आन्तरिक्षमुदकानां


Translation: Rain water of Antariksha kind is the best for health.


Commentary (Vishnu)



In this part of this chapter we will be dealing with many classes of food and the best candidate from the group is stated. 


In most cases we will consider a few alternatives and discuss why the candidate selected by Atreya is best. 


It will be virtually impossible to cover every aspect on this platform and therefore I have decided to limit the discussion to a few pertinent points.







Various varieties of water are described in Ayurvedic classics. Most healthy of them is Antariksha. Here we should take a review of types of water in the classics. We are not just dealing with H2O but we are dealing with water as it is consumed by organisms. Pure rainwater, dew or snow is termed as Antariksha i.e. falling from the skies. Detailed review of all water types is in chapter 27 of sutrasthan but here we will review the factors which were considered while arriving at health profiles of them. 


Rasa is imparted to water due to contamination or solutes in it. When an organism consumes water it is usually not pure but is a solution and for consideration of its health effects an algorithm was devised by Ancient Gurus. In fact the same algorithm is used for all substances. It is one of the basic principles of Ayurved called as Rasa-Veerya-Vipak-Prabhava Siddhant. 


Those who are familiar with this theory need not read next few paragraphs. 


Immediate effects of consumption of any substance are categorized as Rasa. Veerya is the intensity and direction of effect. Vipak is the residual effect after digestion of any substance is complete and Prabhava is the observed effect which cannot be explained by the previous three.


The subtle variations in all the above give any substance its unique position in the spectrum of healthy curative or toxic effects. (Apart from consideration of quantity.) 


 Water which is without any Rasa is best while slight sweet or astringent taste is also acceptable.
Other desirable properties in water are Laghu (lightweight) Vishad (non adhesive) Aruksha (non drying) and Anabhishyandi (does not cause exudation).


It will be very interesting to compare these with norms of potable drinking water currently advised by regulatory agencies.

Parameters for drinking water quality typically fall under two categories: chemical/physical and microbiological. Chemical/physical parameters include heavy metals, trace organic compounds, total suspended solids (TSS), and turbidity. Microbiological parameters include Coliform bacteria, E. coli, and specific pathogenic species of bacteria (such as cholera-causing Vibrio cholerae), viruses, and protozoan parasites.

Chemical parameters tend to pose more of a chronic health risk through buildup of heavy metals although some components like nitrates/nitrites and arsenic can have a more immediate impact. Physical parameters affect the aesthetics and taste of the drinking water and may complicate the removal of microbial pathogens.

Detailed standards can be found at http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm

Red rice is the best amongst cereals

तद्यथा आहारत्वम् आहारस्य एकविधम् अर्थाभेदत:; स पुनः द्वियोनिः स्थावर जंगमात्मकत्वात्; द्विविध प्रभावः हिताहित उदर्कविशेषात् ; चतुर्विध उपयोगः पानाशनभक्ष्य लेह्योपयोगात्; षडास्वादः ,रसभेदतः षडविधत्वात्: विंशतिगुणः गुरु लघु शीत उष्ण स्निग्ध रुक्ष मंद तीक्ष्ण स्थिर सर मृदु कठिन विशद पिच्छिल श्लक्ष्ण खर सूक्ष्म स्थूल सांद्र द्रवानुगमात्; अपरिसंख्येयविकल्पः , द्रव्यसंयोगकरणबाहुल्यात्     ॥३६॥ 

तस्य खलु ये ये विकारावयवाः भूयिष्ठं उपयुन्ज्यन्ते भूयिष्ठकल्पानाम् च मनुष्याणांम् प्रकृत्यैव हिततमाः च अहिततमाःच तांस्तान्  यथावत उपदेक्ष्याम : ॥३७॥

तद्यथा लोहित शालयः शूकधान्यानां पथ्यतमत्त्वे श्रेष्ठतमाः भवन्ति 
Translation: Food is of one type i. e. anything being eaten. There are two origins immobile and mobile (Vegetable and minerals in immobile category and animals in mobile category) The long term effects divide food in two categories; wholesome and unwholesome; Usable form makes it of four categories: drinkable eatable, chew-able and lick-able; properties divide food into 20 types having heavy, light, cold,hot,unctous,dry,soothing, sharp, stable , moving, soft,hard, non-sticky,sticky,smooth,rough, small,big, viscid and liquid properties. (Food) becomes of infinite types due to innumerable combinations and processing.
We will elaborate those food articles which are widely used and are by nature highly wholesome or extremely unwholesome to most of the varied people. 
They are like this: Red rice is the best of cereals being most wholesome.


