Harmonize your health with Ayurvedic nutrition; how can you eat a truly balanced diet? Tovia Safford has the answer.

The American culture offers such diversity and innumerable choices of food that it seems we have forgotten the simple truth: food is medicine. Literally, you are what you eat. Actually, you are what you digest and assimilate, and you become diseased by the foods that your body does not digest. Americans are plagued with many illnesses, primarily due to unhealthy dietary choices. Even those who have an interest in eating well are overwhelmed by the myriad of temporary popular views; these must be juggled with eating habits deeply ingrained in us from childhood. Ayurveda provides some basic eating guidelines which have been tested and proved over thousands of years.

Here is some of the wisdom that Ayurveda teaches us to try to cultivate in our eating habits:

--Do not eat unless you feel hungry.

--Do not drink unless thirsty or drink instead of eat when hungry. It dilutes digestive gastric enzymes.

--Try to eat at the same approximate times every day.

--Don't eat after 8 p.m. or an hour before going to sleep.

--Sit down when eating and eat in a peaceful environment (that means no TV, reading, heated discussions, etc.).

--Don't eat when emotionally upset.

--Don't eat more food than what you can hold in two cupped hands. Overeating stretches the stomach so you'll need more to feel satisfied and creates toxins in the digestive tract.

--Never drink fruit juice or ice water with a meal. It puts out the digestive fire.

--Fill one-third of your stomach with food, one-third with water and one-third empty.

--As much as possible, eat fresh foods, the best quality you can afford. Prepare the food with love on your mind and peace in your heart.

--Learn more about your Ayurvedic constitution (vata.pitta, kapha) and eat foods that nourish your personal balance.

--Choose foods according to the season and daily weather, this does require some more knowledge of Ayurveda too.

--Never eat cooked honey. When honey is heated above boiling point or baked, it molecularly changes to indigestible glue-like substance, which clogs the subtle channels of the body.

--Learn and follow healthy food combining principles.

--Always eat slowly and chew food well.

These guidelines will be big changes and should be incorporated gradually and gently. Americans often do things in extremes. We haven't really been taught the importance of being gentle with ourselves. I suggest you pick a few of your unhealthy eating habits, and give yourself a month to work on breaking those habits. Then you can work on others. Sometimes it can take years to break a lifetime of patterns and establish new ones. If you follow these guidelines you will experience bountiful health benefits.

Ayurvedic knowledge empowers us to learn how to balance our internal environment with the constant changes of the external environment. When the two are out of balance, we become susceptible to disease. Dietary choices are an important starting place in understanding, regaining, and maintaining this balance.

Ayurveda says diseases are aggravated and even created due to poor digestion. The strength of your digestive fire, called agni (enzymes), determines an individual's ability to tolerate different degrees of toxins, called ama. The root of all disease is ama. Ama (toxins) is created through improper eating habits and foods that throw off one's constitution. When the digestive tract can no longer process the toxins, ama will leak into the system, looking for a vulnerable place in the body to settle. This weakened place in the body is called khavahgunya. Weak or defective spaces in the organs or tissues are where a pathological condition is likely to begin. Khavahgunya is created from factors such as physical injury, emotional trauma, inherited genetic disorders, and continued unhealthy lifestyle choices.

You may not experience any digestive problems with the foods your body has grown accustom to eating. However, I guarantee that if food is not digested, assimilated and absorbed properly, you will eventually experience compromised health in your khavahgunya. Life span, health, immunity, energy, metabolism, complexion, strength, enthusiasm, luster, and mental and emotional clarity are all adversely effected by ama.

Agni is the key factor to health and longevity. Agni is the biological fire that provides energy to the body to function. It regulates digestion, absorption and assimilation of food into energy and the subtle energy of agni transforms the lifeless molecules of food, water, and air into the consciousness of the cell. If agni has too much fire, one may experience thirst, acid indigestion, or burning sensations somewhere in the body. In extreme situations, all the nutrients burn up, like burnt toast, causing malnutrition. If agni is too low then nutrients don't digest and become a sticky, thick substance. This substance (ama) coats cells, creating cellular confusion and causing the mind to experience dull, inadequate, and lethargic mental function. Other symptoms of low agni are loss of appetite or constipation.

