Ayurvedic Cooking: Support Optimal Digestion

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SHOW NOTES:

Learn to cook and eat according to the basic principles of Ayurveda!

Did you know that an illness can develop during the process of digestion?  That's right!  Eating correctly for your body-mind constitution is critical in preventing or managing most illness-related conditions.

In this episode, we continue to explore how elemental principles present themselves in our food.

I explain what it means to eat consciously.  I teach the basic Ayurvedic principles of healthy cooking and eating.  We explore what foods we need to include to support our health and what foods we may need to eliminate to support our health. We discuss the best time to have the biggest meal of the day and why!

I also explain how seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) affect your mind-body constitution and how to support seasonal changes in your body with a proper diet.

Tune in now. 

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TRANSCRIPT

Ayurvedic Cooking: Support Optimal Digestion

Namaste!  Welcome back!  This is Unleash Your Super Self Episode 004.

Eating Ayurvedically means providing proper nourishment to all the different body-mind systems in a way that provides stable and durable digestion, mental peace and clarity, physical strength and stamina, durable health, vitality, and immunity. It means to eat to maintain balance in the body-mind.   And, if it so happens that we are out of balance, to eat in a way that helps bring the body-mind back into balance. 

Eating Ayurvedically means eating consciously, mindfully, with total awareness of the present moment.  It means carefully considering food choices and creating delicious and nutritious meals that help to experience joy.

I’ve always found it humorous to consider that my ear is just made up of the food I eat.  I mean, that’s all my ear is.  That’s all your ear is too. The building blocks of our body and its systems and organs and all the tissues consist of nothing more than the food and water or beverages we consume.  Quite literally, we are what we eat.

Just for a moment, let’s also reflect on the fact that before we buy our food from a grocery store before we place the vegetables and the fruit into our refrigerators and grains and legumes on the shelves in the kitchen, there’s a machine or even a human who plants those food seeds into the soil, waters to hydrate the plant, the sunlight shines and nourishes the plant and, in return, plants grow and produce food that we consume.  The sunlight, water, earth, space, air are all present and work together in this process. These are the same elements that also make up nature: the trees, the earth, the rain, the sun, the moon, the sky, the wind, the stars, our Universe, our bodies, minds, and souls.

I interpret this phenomenon as both a scientific process and a highly intelligent process at the same time.  There is this beauty and grace in knowing and being aware that there is this mystery or Universal Intelligence, or the Cosmic Consciousness that connects all of us in every way, and it can be perceived through its manifested forms that we know to exist and through the spiritual heart through the sensation of knowing.  It’s an intelligent life force that comes to life through us, through its objects- we see it, we experience it, we just know it because it exists.

RITUAL

The process of cooking and eating is considered a ritual or an act of devotion to Self (with capital S).  We chant prayers or mantras while cooking. We light candles while preparing a meal.  This is a way of expressing gratitude- sincere faith and devotion- and in this practice of gratitude, while cooking, we give our food good energy for proper digestion and good quality nourishment.  In honoring this infinite life force in our food, we also honor this infinite life force in our mind-body, and heart.

Like our mind-body constitutions are made up of the five elements, food is also made up of the same five elements.  So in the body, the elements are organized by their functional principles vata, pitta, kapha.  Vata is ether and air.  Pitta is fire and water.  Kapha is earth and water.  They are also further distinguished through 10 sets of opposite attributes or qualities such as hot or cold, rough or smooth, heavy or light, dry or oily, stable or mobile, dull or sharp, so on.

Here is what the same five elements in food would look like:

Earth would be root vegetables, mushrooms, seeds, nuts, grains. Water would be juices, milk, juicy vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, juicy fruit like watermelon, oranges, so on. Fire would be hot pepper, ginger, garlic, onion, sour fruit like lemon, grapefruit.  Alcohol is considered to be a fire element due to its sharp nature. Air would be raw leafy greens and rough vegetables such as broccoli.  Certain beans fall into this category, like chickpeas, nightshades like potatoes and eggplants, and tomatoes. Ether is fresh vegetable juices, alcohol, tobacco, anesthetic drugs.

