Diet

Comparing organic raw cacao and most commercial chocolate is like comparing a perfectly ripe, fresh, organic, wild blueberry with the synthetic chemical blueberry flavoring in a jelly bean. The processing and the toxic additives are not digestible and are lacking in prana, aggravate all three doshas, builds ama, and contributes to disease. But don’t despair. With a little education, you can learn how to use this wonderful food to your benefit.

Before you start your cleanse, making sure your calendar is as clear as possible will help ensure your success. The body needs time and space in order to allow the nervous system to relax, helping to facilitate the deep process of detoxification

There could be many reasons for someone to choose to eat a vegan diet or live a vegan lifestyle: health, ethics, and environmental concerns lie at the top of the list. Many yogis adopt this practice in conjunction with the ethical observance of ahimsa or non-harming, and in general, both yoga and its sister science, Ayurveda, seek out a sattvic diet—a diet containing pure foods that are high in prana or energy.

Ayurveda teaches us that our gut health is a determining factor of our overall health, and it’s important to learn how to keep our agni, or digestive fire, strong and efficient. Our agni is a big soup of acid, bile, and enzymes that help transform food into usable energy. Maintaining a balanced agni translates into better digestion, elimination, and immune function.

As such a crucial function of the body, digestion is worth nurturing, and sometimes the best way to do that is with a simple reset and reboot.

Going to your local market instead of a grocery store this time of year isn’t only fun, but it’s healthy as well. The ancient science of Ayurveda teaches us that eating fresh, seasonal, and locally grown foods are a big step toward a healthy and happy mind and body!

The saying “You are what you eat” takes on increased importance in Ayurveda, which teaches that food affects you both physiologically and psychologically. To be more Ayurvedic, we can modify this saying to “You are as healthy as the tastes you consume.” Everything you eat has a certain taste and that taste has specific actions on the body and mind.

The sweet taste is essential to our well-being. Sweet foods are good for building and strengthening the body and improving circulation. To satisfy a sweet craving naturally, try one (or both!) of the following recipes.

Eating fresh food is important, but do you get tired of the same salads, soups, and steamed vegetables day in and day out? Spices are colorful, aromatic, and exciting. There are no rules when it comes to spices, so don’t be bashful—get creative! 

Removing wheat from the diet may offer only a temporary fix for a more complex problem—a compromised digestive system. I’ve seen decades of patients telling me they felt better initially without wheat, but within a few weeks or months, the digestive distress, bloat, weight, fatigue, and brain fog would all come back. It is time we stop treating the symptoms and address the cause. It is time we stop treating the symptoms and address the cause.

Here’s the skinny on fats. Although fats have had a bad rap for a few decades, modern medicine has begun to see the importance of good quality fats in the diet. Ayurveda, however, has been using fats not only as a healthy part of a balanced diet but also as a powerful herb and spice vehicle for thousands of years! The utilization of fats in this way is called an anupan. Fats such as ghee, sesame oil, coconut milk, and cow’s milk are recognized as anupans and are valued for their ability to carry herbs and formulas deeper into specific tissues.

Has gluten been found guilty without a fair trial? Is it possible that we have wrongfully given gluten the boot as well, along with dairy and other commonly allergenic foods such as eggs, soy, corn, fish, and nuts?

Eating is a wonderful and enjoyable act. Unfortunately, with busy lives, we can forget how important it actually is and how directly it affects our minds and bodies. Ayurveda teaches that the act of eating is just as significant as the nutritional content of the food. 

The qualities of vata dosha—cold, dry, rough, clear, and mobile—are characteristic in the disorders associated with this time of year. Many people experience restless nights with racing thoughts, increased anxiety, dry skin and lips, constipation, indigestion, bloating, and gas. In Ayurveda, we can create balance during this season by cultivating the opposite qualities of vata dosha. 

When the mind is functioning optimally, you have a keen sense of awareness, a sharpness of focus and attention, good memory recall, and decisiveness. According to Ayurveda, most memory problems are related to kapha dosha, with its dense qualities, thick, soft, and sticky qualities.

Spring is the season for a lighter, cleansing diet in Ayurvedic practice. This is because the foods that nature provides during these months, just before summer, are all of the lighter variety.

Monica B is throwing an Ayurvedic pizza party and invites three guests; vata, pitta, and kapha. How will they build their plates?

Is it right for everyone? Are there contraindications? Is my body strong enough? Do I have enough support? Am I emotionally stable enough? These are important considerations and it takes a well-qualified Ayurvedic practitioner to determine if it is indicated for you to do a home cleanse or receive panchakarma in a clinical setting.

Superfood is a term used for greens that are packed with chlorophyll, vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids. Some common green chlorophyll-rich superfoods are cereal grasses such as alfalfa, barley grass, oat grass, and wheat grass. Spirulina, or blue-green algae, is also loaded with chlorophyll, minerals, and phytonutrients that are essential for good health.

In Ayurveda, strengthening digestion is crucial to achieving and maintaining your ideal weight. Digestion has been strengthened for thousands of years with great success through the use of herbs, yoga postures, breathing techniques, and diet. Here are ten basic tips to help you improve your digestion.

Ayurvedic healers believe that our levels of stress are directly connected to our diet. They hold out the promise that if we improve our diet, we can reduce our stress. At the heart of this conviction is the critical principle of Ayurvedic medicine that many diseases can originate in the digestive system. This means that your diet is of the utmost importance to keeping you healthy. Indeed, you may even find yourself in a double bind.

One way that you know you are at dinner with an Ayurveda traditionalist is if he or she orders “water, no ice, please.”

Mom always said, save room for dessert. Sorry, mom – I am eating my dessert first and saving room for dinner.

According to Ayurvedic principles, the sweet taste should come first. In fact it’s important to try to get all six tastes into our diet each day—sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. These tastes are listed in the order in which they digest in our body. So when we eat the sweet taste last, this foodstuff can become toxic as it waits to be digested and then turn in to ama. Bad plan. These empty sugary calories will dampen the digestive fire and slow the whole digestive system down.

In Ayurveda, every food can be considered medicine, neutral, or poison, depending on how it affects agni, or our digestive capacity. Eating more slowly can help you become aware of your food allies—or discover those that are not.  Here are a few suggestions.