Ayurveda and Food as Medicine

Well, I am starting to get my energy back and have a lot of relief in most of my joints. This weekend I really focused on healing. I got plenty of rest, water, and used food as medicine by eating many delicious nurturing meals. I also used the principles of Ayurveda that I learned from the Chopra center and the Sivananda Ashram. For those of you that don’t know, Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine and healing that originated in India over five thousand years ago. Ayurveda views a person as a “one of a kind individual” made up of a unique constitution, or combination of physical, mental, and emotional characteristics.

An individual’s unique constitution is made up of a combination of three doshas or categories. These doshas do not have an English translation. They are referred to in Sanskrit as vata, pitta, and kapha. Vata is the energy of movement, pitta is the energy of digestion or metabolism, and kapha is the energy of lubrication and structure. All people have qualities of vata, pitta, and kapha, but in different amounts. According to Dr. Robert Svobda, a leading Ayurvedic physician, understanding an individual’s unique constitution or make up of vata, pitta, and kapha allows us to understand what an individual’s body uniquely needs and where and why the person is out of balance, in order to prevent disease. According to Ayurveda, the cause of disease is either a lack of proper cellular function due to an excess or deficiency of vata, pitta, or kapha or the presence of toxins in the body from food, food additives and other environmental sources.

Knowledge of Ayurvedic principles and an individual’s unique constitution enables one to understand the body temperament and to identify the imbalances in the body. This knowledge then provides guidance and information on how to make lifestyle changes to bring about and maintain balance, and then to focus on prevention and maintenance of health.

Ayurveda is currently being used in the United States to treat a host of ailments including allergies, insomnia, digestive problems, high blood pressure, back pain, and depression. An Ayurvedic lifestyle is a lifestyle that provides balance to a person’s day to day life. To bring about balance, Ayurveda focuses on positive thinking and meditation, self-care and self-nurturing, promotes exercise, specifically yoga, and promotes following a specific diet. I have found that the use of all of these Ayurvedic tools were very helpful to me in treating and managing lupus and its symptoms. I am focusing my blog on nutrition and healthy eating this month, so I want to discuss the principles of Ayurveda that relate to food and eating. Ayurveda was really my introduction to the idea of food as medicine. Below I have outlined some of the things I learned from Ayurveda that I have found very helpful in my healing journey.

1. Food is medicine. A balanced diet containing a wide variety of tastes and colors provides a wide variety of nutrients and phytochemicals that have health enhancing properties and that the body needs to perform all of its essential functions.

2. Strong digestion is very important. When our digestive power is strong we are able to extract the greatest level of nourishment from our food. When it is weak, an undigested substance or toxin is left in our body known as Ama, which leads to problems such as low energy, fatigue, and constipation. When I first went to the Chopra center I learned that I had a buildup of Ama which was weakening the efficiency of my digestive system. I used Ayurvedic herbs and several other Ayurvedic techniques to rid my body of the ama, and am a totally different person in terms of digestion now.

3. Don’t eat unless you are hungry and stop eating when you are satisfied. I learned to turn off the TV while I was eating so I could actually enjoy the delicious food I was eating and pay attention to the signals that were telling me I was full. This principle also applies to reading, working, or any other activity you may be doing while you eat. I also learned that it is important to not eat to the point where you are completely full. Your body actually needs ¼ of your stomach empty to aid in digestion.

4. Eat with awareness and enjoy your food. I learned that the environment in which food is prepared and eaten can make a huge impact on the ability for your body to be able to digest the food. I learned to not eat when I was upset, to slow down, and to eat with full awareness.

5. Reduce ice cold foods and beverages. Ice cold foods and beverages actually decrease digestive power or digestive fire. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT??? At a restaurant what is the first thing they bring you when you sit down…Ice cold water. I have learned to ask for water with no ice or hot water with lemon. Pouring ice cold water on your digestive fire puts out some of the flame and makes it harder for you to digest your food.

6. Digestion can be enhanced with certain herbs and spices. Ayurveda uses ginger to kindle the appetite. Cumin, coriander, fennel, and cilantro can be used to alleviate excess stomach acid. Finally, cardamom, cinnamon, bay, and roasted fennel seeds can be used to decrease gas and bloating.

7. Eat freshly prepared organic foods when possible. See the link to the “dirty dozen” under resources on the right side of my blog to help prioritize items that should definitely be organic. The dirty dozen lists the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and the 12 least contaminated fruits and vegetables. As a general rule, anything with a thin skin, meat, poultry, and peanuts (or peanut butter) should be organic when possible. Also, try to minimize white grains and sugar and focus on getting whole grains and fiber which decrease inflammation. Ayurveda also recommends trying to minimize leftovers, frozen, unnatural, microwaved, and canned foods because they usually have less nutrients, are harder to digest, and/or are loaded with chemicals. 8. Maximum nutrients are absorbed from food when they are lightly cooked. Raw foods can be harder to digest and overcooked foods have had many of the vitamins and nutrients cooked out of them.

9. Last, I learned to eat for balance in the body and mind. I learned that specific foods can help balance the body and mind, and I learned to eat foods that balanced my dosha. This last principle is hard to explain online, but if you are interested I would recommend the book Eat, Taste, Heal: An Ayurvedic Guidebook and Cookbook for Modern Living by Thomas Yarema, M.D., Daniel Rhoda, D.A.S, and Chef Johnny Brannigan.

Learning the principles of Ayurveda has been a wonderful experience for me. I have learned to use food as medicine and to access my inner pharmacy to heal. I am so grateful to Sarah who first introduced me to Ayurveda, Pam, the Chopra Center and their staff, particularly Dr. David Simon and Wendy, and finally to Jennifer who recently blessed me with her wisdom of Ayurveda and helped me make some changes to more fully incorporate Ayurveda into my life on a daily basis. I am so grateful to all of these teachers and friends. I really focused on applying many of these principles during the last week or so when I was struggling, and it helped me to get back on track. Thank you!

I do want to leave you all with one final note. I found it a little overwhelming to make too many changes at once. Maybe try one or two new things at a time. I have found that I have been much more successful when I make a few small changes, then when I try bigger commitments. I have also found that when you make a few small changes you can really pay attention to how those changes made you feel. I will blog more about other Ayurvedic principles that I have used to heal next month when I focus on self-care and self-nurturing. Have a great week and enjoy your food!