Discovering Ayurveda started with a look into deep seated health issues. In the issue with inflammation I stumbled upon what herbs and spices you could use. Some encouraging or some worth avoiding. Cardamom for one is always great for reducing inflammation whereas many nightshade spices can aggravate it.
Recently where inflammation is concerned, I have been working on reducing the kapha dosha in particular because I am showing symptoms of hayfever. Hayfever is a common kapha allergy. It’s also a Pitta allergy where itchy eyes, itchy throat and skin are concerned as well. To help reduce Pitta I need to be mindful of my nightshade consumption in particular hot peppers. Also encouraging cooling liquids and fresh Cilantro is a must. For those who are curious about Dosha’s here is a page that explains it well.
The problem of Eating Ayurvedically from a Western Standpoint
I have for the last few months gone back and forth from eating ayuvedically and just plain crunchy. The reason I haven’t been able to eat completely ayuvedically is that our westernized diet is in stark contrast. What I mean by this is that a daily meal of Dal (lentil curry) is not the norm. My husband as well as myself tire of eating these kind of meals day in and day out.
Unfortunately many of our western favorites are not great according to ayurveda because they follow food combining. And many of our favorites have bad combinations such as dairy with nightshades, many meals like pasta and pizza would be right of the menu right there. So as you can imagine it can be quite difficult to eat proper food combinations when you are used to eating such fare.
The second problem I have with eating ayurvedically is they generally discourage eating much meat if at all. Now I did try to eat more vegetarian for a bit because of this but very soon I started to feel quite weak. And with a little research I found if you are more vata dominant you actually do need meat because your digestion is quite poor.
An ancient way of Living
Anyway a lot of this is probably like a different language to you all and I am still in the process of learning it all myself. But this is the beginning and I hope to keep adding more. But I am posting about ayuveda because I believe it could be quite helpful in many peoples health journey it had been around for 1000’s of years as long as Chinese medicine. We also had our own westernized version through Hippocrates but we lost this around the medieval ages where we slowly moved towards the westernized medicine that we all know today.
Spirituality
Discovering Ayurveda has also helped me realize that is quite spiritual. But not in the new age way that most christians may think. However for any of my fellow Christians who are not quite convinced, Joyful Belly has an article that thinks it is great for a christian.
They say there’s definitely a spiritual component. However it is not one that is loyal to any religion or belief. But encourages you to wakeup early and have sometime to meditate and reflect. And if you are a Christian this could of course be through prayer and worship. And as Christians we all need a lot of encouragement to wakeup gain that time with the Lord.
Things I have Learned so far
Other things that I have learnt that have encouraged me and could encourage you as well is:
- If you are meeting with friends don’t worry about improper food combinations, it is better to eat in a non stressed state and eat the bad food combination than to stress about and actually hurt your digestion more. You can also make a churna for your dominant dosha that you can sprinkle on any improperly prepared combinations to mitigate the effect. A churna is a Spice mix that can subdue a particular dosha
- Combining ginger, fresh ground pepper and Ghee can help you digest leftovers more easier. All you need do is to heat all three ingredients and stir it into your leftovers.
- Combining the six tastes in every meals will help you feel satisfied and will also give you a yummy taste meal.
I am sure there are more things and I hope to add more to this list as I keep learning more. I will also be making more posts and possibly adding some resources. Discovering Ayurveda is a journey and I am only at the beginning its also not just a way of eating but a way of living. Follow along if you are interested in more.