

In the old books

Classical Unani writers saw diet as the first line of care, with medicine as the second. That’s why most of this knowledge lives in the kitchen, not the pharmacy.

Ayurveda’s virya

Ayurveda looks at each food’s rasa, its virya, heating or cooling, and its vipaka, the post-digestive effect. Pungent, sour, and salty tastes are generally heating; sweet, bitter, and astringent are cooling.

Common food labels

Families often agree that ripe mangoes, dates, almonds, and fried fish are garam, while rice and wheat are mildly warming. Ghee can be seen as warming or balancing, and milk’s label changes with preparation.

Seasonal kitchen tricks

Most households don’t ban foods. They soak mangoes in water, summer, follow a hot dish with a glass of lassi, add soaked basil seeds to summer drinks, and warm winter meals with panjiri, ginger, and almonds.

Modern nutrition view

Science doesn’t have a unit called garam, and the four humours are no longer used in physiology. Still, heavy, protein-rich meals can feel warm, spicy compounds spark heat, and watery foods like cucumber help you stay cool.

Worth knowing first

Don’t let a garam or thanda label stop you from needed care. Pregnant women often hear myths about papaya, but ripe fruit is fine; just avoid unripe green pieces. Dates, jaggery, honey, and mangoes are sugary, and honey should never be given to infants.

Practical use

Think of garam and thanda as a vocabulary for noticing how food makes you feel. In hot weather, choose lighter, watery dishes; in cold weather, lean on warming spices and denser foods. Pay attention to your own body, that’s what the old healers did.

Thanks for listening

For more details, read the full post on thecareonline.com. Remember, this is shared wisdom, not medical advice.