There are seven tissues, or dhatus, responsible for the entire structure of the body: plasma, red blood cells, muscles, fat layer, bone, nerves, and reproductive systems. The dhatus maintain the functions of all the organs and are important in the development and nourishment of the body. Each dhatu has individual agni. The agni of each dhatu plays a major role in our immune mechanism. If the agni of one dhatu is defective, all the following dhatus are inadequately nourished. With this knowledge, and the concept of khavahgunyas, we can begin to understand why we all express disease so differently.

Ayurveda also incorporates the use of herbs and spices to increase agni. Here are some suggestions. One of the best herbs to strengthen digestive fire is ginger. Before meals, eat a sliver of fresh ginger with a pinch of salt and a few drops of lime juice or make a tea of grated root and simmer for ten minutes in a covered pot. Another very balancing tea is equal parts of cumin, coriander, and fennel whole seeds in a tea. Simmer one teaspoon of these seeds in a covered pot for ten minutes. Strain and drink two to three times a day. Bay leaf, very stimulating to the gastric juices, can be prepared the same way with 1\2 teaspoon to a cup of water along with a pinch of cardamom. Drink after meals.

You can also make "agni tea." This takes one quart of water, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, one-half handful of grated fresh gingerroot, 2 tablespoons Sucanat or other sweetener (preferably not white sugar or processed sugar substitute), and 1/8 to 1/2 tsp. rock salt. Boil all the ingredients together for 20 minutes. Let tea cool a little and add the juice of a half of a lime. This can be drunk before meals or throughout the day.

The use of spices in Ayurvedic cooking is very important to stimulate digestive fire, increase digestibility and absorption, help counteract incompatible food combinations, and enhance taste. Some of the most common spices used are black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida (also called hing), turmeric, fresh ginger, onions, and cilantro. It is helpful to buy an Ayurvedic cookbook until you get the hang of this new style of cooking. I suggest Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing, by Usha and Dr. Vasant Lad.

HEALTHY FOOD COMBINING

The last important consideration is that of proper food combining. It is no wonder that there is such a big market for digestive aids, pills, and potions for gas and indigestion. Most digestive symptoms can be alleviated with knowledge and application of healthy food combinations. Certain foods eaten together create ama, disrupt agni, and throw off the person's constitution. Each food has its own taste, energy, post-digestive effect and specific action. If we eat two foods that are antagonistic, the effect may be toxic to the body, mind, and consciousness. Different foods require different digestive processes. For example, fruit takes no more than one half hour to digest, while proteins will take at least an hour. If they are eaten together, the body works on digesting the protein, which requires more agni. In the meanwhile the fruit will become literally putrefied in the strong enzymes and extra time it takes to digest the protein. Not only is there little to no nutritional value in the food after this process, it also becomes very toxic in the body. Confusion in the stomach will lead to confusion in the mind and emotions too.

If you are not too overwhelmed by all the suggestions I've made already, then consider adding some of these food-combining principles as well.

-Eat fruit by itself one half hour before meals or two hours after.

-Avoid eating raw and cooked foods together.

-Avoid eating leftovers and fresh foods together.

-Either meat or dairy eaten should be the only protein in the meal. That means no more cheeseburgers, or cheese-egg omelets.

These dietary changes may feel like sacrifices in the beginning, but your optimum health and longevity is worth it. Remember, Ayurvedic teachings strongly encourage lifestyle changes happening slowly and with lots of self-love and compassion. In understanding why diet is such a factor in optimum health, we can stay inspired to make these lifelong changes and reap the many benefits, at all levels.

The following is a typical recipe in the Ayurvedic cooking style.

VEGETABLE SUBJI:

4 cups chopped vegetables (bite size and colorful)
2 garlic doves, chopped
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp. shredded coconut
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup water
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (sunflower is nice)
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. brown mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1 pinch of asafoetida
(don't spill this one, it has a strong smell!)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Puree the garlic, ginger, coconut, cilantro and water in
a blender. Heat oil and add the cumin seeds, mustard
seeds, and asafoetida. When the seeds make a popping
sound, add the turmeric, cayenne, and onion. Cook and
stir until onion is slightly brown. Add the blended mixture,
salt, and chopped vegetables. Cover and simmer
on low heat until tender.

