What the texts say
Badara, the name usually read as ber, sits midway through Charaka's nineteen fruits, between dantashatha and koshamra. After the named fruits the rule reaches 'other things of this kind' and everything sour, liquid or solid.[1]
The modern view
One adjacent study, in rats, gave jujube juice with or without skimmed milk, milk fat or whole milk, then measured the juice's plant compounds (phenolics) in the blood for eight hours. Whole milk lowered how much reached the blood, skimmed milk changed the pattern over time but not the total absorbed, and milk fat alone made no difference. It is a question about absorption, not harm, and the jujube studied may not be the same plant as Indian ber.[2]
From the classical texts
Related
Milk and sour fruits
Charaka's own example of a bad food combination is sour food with milk. Sushruta and Vagbhata make the same rule.
FoodMilk and jamun
Charaka and Sushruta both list jamun among foods not to take with milk. Sushruta counts the pair among those that become like poison.
FoodMilk and wood apple (kaitha)
Charaka lists kapittha, wood apple, among the fruits not to take with milk.
Sources
- Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 26.84 (Atreyabhadrakapyiya Adhyaya).
- Zhang H, Zheng J, Liu X, Ding Q, Jiang L, Guo H, Ren F. Milk protein and fat play different roles in affecting the bioavailability and the antioxidant activity of jujube juice phenolics in rats. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. 2012;56:1511-1519. PMID 22930468.
Updated 4 November 2026