Commentary: (Chakrapani) अर्थाभेदात् indicates that all food on consumption is processed by the body in the same way and therefore there is only one type of food that which is eaten. उदर्क means the outcome which happens afterwards. Of the twenty properties these are pairs of exactly opposite nature  like heavy and light. The properties starting with पर which will be elaborated in next chapter ( S. S. 26) are not important in this context and therefore not mentioned here. Combinations and processing which is described there is useful here as a reason for infinite variations therefore they are mentioned. Quantity is another reason for variation but as stated in the previous verse it has been explicitly excluded here. द्रव्य here means food articles like cereals संयोग means combinations and करण means processing. 
तम is the superlative suffix to note best of similar things. Alternatively it means one of the best and does not exclude other things.


  
Commentary: (Vishnu) Chakrapani's commentary explains most of the minute didactical points.  I wish to highlight some important points.
All food on consumption is processed by the body in the same way and therefore there is only one type of food; that which is eaten. 
Agni breaks down everything which is consumed into the 5 mahabhootas and Bhootagni convert those parts into uniquely individual particles which are compatible with one's own body so that they can be assimilated. Whichever cannot be so converted is rejected from the body through Malas like urine fecal matter sweat, expired air etc. Agni does not discriminate between food articles.
In the next part of the chapter there is a long list of articles which are very wholesome or very unwholesome. Atreya has stated a caveat here : We will elaborate those food articles which are widely used and are by nature highly wholesome or extremely unwholesome to most of the varied people. Little used items are not listed. Things which can become wholesome due to combinations dosage timing processing etc. are not mentioned. Even the items in this list may prove to be otherwise (Wholesome or unwholesome) to some of the people as there is infinite natural variation amongst people.
Now we will examine the first of this list. 
Red rice is the best of cereals being most wholesome.
This is borne out by a mountain of evidence. I have given links here. Those who wish to go into details can visit those sites.

http://www.agri-history.org/pdf/Red%20Rices%20-%20Uma%20Ahuja.pdf
jn.nutrition.org/content/35/6/639.full.pdf
Here is a table of comparative nutritive values of various cereals. Brown rice has digestibility of 99.7% which is the best amongst the group. 

¹ Adapted from Chavan & Kadam (1989)Table 9. Comparative nutritive value of cereal grains ¹

FACTOR	Wheat	Maize	Brown rice	Barley	Sorghum	Oat	Pearl millet	Rye
Available CHO (%)	69.7	63.6	64.3	55.8	62.9	62.9	63.4	71.8
Energy (kJ/100 g)	1570	1660	1610	1630	1610	1640	1650	1570
Digestible energy (%)	86.4	87.2	96.3	81.0	79.9	70.6	87.2	85.0
Vitamins (mg/100 g)
Thiamin	0.45	0.32	0.29	0.10	0.33	0.60	0.63	0.66
Riboflavin	0.10	0.10	0.04	0.04	0.13	0.14	0.33	0.25
Niacin	3.7	1.9	4.0	2.7	3.4	1.3	2.0	1.3
Amino acids (g/16 g N)
Lysine	2.3	2.5	3.8	3.2	2.7	4.0	2.7	3.7
Threonine	2.8	3.2	3.6	2.9	3.3	3.6	3.2	3.3
Met. & Cys.	3.6	3.9	3.9	3.9	2.8	4.8	3.6	3.7
Tryptophan	1.0	0.6	1.1	1.7	1.0	0.9	1.3	1.0
Protein quality (%)
True digestibility	96.0	95.0	99.7	88.0	84.8	84.1	93.0	77.0
Biological value	55.0	61.0	74.0	70.0	59.2	70.4	60.0	77.7
Net protein utilil.	53.0	58.0	73.8	62.0	50.0	59.1	56.0	59.0
Utilization protein	5.6	5.7	5.4	6.8	4.2	5.5	6.4	5.1