RELATED ARTICLE: What is Ghee?

Ghee is unsalted butter that is gently cooked until all the milk solids are removed. This process results in ghee having completely different properties than butter. Ghee increases digestive fire and improves absorption and assimilation. It nourishes all the tissues of the body, strengthening immunity, the nervous system, brain and memory. It increases flexibility by lubricating the connective tissue. Ghee can be made at home by following this recipe:

Cook 1 pound unsalted butter over medium heat until melted. Continue to cook the butter over this heat until just gently boiling. Do not cover. In about 15 minutes a clear golden color oil will fill the pot and a whitish curd will start forming at the bottom of the pot. At this point you must watch carefully. The moment the curds start to turn darker, remove the pot from the heat and cool until warm. Skim any foam from the top and eat it on hot rice, another medicinal food. Using cheesecloth or a sieve, strain the ghee into a glass jar with a tight lid. The ghee will turn solid when it cools and does not need refrigeration. It will improve with age, but do not get any water or food particles in it or bacteria will form. If this sounds like too much work, you can buy it in your local health food store.

RELATED ARTICLE: The six tastes.

by Tovia Safford

By knowing your Ayurvedic doshic constitution, along with how the six tastes effect the doshas vata, pitta, and kapha, you can consciously choose which foods and herbs are best for you and when to ingest them, in order to create greater harmony of your internal and external environment. In creating this balance you will have optimum health and a stronger resistance to illness.

The six tastes all contain two elements, a heating or cooling energy, and the qualities of either wet or dry, heavy or light. Each of the tastes has an emotional and mental state associated with it as well; these qualities determine their effect on the doshas.

Salty taste is that of all salts and seaweeds. Salty taste is composed of the element's water and fire, it is heating, wet and heavy. Salt taste can create feelings of anger, impatience, and lethargy. These attributes will cause salt to increase both pitta and kapha dosha and reduce rata. Therefore, salt intake needs to be reduced or avoided by pittas and kapha in the summer, especially in hot, humid climates or days.

Sweet includes all the sugars, natural or processed. Sweet is composed of the elements earth and water, and it is cooling, wet and heavy. Sweet taste in excess can create lethargy in kapha and anxiety in rata. This makes the sweet taste most aggravating to the kapha dosha, and soothing to both vata and pitta. Sweets need to be consumed in moderation in the winter and on cold, wet days.

Sour taste is in foods like pickles, plain yogurt, and citrus. It is composed of earth and fire, and it is heating and wet, yet light. Sour taste can create giddiness, anger, and impatience. (Ever heard of a sour disposition?) Sour aggravates pitta dosha and can balance vata and kapha. Sour is best avoided on hot, humid, summer days or in hot, humid climates.

Pungent taste dominates such foods as hot peppers and chilies. This taste is composed of air and fire, which are obviously heating, dry, and light. It can create feelings of anger and impatience. Pitta dosha is very aggravated by pungent tasting foods, while vata and kapha are pacified. Summertime and hot dry climates are not the time or place for pungent foods.

Bitter tastes like the tastes of black coffee and beer are composed of air and ether. Bitter is cooling, dry, and light. Excess bitter creates feelings of anxiety and fear. These are all the attributes of rata dosha. Therefore, rata is most aggravated by bitter taste yet healing to pitta and kapha. Autumn and dry, cold, windy days are important times to avoid bitter foods.

Astringent taste is any thing that is drying to the mouth, such as unripe banana. It is composed of earth and air. It is cooling, dry and heavy, creating feelings of anxiety, fear, and worry. It affects the doshas in the same way as bitter.

If you find yourself feeling the emotions mentioned, reflect on your diet the day before and what the climate was. Enjoy the varied tastes of your diet, it will enable you to directly experience the profound wisdom of Ayurveda.

Tovia Safford is a trained holistic herbalist who studied with Dr. Vasant Lad at the Ayurvedic Institute. Presently, she teaches yoga and provides Ayurvedic health consultations at Awakening Heart Yoga and Healing Arts Center in Asheville NC, and can be contacted at 828-683-1185.