Vegetarian Vitality

At this time of year when it’s snowing and cold i.e. the season of Kapha according to Ayurveda, raclette is a popular meal here in Switzerland. Even though it is a simple dish of cheese with potatoes and usually a side salad, people like it because you do most of the cooking at the table so it is a very sociable and easy meal.

I recently received an invitation for a raclette lunch. The host told me she planned to offer fruit after the meal as something light after the heaviness of all the cheese. She asked for my professional thoughts.

In Ayurvedic nutrition – based on a system over 5000 years old – it is considered better to eat fruit alone or leave it alone. There are scientific reasons for this.

Fruit digests much more quickly than other food and should be free to leave the stomach quickly. If you mix it with other foods it tends to ferment because digestion is delayed. So it’s better to eat fruit away from food.

So what can you do to end of a heavy meal on a light and healthy note so that digestion continues at a reasonable pace? Here are my tips and suggestions.

1. Leave the table slightly hungry. Aim to have a small portion of your stomach empty when you eat. Remember the analogy of the washing machine (see Key 1 of 5 nutritional Keys to vitality in your life). Ideally you leave the table feeling satisfied but aware you could eat more. In this way, even if the individual items of food are heavy, your system should have the capacity to digest them.
2. Share – order one dessert, ask for two (or more) plates and spoons and share it. This works well in a restaurant.
3. Sip a freshly-made lassi – enjoy a glass of this yogurt-based drink in its savoury form at the end of a meal to enhance digestion (perhaps not after a raclette though!).
4. Spices aid digestion and ginger is one of the best (and one of my favourites). Enjoy one or two pieces of crystallised ginger at the end of a meal to round it off on a sweet note. Carry with you a handful in a small container so you’re prepared.
5. Contemplate before consuming. Savour your sweet – whether it’s a piece of crystallised ginger, a halva sweet or even a piece of chocolate, enjoy it to the full by holding it in your hand for a few moments and smelling it before putting it in your mouth. Once it’s inside, hold it on your tongue for a few moments before chewing it. Contemplating what you plan to consume helps you to satisfy your senses.

What next? Think about what you usually have at the end of the meal. How might it be affecting your digestion? What can you do to leave the table feeling satisfied and comfortable? Start making adjustments if needed. Further questions? Feel free to contact me .

Recently a Nutri-Jyoti News subscriber contacted me with a request for Ayurvedic nutrition advice. The subscriber has been a vegetarian for many years and complained of

• chronic low agni
• getting severe pains on the left side of … stomach
• waking up at night with this sharp pain and also vomiting
• returning pain after fasting all day and eating fried food followed by a banana in the evening

The subscriber had also noted that the pains come when digestion did not work properly or when “I am eating too much late at night or perhaps bad food combinations.”

The Ayurveda nutrition suggestions I made were as follows.

• Include more fresh ginger in your diet to help to improve agni levels. It is also good for nausea.
• Avoid eating fried food in the evening. It is heavy on your digestive system especially if no other food has been eaten all day.
• Fruit should be eaten away from meals or before meals (see  post on this topic).
• Eat heavy foods or your largest meal between midday and 2pm when your digestive capacity is highest.

I also suggested that the subscriber consult with an Ayurvedic doctor in their area for an examination and specific information about their particular case.

Learn how simple holistic  strategies can improve your health. Visit http://keystovitality.nutrijyoti.com to get your free e-course  AND your free subscription to the Nutri-Jyoti News.

With the holiday season most of us would have eaten not only more frequently and more than usual but probably much richer foods so we can easily answer this question for ourselves. However, what can we do when we’re feeling bloated and tired?

The issue of being bloated and tired is one which I teach clients to solve throughout the year. And to help you enjoy the rest of the holiday season, let me share ny 5 favourite solutions from Ayurveda nutrition and yoga:

1. Leave 3-4 hours between meals so that your digestive system has time to rest.
2. Go for a short walk  or sit in the yoga pose, Vajrasana for 10-15 minutes after eating your meal.
3. Drink as little as possible while eating.  If thirsty sip on some warm water or herbal tea.  Add a slice of lemon for your tastebuds and your liver!
4. Take your time to savour each mouthful and to give your stomach time to indicate that it is full to your brain.
5. Spice up each meal to improve digestion and stop you feeling bloated and tired.  If you’re out sprinkle a generous amount of black pepper or ask for the tabasco sauce.

Use these solutions to help you feel less bloated and tired over the holiday period and in the coming New Year. I’d love to know how you get on so please share your comments below.

Do you feel bloated and tired all the time? Are you ready to deal with why you ask yourself “Why am I bloated and tired” to get your 2010 off to a dynamic start?
Sign up to receive the FREE report “5 Nutritional Keys to Vitality in Your Life“.

