DIETARY CHOICES
My yoga teacher training included a quote about yogic diet from Sri Swami Satchidananda which is worth quoting here as a stepping stone: “… It should help your mind maintain its tranquility, it should not stiffen the body with toxins; and it should be able to be digested without wasting a lot of energy.” Clearly basic Ayurveda.
The ancient sages of India believed the environment to be made of 3 primary energies or qualities of energy which they also called the 3 Gunas: Tamas, Rajas, Sattva.
Tamas describes a heaviness, dullness, stillness, stagnation. Rajas is activity and energy, the force of change leaning towards excess and agitation, aggravation, a racing mind. Sattva is harmony, balance, the healthy state, the most evolutionary attitude.
Being aware that everything around us including our food is made of substance based on those gunas, we cannot avoid tamasic and rajasic food completely but should aim for a generally sattvic diet whilst using tamasic and rajasic food in just adequate amount as to find balance.
In nutrition terms this equates to eating a fresh, local, plant-based, wholefood, organic, natural, unprocessed and seasonal diet (mostly) vegetarian, consuming food with the highest level of Prana (life force).
Traditional Ayurveda tends to recommend cooking food rather than eating raw, helping the digestive system get started by consuming food that is cooked and also pertaining that cooking the food wakes up the inherent Prana.
Eating sattvic food also has further indication as to which food are good or bad for a particular individual. Diet should be very unique to the needs and particular body-mind type of an individual. We’ll understand how when we cover the Doshas, body-mind types.
What makes food sattvic? We go back to eating a fresh, local, plant-based, wholefood, organic, natural, unprocessed and seasonal diet preferably vegetarian – although there are also food choices that are inherently sattvic such as:
Most fresh fruits especially coconut, pears, pomegranates, figs, mangoes and peaches (though again try & buy/grow local when possible); vegetables especially sweet potatoes, yellow squash, lettuce, parsley and sprouts; and most grains especially basmati rice, quinoa, tapioca and blue corn
Ghee, clarified butter
Fresh yoghurt and milk (whole or raw if you can take it)
Honey
Lentils
Mung beans
Almonds
For reference (healthy-type) tamasic foods taken in moderation can be grounding and rajasic foods in moderation can be healthily stimulating. Too much of either will however make you feel in turn lethargic or agitated. Here are some examples of each:
Tamasic foods: anything stale or past its date, fermented vinegary or fungi foods, alcohol, cheese, red meat and pork. Also specifically black beans and black lentils, avocados, plums, apricots, brown rice, mushrooms, garlic, onions and pumpkins
Rajasic foods: all foods that are very sweet, or hot, spicy, salty, tea, coffee, chocolate, eggs, white meats, fish and seafood, tomatoes, winter squash, spinach, peppers, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, aubergines, buckwheat, corn, millet, spelt, red lentils, sour cream, apples, guava and bananas.
Now for a few definitions:
Plant-based: a diet derived from plants, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes; with few or no animal products.
Wholefood: “real” food, food that hasn’t been altered, still in its natural form, unrefined
Organic: grown naturally, without pesticides or chemicals (fungicides, insecticides, rodenticides and herbicides). Beware of toxic and poisonous chemicals in additives, flavours, colours, emulsifiers and preservative. According to Jude Blereau, a leader on the subject of organic wholefood, many are carcinogenic (can cause cancer), mutagenic (damage DNA) and teratogenic (can cause birth defects) as well as disrupt the intelligent operation of cells. Organic food also usually means increased nutrient density (refined foods lose nutrients in the process of transformation).
How to shop:
Buy the best quality food you can afford, it doesn’t have to be the most expensive but make sure it’s really fresh and chemical free. And yes put your pennies where your mouth is, chose to spend money on nourishing yourself with good foods. Your body will thank you, your health will soar. This is no luxury! And I’ll let you in on a little on a little secret, you might actually find your shopping cart is cheaper. Ditching meat if you can, ready-made meals and prepared/pre-packaged food for organic and healthy pescetarian or vegetarian ingredients to cook from scratch will in most likelihood be less expensive. And if not then I suggest you invest in yourself. Food is your main source of energy.
Shop as frequently as you can to fuel your body with fresh food that still contains all its nutrients. If you can then stop your big orders stocking up at the supermarket and visit your local shops more frequently in the week. Buy just what you need for the next couple of days. A few years ago there used to be a TV advert that cracked me up every time I saw it where this bloke opens his nearly empty fridge to some military tune and says “Think, what would the French do?” and with a quick battle plan rustles up something yummy in no time. Well, my point is Europeans do shop more often, sometimes daily, for fresh bread & other produce that don’t contain preservatives. Your taste buds might even like it.