THE SIX TASTES

However, in the kitchen, we organize a meal according to the Ayurvedic principles of the six tastes.  When I am in my kitchen, I add fire to my dish when I splash chili pepper flakes or hot sauce.  I don’t reference a meal in terms of the elemental structures.  I don’t say let me add a little earth or air to my dish.  I say, let me add some sweetness, some salt, something spicy.

A well-balanced Ayurvedic meal aims to include all six tastes:  sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, and astringent.  So here’s the breakdown of how the five elemental principles are organized into the six tastes:

Sweet is Earth and Water

Sour is Fire and Earth

Salt is Fire and Water

Pungent is Air and Fire

Bitter is Air and Ether

Astringent is Air and Earth

Sweet is milk, honey, rice, dates, wheat products, sugar. A sour taste is present in yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, some fruits, limes, lemons. Salt is present in Himalayan salt or rock salt; there is also sea salt, table salt, and anything else you taste salt in. Pungent is common in spices like cinnamon, mustard, ginger, onion, garlic. The bitter taste is present in bitter herbs such as turmeric and coffee, and anything else that tastes bitter.  Dark chocolate can also taste bitter. Astringent taste is that taste that has both the moist and the drying sensation on the tongue.  It is present in raw vegetables, pomegranate, split peas, bananas. 

And of course, the ten sets of opposite attributes or qualities such as hot or cold, rough or smooth, heavy or light, dry or oily, stable or mobile, dull or sharp are also used to further define food.

All six tastes support a specific system in the body-mind constitution.  Too much of one taste can cause a dosha imbalance and create disease.  Not enough of one particular taste can cause a dosha imbalance and develop a disease. If a person is already experiencing certain conditions in the mind-body constitution, I will look at what this person is eating and drinking first, as food can be both. It can be supportive of health or the cause of disease.  A person may not be eating enough in quantity, or the quality of food can be harmful, or food combinations can be poor. A person could be emotionally overeating, foods can contain synthetic hormones or other toxins, and food choices can also be improper for a person’s constitution.

DOSHIC IMBALANCE

It’s important to know what the doshic imbalance is to make appropriate adjustments to meals. Suppose we are looking to decrease weight.  We may need to consume less sweet (earth and water tastes) and instead consume more pungent, astringent, bitter tastes as they are lighter in weight and help stimulate digestion.  If a person is suffering from bloating and constipation, we may want to increase some sweet and sour and salty tastes to create more hydration more heaviness. Suppose a person is experiencing acid reflux or indigestion. In that case, this person should avoid pungent tastes, sour and salty tastes because all these hot tastes increase the fire imbalance in the body.

SEASONS

It is important to consider the season we are in as well. Late winter into Spring season (kapha season), the body transitions from cold winter months into hot summer months.  The heavier qualities of the Spring season (kapha season) will be increased in the body.  We may experience congestion, sinuses, allergies these cloudy, sticky, heavy qualities that are naturally present during late winter into springtime.  When the weather begins to shift into warmer days, during this period, it is important to release the toxins that the body has accumulated over the winter season and also prepare the body for the Summer season (the pitta season).  So, during the Spring season, we transition from the winter root vegetables and heavy textures to warm foods and bitter vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts as they will help to facilitate the detox process.  We include pungent spices such as cinnamon, ginger, garlic, fennel, turmeric as these will help to warm up and stimulate digestion.  Fruit such as apples, berries, cranberries will help to support the body-mind during this season also.

The summer season (pitta season) will naturally increase the hot, sharp, oily qualities. It is important to counterbalance these qualities with leafy greens, bell peppers, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, sweet potatoes.  Spices such as basil, fennel, cardamom, peppermint. Fruit such as coconuts, papayas, pears, sweet oranges, cherries, melons.  Coconut water.

Late fall and early winter (vata season), cold, dry, rough qualities will be increased in the body. This can leave you feeling depleted, so it is important to nourish the body with warm and moist foods and warm beverages.  It is good to include beets, cooked carrots, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, leeks.  Include heating spices such as black pepper, mustard seeds, paprika, rosemary, ginger, fruit like apples, avocados, dates, figs, oranges.