What an enthusiatic group of participants for my seasonal brunch workshop on Ayurvedic nutrition today, the last day of Swiss Taste Week!

After covering  the basic principles of Ayurvedic nutrition, the participants enjoyed a brunch of 8 dishes to illustrate the theoretical points raised and had a chance to get their questions answered.  Among others I had questions about the merits of eating particular foods including garlic & onions, wine, milk.

In Ayurveda, foods can be considered as a medicine, as nourishment or as poison. It depends how they are used. The  action of particular foods within your body is very important. That’s why it’s important to be conscious of what you eat, how you eat and how you feel after eating it.

I was fortunate to have a concrete case to deal with during the workshop. The oldest participant, a lady of eighty, commented, while partaking of dishes 6 & 7 (kitcherie and cucumber raita) that she felt that one of these dishes was  too acidic for her since she was feeling the effects in her body. She felt that the raita was to blame since there had been other dishes with an acidic taste that she had eaten without problem.

The acidity she felt could have been a result of eating too much of the sour taste from various dishes. It could also have been that she was particularly sensitive to natural shop-bought yogurt (I suggested that freshly made home made yogurt could be an alternative since it would be less acidic). However, after further enquiry it, it turned out that she didn’t normally eat dairy but was enjoying herself so much that she had eaten the raita anyway.

I had a quick think, looked at what I had accesible and, since, cucumber is sweet and cooling, offered her a little cucumber juice to neutralise the acidity.  A short time after she reported that she felt much better.  By her immediate awareness of the effect of the food on her body, this lady was able to get help in a simple natural way.

How often do we ignore “alarm bells”  from our digestive systems only to find them ringing even more loudly a few hours, days, weeks, months or years later?

Share your comments below!

Turmeric is one spice which has received a lot of good press, particularly for its role in helping to beat cancer. In his book “Anti-cancer“, the doctor David Servan-Schreiber indicates that turmeric is
« a spice with astonishing properties … one of the most common ingredients used in Ayurvedic medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties. »

Turmeric has a heating action on the body but it also cleans the blood and stimulates the formation of new blood tissue. It is good for hyperacidity and helps heal stomach ulcers.

This root spice probably came from Indonesia and Malaysia where it has been consumed for thousands of years. Arab traders then brought it to Europe.

It is sold in powder form after being cooked and dryed. With the balancing effect it has on all, turmeric enhances digestion, especially of proteins, and increases the metabolism. Black pepper improves turmeric’s action to help it pass through the intestinal wall and thus be much easier to assimilate into the body.

Advice in Ayurveda

In Ayurveda, it has long been know that turmeric has many healing properties which include antiseptic, antibiotic and anti-inflammatory especially for arthritis and skin disorders. It is pungent and bitter in taste and can ease liver and stomach complaints and improve intestinal flora. A pinch of turmeric is also said to make it easier to digest milk.

Tip: Once you have bought turmeric it’s best to store it in the dark.

Recipe Time!

- Simple kitcharee (or rice & lentils)

(adapted from my book “Plans for dinner?”)

Serves 4 (as side dish)

100 grams basmati rice
100 grams red lentils
pinch salt
water (2x the amount of rice and lentils)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1. Wash the rice and the lentils until the water is clear (at least 4 times).
2. Put the rice, lentils, salt, turmeric and water into a pot and stir well.
3. Bring everything to the boil and keep boiling for 5 minutes.
4. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Cover, turn off the heat and leave to rest.
6. Serve with sautéed vegetables or salad for a simple meal.

What next?
1. Enjoy this dish and share your experiences with us below.

When something is not going the way we want it to, when we’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed how many of us reach for a cake or something sweet?  I’d say we’ve all been there – and got the proverbial T-shirt.

Recently one of my followers on Twitter offered this quote:
“A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.”~ Joseph Addison
It got me thinking about how to share the way that food can be (ab)used when our desire for contentment is involved.
In Ayurveda there is a simple formula as far as food is concerned: the 6 tastes – sweet, sour, salty, hot, bitter and astringent. It is considered important to include these tastes in at least one meal in a day to satisfy not only the tastebuds but also the mind.

Balancing examples of the sweet taste include ripe/ dried fruit, honey and maple syrup.

Balancing examples of the sour taste include lemons and yogurt.

Balancing examples of the salty taste include (sea/rock) salt and vegetables like celery.

Balancing examples of the hot taste include ginger, mustard seeds and cardamom (slightly).

Balancing examples of the bitter taste include turmeric and aloe vera.

Balancing examples of the astringent taste include pulses (legumes) and the tannins in tea.

