The basics of Ayurveda
In Ayurveda different people with the same disease sometimes receive different diet and herb plans. The constitution, the imbalance, and the various nuances of the development of the disease in each individual must be studied to determine the nature of the imbalance whether Vata, Pitta, or Kapha for that disease.
For example: Two people have a history of weak lungs and chronic coughing. One is dominated by a Vata constitution with a Vata imbalance. The other is dominated by a Kapha constitution with a Kapha imbalance. The Vata has a tendency towards a dry hacking cough in which no mucus or phlegm is present or being expelled. The Kapha has a less frequent, but heavy wet cough which expels large quantities of mucus and phlegm.
For the Kapha dry, hot, spicy herbs and foods are what is necessary for burning up and drying up the excess mucus. Dry ginger, and long pepper are useful while all dairy, fruit juices, and cold food in general are to be avoided. But for the dry Vata cough, hot milk with turmeric is a great healer to soothe and calm the cough, while disinfecting and moistening the dry, hot lungs. Fresh curd with unleavened whole wheat bread (chapatis) and cooling fruit juices are also useful. So a cough is not just a cough according to ayurveda. But according to the constitution and imbalance, “One man’s food is another man’s poison”.
Unfortunately people will give up trying holistic health practices because good food was given to the wrong person. The secret of understanding the dynamics of food and which food is for whom is in the taste, therefore, the appropriate tastes with their elements will correct the imbalance of elements in one’s constitution if taken correctly.
The proof is in the tasting.
There are six tastes according to Ayurveda: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Pungent, Bitter, and Astringent. Each is comprised of two elements:
Sweet (earth and water) examples: wheat, sugar, milk, rice, dates;
Sour (earth and fire) examples: yogurt, lemon, tamarind;
Salty (water and fire) examples: sea salt, rock salt, kelp;
Pungent (fire and air) examples: onion, radish, ginger, chilly;
Bitter (air and ether) examples: dandelion root, rhubarb root, bitter melon;
Astringent (air and earth) examples: plantain, pomegranate, apples;
There are two other considerations in Ayurveda. First, whether a foods action is heating or cooling. The taste sweet, bitter, and astringent are cooling. Sour, salty, and pungent are all heating. The second is the post-digestive effect or how the foods “taste” to the tissues during and after assimilation. Sweet and salty are sweet in post-digestive effect. Sour is sour, and pungent, bitter, and astringent are pungent.
Taste, action, and post-digestive effect are known is Sanskrit as rasa, virya, and vipack respectively in Ayurveda. They are the keys to understanding food and herbs. With this knowledge, one can unlock the mysteries of the energetic dynamics of food and be able to make the right choices for oneself.
Raw Foods According To Ayurveda
Raw foods and juices are magnificent in that they are cleansing and energizing. Sprouts are especially wonderful because they contain large amounts of enzymes and nourishment which help with digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Some of the spicier sprouts help to destroy and eliminate toxins in the system known as ama in Ayurveda.
Fenugreek sprouts can even help in cases of seminal debility. But in general, raw food is very cold and hard to digest in the Vedic sense as it releases its Prana or nourishing life giving energy in the upper portion of the body between the mouth and the stomach. This gives quick, short-term energy, but not long-term tissue building nourishment. This is good for pittas, and some raw foods are good for kaphas, but this is not very good for vatas.
Cooking Foods According to Ayurveda
Well cooked grains, beans, and vegetables release their Prana in the colon. This provides long-term tissue building energy. However, these energies cannot be released from complex carbohydrates without the assistance of enzymes. A Clean intestinal tract is also essential for proper absorption.This coincides with two of the modern holistic health theories of colon cleansing and enzyme consumption. But the Ayurvedic approach again is practical and individualized. Which herbs for which constitution will produce the best colon cleansing varies. Therefore, some people find some of the standard colon cleansing products ineffectual or difficult for their bodies to tolerate.
Triphala (“the three fruits”), used in Ayurveda, is one of the best colon cleansers because it strengthens and tones the muscle action of the colon. It does not cause laxative dependency by doing the work for the colon. Similarly, the consumption of enzyme tablets will cause the digestive organs natural ability to produce enzymes for digestion to become suppressed and lazy and possibly lose their ability to function all together. Ayurvedic cooking uses certain herbs and spices to help stimulate the body to produce its own digestive enzymes.
The Secret of spices in Ayurvedic Cooking
Spices used in small to moderate proportions according to the food being prepared and the person’s constitution will stimulate all the digestive organs to produce the enzymes required for total absorption and assimilation. This lets your organs do their work through nourishment without “putting them in a wheelchair” while the chemicals do it. Thus cooked food and spices are better for the poor digestion of kaphas and vatas. Pittas should use only mild spicing, as their “fire of digestion” is generally strong.
Consciousness and Food
This is probably the most important aspect of Ayurveda: Your state of consciousness when you eat and when you cook. One of the great sages of India, Rupa Goswami wrote: “If you eat food prepared by the wicked, you will become wicked”. If the person who is cooking has fears, insecurities, anger, jealousy, greed or any of many emotions we experience everyday, the chef will infuse that preparation with that emotion.
This is important to remember in eating – at home or away – that the consciousness of the cook is in the food. And the consciousness of the animal or vegetable one is eating is in there as well. So in Ayurveda, food preparation is considered a sacred act. Animal food is generally not recommended because of the extreme pain, agony, suffering, fear, anger and terror the animal experiences has gone into the food. Add the highly toxic chemical contamination of modern factory farming like hormones, steroids, antibiotics, pesticides, etc., and you have a prescription for death not life.
Vegetables have life also and they also feel pain and discomfort at being eaten. The Vedas teach that each living being, from the king to the bacteria, has a soul and is therefore sacred. The kitchen is considered the extension of the altar in Vedic culture. In early Christianity, the people would bring their crops and lay them at the altar for sacrifice and blessing.
This was done much earlier in Ancient India, only there everything was prepared in the kitchen according to the principles of taste and elemental energetics and then offered with great devotion to the deities.
You can do this at home by preparing your food with love according to Ayurvedic energetic principles and offering prayers and meditations of thanks and love to God. You will transform food into prasad or God’s mercy. Thus you will raise your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health to the highest possible levels. There is no greater nourishment than this in all the world.
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