Ayurvedic Foods
Posted by Mary on Jul 10, 2009
Some foods are considered especially healing in ayurveda.
Since a central dietary teaching of ayurveda is to eat to provide adequate nutrition for mind and body without overtaxing the digestive system or your body’s ability to fully absorb and utilize those nutrients, easy-to-digest foods that are wholesome and provide multiple health benefits are prized in ayurveda.
Ayurveda categorizes foods by rasa (taste) as sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent. The typical North American diet includes plenty of the first three tastes and not enough of the last three, and ideally all six tastes should be included at each main meal. Ayurveda also classifies foods according to their quality–foods are considered dry or unctuous, heavy or light, warm or cool according to their physical nature. Ayurvedic healers recommend including more of those tastes and qualities that pacify the dosha(s) you are trying to balance at a given time, and less of others.
Vegetables and herbs or spices that contribute the bitter or astringent tastes, whole milk, lassi (a drink made by blending together fresh yogurt and water), cooked fruit, chutneys, whole grains, unleavened fresh breads made with flour that has not been refined, and mung beans are examples of particularly nourishing and healing foods that are recommended in ayurveda.
Foods are also classified as sattvic, rajasic and tamasic according to the quality of the impact they have on the heart, mind and spirit. Foods that are particularly nourishing for not just physical, but mental, emotional and spiritual health, are called sattvic–foods that impart sattva (purity)–in ayurveda. Rice, milk, ghee and almonds are examples of sattvic foods.
Ayurvedic Herbs – Spotlight – Cilantro
Posted by Mary on Jul 9, 2009
Also known as Chinese parsley, cilantro refers to the leaves of the coriander plant. It’s easy to grow from seed in your garden or in a pot in bright sun.
According to ayurveda, cilantro offers the bitter and astringent tastes. It is a cooling herb and puts out excess flames in the stomach and generally enhances the digestion without aggravating Pitta dosha.
In recent years, modern science has discovered that cilantro is a natural chelation agent, very helpful in removing heavy metals such as lead, mercury and aluminium from the body. To get the benefit of cilantro’s chelating property, enjoy a couple of teaspoons of cilantro chutney with your meals on a regular basis.