I’ve given just a few examples from each group but there are many more. A good reference work with recipes is Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing - Vasant Lad

However, even if we diligently include all 6 tastes in our meal, it is equally important how we eat the meal.
Here are my 3 favourite tips:
1. take a few moments before the meal to give thanks for the food, its preparation and the substances that are going to nourish your body
2. chew each mouthful and savour each bite
3. wait a few moments after eating before getting up from the table.

What do you do to feel satisfied from the food you eat? Share your experiences below. Thanks!

This evening I was trying out a slightly modified version of my carrot muffin recipe in my new oven.  I’ve hardly used it so far – only the grill 4 times  & twice (this was the second time) to bake anything.

I sat down to have my dinner and was approaching my last few mouthfuls when I heard a bang! It was an explosion from my oven where the inner glass section had shattered, strewing glass fragments over my kitchen floor.

Carrot muffins in exploded oven ...

Glass strewn on floor

I quickly turned off the oven & sat down again to finish my meal, wondering what could have caused this dynamite reaction.  I shall be in contact with the company who fitted the kitchen about what happened tomorrow but in the meantime this incident sparked the following thoughts.

I have been meaning to contact the company about another issue in the kitchen for a couple of weeks but have been putting it off as it wasn’t anything urgent. How often do we have niggling little health issues that we put off because they are not anything urgent. Other more important matters come up. Then something “explodes” in our body, which means we have to act immediately to  rectify the situation.

No dis-ease appears suddenly. It develops over a period of time and the body offers us signs in the form of discomfort, pain etc. which we can choose to ignore or suppress or to listen to and act before the situation is out of control and out of our hands.  Preventive medical systems such as Ayurveda  offer many lifestyle guidelines that we can use to look after our health, even before signs appear.

Ayurvedic practices help heal and empower the body, mind and  spirit by emphasising nature, energy and balance and advocating prevention rather than cure. So they can help to enhance our quality of life.

Ayurvedic nutrition  is  one part of Ayurveda, in which we can learn how to use foods to establish balance and health in the body and mind.

What preventative steps could you take now to make sure that you continue to enjoy  health peace for the foreseeable future? Share your comments below.

It’s summer and  you’re  hot and thirsty. What would you prefer – a glass of   (ice)-cold water or one that is at room temperature or even slightly warm?

In Ayurveda,  drinking  water at room temperature or slightly warm throughout the day  is known to be the best way to hydrate quickly. You don’t need to use extra energy to bring the water up to its temperature so it is more quickly absorbed by your body.

Also do you like drinking cold water with or immediately after a meal? And do you feel tired after eating?

Cold water slows down the digestive process that has just started by

• diluting your digestive juices so  they cannot do their job as effectively.
• requiring the energy used for digestion to be used to bring the temperature of the resultant liquid in your stomach to body temperature.

The result is partly or undigested food that moves through the digestive system and that  may or may not be eliminated properly. You may also feel heavy, tired and bloated.

Proper elimination is important to prevent the build up of waste material in the intestine because such a build up creates toxins and stops nutrients from being assimilated into the body.

If you’re thirsty during or after your meal, it is better to have a warm drink, for example warm water, herbal tea like ginger or tulsi, and then not more than about half a cup.  Ideally wait until an hour after eating to have a warm drink or drink about a hour before eating

Exercise:

1. For one week avoid drinking anything during your meals or sip half a cup of herbal tea.
2. Note down how you feel after each meal.
3. Post your comments and experiences below!

Are you drinking enough? Find out here .

In Ayurveda it’s is known that almonds are not only packed with nourishment but they have a cooling effect within the body.  And soaking the almonds and removing the skin enhances this effect.  In addition, they then become even easier to digest. This means that we are able to absorb even more nutrients with less effort.

This is good news with the heat wave we’re experiencing, when all we may want to do is to chill out.

Almond milk is sweet, lactose free and easy to make.

Here’s my recipe for this satisfying and nourishing drink, which is ideal for a quick breakfast.

Ingredients
4 dates (pitted)
20 almonds (approx. 25 grms)
Pinch of cardamom powder
Cup of water
1. Soak the dried fruit and the almonds in water in separate bowls overnight.
2. In the morning remove the skins from the almonds.
3. Put them along with the dates into a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds.
4. Pour into a glass and add the cardamom powder.
5. Stir and serve.

Enjoy!

This recipe is taken from my refreshing summer recipes booklet.

So what did you think of the recipe? How else are you staying cool this summer?  Feel free to share your comments below.

Let’s start with The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking. I love this recipe book because of its philosophical introduction, its simple explanations and the delicious pictures, all of which have inspired me to produce my own culinary creations.

Finally, Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing (2nd Edition), a recipe book and a reference work rolled into one. It has lots of recipe ideas for you whether you’re starting out or have years of experience.

What do you think of the recipes in these books? Feel free to share your comments below.