Why Kids Like Sweets? Why Acidity Starts After 30? Ayurveda Answers

As per Ayurveda, Kapha Dosha is dominant during childhood. When a Dosha is dominant, naturally the body tries to suppress the Dosha with food and activities. Sweet taste increases Kapha Dosha. But still most of the kids like sweets and chocolates.  Why?

Another related question – 

Usually spices are well tolerated during childhood and teenage. Why? and
Once after we reach 30+ we tend to start getting acidity, burning sensation gas etc with the same spicy food that once we used to love. Why?

Try to answer them in the comments below. You have got 24 precious hours to write the answers in the comment box below. I will give my answers after I have heard from you.

Thanks for participating in this contest and we have got some 23 impressive responses. 

Here are my answers – 

1. Kapha Dosha and childhood – 
Kapha dosha is dominant in first one third of life. So, it is dominant in first 20 – 30 years of life. Kapha dosha helps to build the body and mind.
The nature of sweet taste is – to increase body nourishment, to improve mood, to keep the mind happy, and to cause overall growth of body and nourishment. Because of dominant Kapha, children grow faster and they are a lot happier when compared to adults.
Sweet taste directly increases Kapha Dosha.

Now why do they crave for more sweets when they already have high Kapha?
Usually, when a factor is more, body tends to balance it out, by craving for the opposite qualities. For example, in case of fever, body naturally hates sweet and foods, because already digestion strength is depleted and more of sweet food will cause worsening  of digestion strength and fever.
But in childhood, there is more and more need of mental and physical growth. The sweet helps to keep the body and mind growth at proper pace.
Also, childhood is a physically active phase of life. Hence, more of carbohydrate supply helps to keep up with the energy needs of the body.

Why acidity after 30?
Sweet taste also protects and promotes health of mucosa of stomach and intestines.
At 20s and 30s, sweet intake decreases, spices in food increase.
By 30s, Pitta takes the dominant position and hence there is tendency to develop acidity and gastritis.
Bad habits, not sticking to strict regimen, increasing stress also contributes to the stomach woes.

Winners –
1. Sriharsha Aswathanarayan
2. Hilde Laumanns
3. Anuj Seth.

Please see their answers in the comment section below.

Sorry, if I have disappointed anyone by not rewarding their efforts.
There are many more contests in the offing here at Easy Ayurveda.

Many thanks for contributing. 🙂

24 comments on “Why Kids Like Sweets? Why Acidity Starts After 30? Ayurveda Answers

  • himanshu bansal

    06/06/2013 - 3:12 pm

    because as we grow up our metabolism slowly goes on decreasing , that s why we suffer from gas and acidity etc

    Reply to comment
    • RAVULA RADHIKA REDDY

      06/06/2013 - 3:37 pm

      R.RADHIKA REDDY
      AFTER THE AGE OF 30 , ONE IS UNDER THE PITTA DOMINANCE. THE SPICY FOOD WILL INCREASE THE PITTA WHICH LEADS TO ACIDITY AND GAS PROBLEMS. HENCE SPICY FOOD MAY INCREASE THE PROBLEM.
      HOPE MY GUESS IS CORRECT.
      Radhika reddy

      Reply to comment
    • r

      06/06/2013 - 5:02 pm

      since sugar helps children in their growth years, nature has given them sweettooth.
      as we get old amount of acid that is released in stomach gets lesser and lesser, low acid level leads to undigestion (some of the stays unburnt) this leads to burning sensation.

      Reply to comment
  • Ami

    06/06/2013 - 3:27 pm

    Acidity is nothing but ‘pita’.it cause because of digesting power become weak.

    Reply to comment
  • patricia chandrashekhar

    06/06/2013 - 3:29 pm

    Because as we get older our doshas often change and more of vata comes in. Metabolism slows down and we can’t digest the same foods as well as before.

    Reply to comment
  • Michal

    06/06/2013 - 3:47 pm

    Children love sweets because Kapha is necessery while they growing and develop the body. They need more energy for the body and thus they sleep more and accumulate energy, don’t spend it on activities. Sweet is an energy source.

    Reply to comment
  • Christina Tyndall

    06/06/2013 - 4:32 pm

    When we reach 30+ we start liking spicy food , we also like sugar still , these two react to cause acid as the sugar ferments .

    Reply to comment
  • Hilde Laumanns

    06/06/2013 - 5:48 pm

    As sweet tast increases Kapha Dosha the children like it besause they have to grow and to gain wait, therefore they need the sweet taste more than an adult.

    As later in live the dominat Dosha is Pitta we need to equalise this Dosha with more cooling food and spices. If we eat the same food as in Kapha dominat lifetime we will have problems with fire.

    Reply to comment
  • Anitha

    06/06/2013 - 6:14 pm

    Because Pitta is Dominant after age 30.

    Reply to comment
  • Laxmikant

    06/06/2013 - 6:41 pm

    Stress.

    Reply to comment
  • Gaitri

    06/06/2013 - 8:28 pm

    Because we become less active as we grow older, leading to a decreased metabolism rate.