Choose organic to avoid more toxins and chemicals in your food. Even organic food can be tarnished along the food chain these days as we use so many pesticides and chemicals in various functions which may accidentally come into contact with your organic purchase (pollutants in the atmosphere say) but you’ve got to believe that you’ve at least avoided eating food grown in soil brimming with artificial chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Opt for an organic-box delivery that will support local farmers; or go to a farmers market. Getting a delivery means you know to expect seasonal products every week. If nature made it at this time of year there must be a reason.
To be clear on that: eat food that is in season and local. Avoid flying food long-distance which is no good for your health and the environment. Instead reach for what Mother Earth has provided on your doorstep. And why not go on a foraging course? Foraging is a hot topic at the moment so much so that restaurants are catching up.
Find biodynamic food if you can. It is the oldest non-chemical agricultural trend. It’s a holistic style of agriculture looking at the macrocosm and the microcosm, in which the plant, mineral, animal and human nations work in harmony to produce nutritious food. Biodynamic farming protects diversity, planting rotation and the regular regeneration of the soil in tune with nature’s natural rhythms, taking into account the movements of the moon, the planets and the stars. If I sound like I’ve gone loopy research it, it’s a very serious & wise wisdom which considers the farm as a self-contained, self-regulating unit. H.R.H. The Prince of Wales is a fervent supporter and uses these methods at his own farm, The Duchy of Cornwall. The other buzzword of the moment is permaculture farming, look for local sources.
Beware genetically modified foods, you just don’t know what the consequences might be. These are just a big no, no.
Read your labels and avoid additives and chemicals, preservatives and other unnatural ingredients. Always check the content list and read the smaller prints.
Avoid ready-made meals and fast-food which are full of nasties, sugar and salt and also cheaply produced ingredients with little real nutrition. Get rid of the junk. In fact go for Wholefood as much as possible. Food should be eaten in its natural state and not tempered with in a way that alters its true innate intelligence and nourishment.
Use foods before their sell-by date to retain the nutrients. Also be careful nowadays produce labelled fresh may have been stored for a shocking amount of time. In Ayurveda freshness is crucial, as well as the known data about loss of nutrients Ayurveda maintains that the energy of the food rapidly vanishes once harvested and when stored, in transport or refrigerated. The quickest farm to table period is best for real nourishment. Examples of interaction the food supplier might use which affect the quality of our foods are: carrots being cooled in chlorinated water before packing and stored for many months, lettuce being preserved using modified- atmosphere packaging. Salad leaves are dried then packaged in plastic where the normal levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide have been altered to slow deterioration and discolouring. They are then treated with a chlorine- based solution or preservative or anti-oxidant so as to keep them “looking” fresh up to 10 days. Tomatoes and cucumbers in the UK are mostly grown without soil hydroponically, without going into too much details explaining this process the conclusion is that the nutritive result is severely depleted.
How to store and prepare food:
It’s always a good idea not to store too much food whether fresh, frozen or cooked. Leftovers lose their nutritional content very quickly. Whilst cooking has already released some of the food’s goodness, contact with air slowly oxidises the food and breaks it down further, it is simply not fresh anymore and less healthy. In Ayurvedic terms the longer you keep food the less it contains Prana, life force. Food should be eaten as quickly as possible after harvest. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be frozen but still eaten within 5 to 10 days for the minerals and vitamins they contain to still be active. Also if you do freeze fruits or vegetables, they are best kept all, protected by their food sheaths rather than cut. Food will keep healthier longer if frozen raw though blanching is a good technique to kill microbes and lengthen the time you are able to keep the food.
Washing all fruits and vegetables is key to cleansing them if residual chemicals left from farming processes. The figures quoted by The Soil Association and the World Health Organisation listing the number of pesticides used in simple farming to protect crops are immense and you really don’t want to ingest these if possible.
In Ayurveda food is best cooked to support digestion and help the work of the enzymes. A degree of raw food is healthy though, but again this may vary for each person according to their dosha and the state of their digestion. It is usually not recommended to mix cooked and raw foods too much. Pitta’s will do best with raw solid food as it should slow down their digestion; though again if digestion is already in a state of aggravation (excessively fast digestion) then even they will not benefit. Pitta’s may also feel uneasy with juicing as they need the earthy solid dry elements to counteract the water factor in them. Juicing is always a topic I would advise to trial and record results for yourself rather than use as a blanket healthy staple. For the same reason that our doshas and the state of our digestion will affect assimilation when taking juices, the best policy is to try it out for yourself and see how you feel, recording how it’s working for you. Vata types may also find juicing difficult as not grounding bough for them whereas Kapha may benefit the most from diet high in juices.
When cooking and if time allows remember the 3 cooking techniques that will provide the most nutrients for your diet: steaming, grilling and poaching. Steaming can be done with a food steamer, specialised steam oven or in a wok with a stainless steal frame, a small amount of water boiling at the bottom of the wok. Grilling food at home is easy enough in the oven or barbecue. For poaching use a temperature between 140oF & 160oF for delicate products such as eggs and fish. Don’t forget the pressure cooker or slow cooker, or resource to plain old boiling where needed.
