There is an old wives tale that Onions/Garlic are aphrodisiacs. Hence one of the reasons why widows were not allowed this in their food. 12/14/06 Ramanan

I was searching for Vegetarian restaurants in China and hit upon this piece of infomation on Chinese Buddhist Cuisine

Some Mahayana Buddhists in China and Vietnam also avoid eating strong-smelling plants such as onion, garlic, chives, shallot, and leek, and refer to these as wu hun (??, 'Five Spices').

One theory behind this Buddhist dietary restriction is that these vegetables have strong flavours which are supposed to excite the senses and, thus, represent a burden to Buddhists seeking to control their desires.

Another theory is that these are all root crops, and harvesting them requires killing organisms in the soil. The latter explanation is accepted in the Jain religion that sprung up in India at the same time as Buddhism, and quite possibly influenced its practices. A third theory is that these strong spices could be used to cover up the taste of meat. Practitioners were told to avoid dishes with these spices to ensure they could discern if food prepared by others was tainted by meat. It is unclear historically, what the original reason was for this restriction.

Drink 2 glasses of luke warm water in the mornings. No need to add anything like lemon/honey. Include a lot of slow absorbing carbs like wheat and wheat bread. Lots of leafy vegetables. Eating small portions of food so that the stomach is never empty so if one is eating at 7:00 am breakfast, then ideally one should try and eat a fruit at 9:00 am and so on cutting the intake of rice, though one can eat basmati rice once a week because basmati is low in GI. If one really is in a habit of snacking, then 2 cups of puffed rice is good. One can even make it like a dry bhel without the sweet chutney. Also sugar intake cannot go beyond 5 spoons a day. Eat lots of proteins, which can be found in pulses. It is better to avoid channa dal. Potatoes and chick peas are a big no. Try and eat a lot of salad and even sprouts, during lunch/dinnertime. Apple, pear, and papaya are excellent. Banana only to thin buttermilk/1 cup dahi/curd. No pickle/papad/fried stuff plus 30 minutes walking. This is what my dietitian recommended and it helped me.