    Reply to comment
  • Anup

    06/06/2013 - 8:43 pm

    1. Stress and Anxieties Increase in this time of life.
    2.The accumulated toxins in the body over the years weaken the metabolic process

    Reply to comment
  • Sophie Hawkins

    06/06/2013 - 9:21 pm

    Many things affect digestive ability such as stress, improper breathing habits, mental agitation, and eating foods that are not suited to your current digestive ability. All of these things contribute to inflammation which will cause symptoms of heat. People used to eat probiotic foods (foods that are naturally fermented), at almost every meal. These foods such as yogurt, Kefir, Kombucha, lacto fermented pickles keep our digestive and immune system healthy. Children are now being born with little to no healthy bacteria in the gut do to the lack of these foods in the parents’ diet. Grandma’s used to give pickle juice (not the vinegar ones but the brined pickles) for all that ails as they knew that many symptoms were related to an upset in gut flora.

    Reply to comment
  • vimala jagannath

    06/06/2013 - 11:50 pm

    Youngsters can digest sweet and spicy food because their organs are very strong at that age.They play a lot, exercise well and lead an active life. As they grow many hormonal changes take place, life is not physically active, eating habits become haphazard and also stress plays an important role.

    Reply to comment
  • S.V.Ramana

    07/06/2013 - 5:46 am

    The growth rate is high in children’s body and they require high level of energy sources for their growth. Their mind sends signals to like sweets and thereby encourages them to take more energy sources to fill their biological needs.

    Reply to comment
  • Piyathilaka

    07/06/2013 - 6:10 am

    Children needs lot of energy.That is why they like sweets.When it passes chilhood body will change and need less energy and stress coming to play in day to day activitoes.That is why this change occurs.

    Reply to comment
  • bhuvan

    07/06/2013 - 6:33 am

    We tend to become physically less active and increased stress levels

    Reply to comment
  • Leela

    07/06/2013 - 10:30 am

    All has to do with changes in the metabolic rate.

    Reply to comment
  • Anuj Seth

    07/06/2013 - 8:07 pm

    Kids have very soft skin inside their mouth & gut. They do not tolerate salt & spices well. But for sweets this is not the case. So we start giving them sweet foods and they like it too. Sweets have a craving effect on human bodies, so the cycle goes on until the liking for other tastes are well developed.

    Human bodies the fire i.e. Jathragani / metabolism is fast from teenage till 25 years of age after that it starts diminishing. It may not be well noticeable till 30 but after that the diminished fire can be noticed by acidity & gastric problems.

    Reply to comment
  • hosi patel

    08/06/2013 - 7:48 pm

    Acidity is nothing but excess of gastric juice in in our stomach

    Reply to comment
  • Sriharsha Aswathanarayan

    09/06/2013 - 10:07 am

    Dear Dr.Hebbar,

    Following is my analysis of your queries.

    Kids love sweets
    ———————
    The reasons are psychological as well as physiological.

    1. Kapha is dominant in childhood (as you said).

    2. Sweets predominantly have a “Kapha” nature. Kapha is comforting, caring and nourishing in its effect. We all know kids like to be loved, cared for and love to be comforted. And so when kids eat sweets, they get this nourishing and nurturing energy of Kapha which makes them feel that they are cared for and comforted. This goes deep into their subconscious and so they like eating sweets again and again.

    Usually spices are well tolerated during childhood and teenage. Why?
    ——————————————————————–

    Again, the reasons are psychological as well as physiological.

    1. After the age of 30, Pitta starts dominating.

    2. After the age of 30, normally people get into marriage relationship, give birth to children, start working intensely on their careers etc. They are more exposed to society which may cause social anxiety in some people who are not really comfortable in the presence of people. Innocence of childhood is lost and some kind of inner frustration creeps up in their jobs (peer pressure) and they are tempted to think of means to make more money. Familial and social “Responsibility” of people increases which unknowingly affects their psyche (in the form of stress – internal as well as external). All these leave a big impact on the digestion mechanism of people. So, when digestion gets affected, people may not be able to tolerate the same spicy food they once used to enjoy harmlessly.

    Reply to comment
    • Sriharsha Aswathanarayan

      09/06/2013 - 10:24 am

      Adding to reasons I cited earlier, since Pitta starts dominating after the age of 30, it has its naturally “hot” effect on the psychological and physiological processes.
      Also, the familial, social and work-front related happenings etc have a big impact on people’s psyche. The first thing that is affected from this is the digestion mechanism. Indigestion creeps up which gives rise to a host of other problems including acidity (if not properly managed).

      Reply to comment
      • Sriharsha Aswathanarayan

        09/06/2013 - 5:00 pm

        Adding to my earlier two posts, I would like to bring in another perspective to this topic with the help of ancient Indian vedic astrology which is consistent with the findings from ayurveda.

        During childhood, kids need mother’s care more although they do care for love in general from everybody. Mother’s energy is represented by Moon which has a Kapha (Cool) nature. Hence kids develop an affinity for Kapha things like sweets (this is consistent with ayurveda which says kapha is dominant in childhood).

        After the age of 30 (actually even before 30 is reached), Sun starts to have a dominant effect on an individual’s life. Sun represents “hot” nature, ambitions, status in society, politics, success, social presence, ego, sense of self, etc. which is probably why individuals start working on these aspects of their lives. Sun being Pitta (hot) in nature, has a big impact on the digestion mechanism in people as it affects acid production in the stomach required for digestion. So, if the psychological effects of Sun are allowed to aggravate, it would have an adverse effect on digestion resulting in acidity.

        Reply to comment

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