As the temperature continues to cool and we transition into the cooler months, Ayurveda recommends a detox to remove all the heat accumulated in the summer season with a seasonal detox.

MEAT AND AYURVEDA

Ayurveda may include meat in the diet as part of a client’s medical treatment plan to address specific conditions.  Otherwise, Ayurveda promotes a vegetarian diet, and drinking milk from a happy cow is acceptable and essential in supporting and building immunity.  A happy cow is a cow who lives in your backyard or your neighbor’s backyard. She eats good quality grass, she is free to roam around, and she receives love and attention and is treated with compassion.

THE BEST TIMES TO EAT

Also, the time of day when the food is consumed is of significant importance.  Breakfast should be eaten around 7-8:30 am. Breakfast should be light.  Just imagine that you have a very dim campfire in your stomach, and you want to slowly rekindle this fire.  Having a little bit of food can help to rekindle the fire after it hasn’t been fed all night.  Having a heavy breakfast with too much food can diminish the fire, just like piling up lots of wooden logs on a very dim campfire.

Lunch should be eaten around 12 pm-2 pm. The sun is at its peak intensity around noon, and this corresponds directly to having the most robust digestive fire around noon.  As the strength of the sun diminishes, the digestive fire slows down as well.  Therefore, it is crucial to have the largest meal of the day at midday.  The heaviest and most difficult foods to digest, such as grains and meats, should also be consumed around lunchtime. 

And then, the smaller meal again at dinner around 5:30-7 pm, so that when you go to sleep, your body has already digested your dinner.  If your body did not digest your meal, it will sit in your intestines overnight and create toxins that will later impact your mind-body constitution.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode. Please use the information I have shared with you for educational purposes only.  If you would like to try anything I have mentioned in this podcast, please consult with your doctor to make sure that the changes you make support your health.

If you would like to include the practices of Ayurveda in your lifestyle, please schedule a consultation so we can review your health history and your health goals.

Next week, I will share a little bit of philosophy with you that I find enlightening and inspiring.  I am genuinely passionate about this subject, and I look forward to continuing to share this with you.

Thank you for tuning.  I would love to hear from you.  Please send any questions you may have or perhaps a topic you would like to be included in future episodes to hello@mariageller.com. 

Talk to you next time. Om Shanti. Om Peace.

Maria 

POSTED BY: Maria Geller

Maria’s teaching style is described as both compassionate and powerful and invites body awareness. Through working directly with Maria, clients feel safe enough to uncover profound sources of internal wisdom. Her techniques incorporate her extensive library of knowledge with a calm, professional, and nourishing presence.

WHAT’S YOUR DOSHA?

Ayurveda is the traditional medicine of India. It is also the oldest documented and most comprehensive, holistic medical system in the world. The ancient Ayurveda text Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Samhita date back to 1,000 B.C. focusing on internal medicine, surgery, and the eight branches of Ayurveda. As a medical system, it aims to preserve good health, wellness, and wholeness, as well as be used to prevent and manage the disease.

WHICH TREATMENT IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Living with chronic pain, or acute pain from a recent injury can deeply affect your well-being. Pain can limit activity and disturb the body’s natural ability to support you in daily life. I offer rejuvenating body treatments targeting specific areas to relieve discomfort and support the natural healing process.

HOLISTIC THERAPY

I offer wellness sessions in trauma recovery and the management of stress-related states such as anxiety, depression, or agitation to optimize your health and well-being.  The sessions will help to establish supportive self-regulation practices, build up and support resiliency, support adaptability, develop locus of control, foster integration, and practice adjustment or acceptance.

YOGA FOR YOU

A balanced Yoga practice integrates various branches of Yoga to develop the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of an individual.

The basic Yoga Hatha class is designed for a broad spectrum of students and is considered to be a good introduction to a wider field of Yogic philosophy and practices. 

YOGA FOR YOUR CHILD

Children of all ages are welcome.  I encourage children to experiment with their body and breath, mind and spirit.  My Yoga classes are discovery classes in which children move from gross body awareness to subtle spiritual experience.   They learn simple anatomy and age-appropriate breath work which translates into body awareness and mindfulness.