RASA
Rasa is a word with multiple levels of meaning as is common place in Sanskrit.
For the purpose of nutrition we are talking of Rasa as the taste of food. In Ayurveda it is understood that the taste of food is a code to understand the subtle nourishing qualities it contains. The taste of food is extremely important both to give satisfaction & contentment and to help us chose the correct foods for our condition. Some say that “the wisdom of Ayurvedic nutrition rests on the tip of your tongue”. Our tastebuds are a map to good nutrition giving you clear messages as to the effects of the food on your system.
Natural foods are classified through the 6 basic tastes: sweet, sour (citrus fruits, yoghurt, vinegar), salty, bitter (spinach, kale), pungent (hot & spicy) and astringent (dry & light, think cranberries or popcorn).
It is highly recommended that you include all 6 tastes in each meal daily, including breakfast. However how much of each taste you include should vary according to your dosha(s) and whether they are in balance or aggravated. For an individual who is rudely healthy and has no digestive problems whatsoever then simply ensuring that all tastes are included will bring some comfort and wellness, tissue growth and balance of the bodily systems.
For others, refer to Ayurvedic nutritional advice specific to the doshas – to soothe and harmonise imbalance in your natural Prakriti – metabolic profile (called Vikriti when imbalanced).
Just as we are made up of the basic 5 elements, the 6 tastes are based on the elements and this is the clue to using the tastes to counteract lack or excess in our bodies and environments. The brain signals the body of energy it requires through food which in a healthy person will mean cravings for the correct foods but in a diseased body or one that is suffering aggravation of one or more doshas then the message will be confused and that person will lean towards foods that are counterproductive to its wellbeing.
Each taste is made up of 2 primary elements, alike the doshas. The way to decider the tastes is to remember the generic rule in Ayurveda that Like Attracts Like and Opposites Balance Each-other.
COMPOSITION and BALANCING PROPERTIES
Tastes
SWEET = EARTH + WATER
SOUR = EARTH + FIRE
SALTY = WATER + FIRE
BITTER = ETHER + AIR
PUNGENT = AIR + FIRE
ASTRINGENT = AIR + EARTH
Doshas
VATA = AIR + ETHER
KAPHA = WATER + EARTH
PITTA = FIRE + WATER
Balancing tastes
VATA = SWEET, SOUR, SALTY
KAPHA = PUNGENT, BITTER, ASTRINGENT
PITTA = SWEET, BITTER, ASTRINGENT
Imbalancing tastes
VATA = PUNGENT, BITTER, ASTRINGENT
KAPHA = SWEET, SOUR, SALTY
PITTA = SOUR, SALTY, PUNGENT
Some illustrations about how taste balances the doshas:
Pungent food such as spicy dishes help stimulate the dullness of an aggravated Kapha type feeling sluggish.
Salty food will bring much need heat to a cold condition which in Vata types can show as anxiety or in Kapha types as food cravings and overeating.
Pitta types will benefit from the soothing, cooling effect of sweet foods which will also do wonder for their tendency towards frustration & anger.
If your basic make-up is based on 2 doshas rather than one prominent one then follow seasonal eating as a reference to help you chose your diet:
Vata-Pitta types would follow a Vata reducing diet in the autumn and winter and a Pitta reducing diet in spring and summer for example. This is because Autumn is a Vata season, heavy in the same elements & qualities as Vata; and summer is Pitta season, heavy in Pitta qualities. Winter is a Kapha season and spring starts as a Kapha season then moves to Pitta towards summer. Your diet choices would be based on the season when you encounter possibly aggravating qualities in the environment and based on your doshas & more prominent Gunas in the environment at other times of the year.
FOOD COMBINATIONS
Having covered different properties of food via their taste, their heating or cooling energy, their post-digestive effect not to mention considering whether food is moist, dry, heavy, light, hot, cold, solid, liquid etc (the Gunas), it only makes sense that some food combinations are not working best for an efficient digestion or for wellbeing. With an overloaded digestive system inhibiting the enzyme system the result can be fermentation, putrefaction, gas formation and most likely toxins – in the long run disturbing the intelligence of the body and causing disease.
The ancient sages that brought Ayurveda to us came up with a few essential lessons.
Here are some suggestions you can trial for results:
To avoid:
Eating lots of raw and cooked foods together
Milk with meat, fish, eggs, bananas, yoghurt and sour fruits
Yoghurt with milk, eggs, hot drinks, cheese, fish, tomatoes, potatoes, aubergines and lemons
Eggs with milk, meat, fish, yoghurt, cheese, fruit and beans
Fresh fruits with anything else
Do not eat fresh food with leftovers, in general reduce leftovers to an absolute minimum
Do not mix food with different or aggravating qualities unless you are using spices to support the digestion (say for example cooling herbs with spicy, hot foods)
Namaste,
Anne
Evidence-based + Holistic 