Foods

Ayurveda Module 3

Ayurveda Foods

Ayurveda believes that Diet is the best therapy with food like herbs.  Herbs and Food are both Medicine and Food.

Good Eating Habits – slide 58 – 63

  • Keep the dining table dedicated to eating
  • Only your food should be in front of you
  • 30 minutes before your meal, have Appetizers with Appetizing aromas
  • Eat in a serene atmosphere

OKRA

For Blood Sugar and Diabetes

Pineapple

Bromelain enzyme in Pineapple juice diegests protein

Parsley Juice

Amla

Take as chutney as food

Bitter melon

Treat Diabetes

Aloe

  • Aloe soup, curry, dessert,
  • for Ulcers

Calamus

Drug like action

Senna Leaf

Drug like for constipation  1 gram or 2 grams is a typical dose

Five Element Theory

Ayurveda and Chinese believe in eating a wide variety of food to get a wide variety of phytochemicals.

Use food as therapy.

Ayurvedic-Food-to-Herb-spectrum

Ayurvedic Food to Herb Spectrum

 LASSI – Herbal drinks

Slide 228  Lassi ~ Kidney and Liver Lassi

2 oz yogurt
10 oz water
Pinch black salt
2 oz pomegranate juice
2 oz pear juice
2 oz Cranberry juice
2 oz orange juice
Blend in banana (optional)

Headache, nausea, detoxification Lassi

Turmeric, yogurt
Black pepper, yogurt
Figs and yogurt

OTHER LASSIs

  • Anti-Pitta Lassi Rose Lassi
  • Cumin Lassi

Takara (buttermilk)

Garlic and Onions

KP says that Garlic is the best long term slow acting aphrodisiac.  Celibate yogis and other  people of religious persuasions don’t eat onions and garlic for this reason.

  • Hormone Balance
  • Sexual function

Chilies

  • Cardiovascular system  Heart muscle
  • Blocking Pain
  • Mood and endorphins
  • Depression – KP uses Cayenne as a GO TO for Depression
  • Originates from America – India has only had it for 500 years.
  • Makes you perspire
  • Digestive Aid

ROOT Vegetables

Beets, Carrots, Radishes for liver cleanser

Turnips, Parsnips, rutabegas are less potent but good

Green Vegetables

Green because of Magnesium content

Profoundly anti-inflammatory

Eggplant

Hormone balancing – good for Acne and Amennorea

Half her diet was eggplant to deal with Ammenorea for 3 months

GHEE – Clarified butter

What about a dairy free diet?  People have dairy free reasons.  Americans have lots of dairy allergies.  Most people are allergic to the proteins in the milk.

Mung Beans

  • Queen of beans
  • High protein beans

Foods for Mood and Cognition

Almonds slide 84

Almonds are for Brain and Heart for it’s EFA content

Bananas slide 85

Rejuvenating
Aphrodisiac
↑Semen
Skin
Appetizer
Blood purifier
Mentally soothing
Nerve tissue
Ulcer

Date slide 86 – Saw Palmetto is a Date

General tonic
↑Semen
Cools entire system
Soothes colon

Honey slide 87

  • Rejuvenative for nerves
  • Reduces mental “stickiness” and “stuckness”
  • Mobilizes mucus

Lotus Root and Seed slide 88

Lotus root and seed
Nutritive tonics, hormone balance

Olives slide 90

High trace mineral content
Brain nutrients
Immune system

Olive trees grow for centuries and have deep roots.  Produce Polyphenols which give Olives it’s astringent taste.

BASIL

Basil is for devotion

Raw food

Cold
Light
Difficult to digest
Nutrients intact
Detoxifying
Vata- NO
Pitta- YES
Kapha- YES, if not cold

slide 248 Cooked food

Warm
Easy to digest
Building
Nutrients diminished
Vata- YES
Pitta- YES, if not hot
Kapha- OK, less quantity

Food Cravings

  • Being out of balance & indulging in cravings actually does not feel good.
  • Kapha likes Mac and Cheese and Fried food
  • Pitta likes spicy food
  • Vata likes sweet food

High Plant Diet

Linked to

  • Lower rates of many other diseases
  • Kidney stones
  • Prostate disorders
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • Several cancers
  • Higher IQ

Transition to High Plant, Whole Foods Diet

  • Slowly and methodically
  • Eat one meat meal less a week
  • Reduce the number of meat meals
  • Slowly increase the amounts of whole foods

Leave a Reply