Ancient Wisdom for Healing with Food

by Lisa J. Mitchell
Excerpt from Healthy Comfort Food: Tapping the Innate Power of Food & Spices, Copyright (c) 2005

Most people find eating to be one of life's greatest pleasures, and I am no exception. One of my happiest discoveries in recent years is the possibility of maintaining a truly healthy diet that completely satisfies my appetite for culinary bliss! Even more satisfying has been learning that I can harness the healing power of food, which has helped me recover from a number of chronic health conditions.

Like many people who approach middle age, I began to have a lot of digestive problems and other chronic disorders by the time I was 42 years old. I suffered from irritable bowel syndrome as well as acid reflux disease. I was diagnosed with early stage fibromyalgia, on top of degenerative disk disease and two frozen shoulders. I was in excruciating pain. In 1999, at the urging of my husband who is a healing practitioner, I became a patient and student of Ayurveda.

Ayurveda is a sophisticated healing science from India that is 6,000 years old. Seven years into my own exploration, I've come to recognize Ayurveda as a profound, complete and complex body of knowledge - one that I will probably spend my life studying. At the same time, I've learned that even a few key concepts are very helpful in supporting the quest for better health. My own health has improved dramatically by following an Ayurvedic lifestyle, which has prompted me to share it with others who are challenged with health problems or with those who are simply choosing health. In this brief introduction, I will distill some of the most basic concepts in Ayurveda so that you can understand the Ayurvedic approach to cooking. I will also offer some practical dietary recommendations that are helpful for everyone, and I'll share a few of my prized recipes!

Ancient Wisdom

It's no wonder that most of us are confused about what to eat, with all the advertising hype about diet trends and PR about the latest food studies. The beauty of Ayurveda is that it has worked for millions of people for thousands of years. Ayurveda is not a diet. It is an approach to healing that includes comprehensive dietary recommendations, which are tailored to each individual.

Many ancient cultures recognize the inherent healing power in food and spices, and Ayurveda is foremost among these. In the ancient writings of India, food is described as nothing less than divine. Created from divine Consciousness out of its own Self, fresh foods are imbued with that same Consciousness. When cooked with love and reverence, good food nurtures the soul as well as the body. Food that is cooked in harmony with an individual's constitution also supports spiritual seekers on their chosen path.

Ayurveda is based on a vegetarian philosophy. Nonetheless, people who eat meat can still follow the Ayurvedic approach to cooking and benefit greatly.

Fundamental Principles of Ayurveda

Ayurveda suggests that there are three primary humors or qualities in every human body called doshas, which are derived from the five elements: earth, air, water, fire, and space. It is the doshas that regulate the body. When the doshas are balanced, we experience good health, vitality, ease, strength, flexibility and emotional well-being. When the doshas are out of balance, we experience energy loss, discomfort, pain, mental or emotional instability and, ultimately, disease. (1) Fresh, well-balanced food plays a primary role in keeping the doshas balanced and healthy.

The doshas are named vata, pitta and kapha, and every human body contains all three. Each dosha has numerous traits that are described in terms such as temperature, taste and movement, among other attributes. (2) For our purposes, we will focus on a few key points. Interested readers will find much more extensive descriptions about physical attributes and character traits associated with the doshas in some of the excellent and accessible books that have been written about Ayurveda in recent years.

Foods That Nourish the Doshas (3)

Vata is comprised of the air and space elements. Among its qualities, vata is cold, dry, light and mobile. People with predominant vata are usually tall, thin, fast talking and fast moving. When vata is in balance, they get a lot done! When vata is aggravated, a person may experience one or several kinds of discomfort or illness including (but not limited to):

· cold hands and feet

· aching and cracking joints, arthritis

· muscular and general pain

· anxiety and depression

· difficulty falling to sleep or insomnia

· constipation, intestinal gas and colicky pain.

There are a number of foods that are very pacifying for vata -related conditions. In general, eat warm foods that have been cooked until tender, especially soups. All types of squash are the easiest of foods to digest, and split-mung dal, a traditional Indian dish served over basmati rice, is the ultimate source of digestible protein.

Vata types can have a hey-day with spices. Nearly all spices are good for soothing vata, particularly moderate amounts of garlic and fresh ginger and other heating spices such as freshly ground black pepper, black mustard seeds, cinnamon and cardamom. Cayenne and chili peppers should be used sparingly, as too much heat in the diet can be drying, thereby aggravating vata. Cooking with moderate amounts of ghee, or clarified butter, is also excellent for pacifying the vata dosha. Nut butters, a wonderful source of protein, are also good for vata types.

If you suffer from any of the numerous vata disorders, it is best to reduce the intake of foods that have an innate cooling or dry quality, such as raw foods, cold foods or drinks, popcorn, and the vegetables classified as nightshades: potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers of all kinds. However, when nightshades are roasted, their vatagenic quality is reduced.

Because vata is aggravated by cold, vata disorders are more prevalent in the fall and winter months, so it is especially important to avoid cold food and drinks during the cold seasons. Although taking the ice out of our ice-tea is really an adjustment for those of us who are Southern born, it will make a world of difference if we have vata disorders! Because vata is also aggravated by stress and over-stimulation, it is important to eliminate foods and beverages with caffeine and white sugar.

The Pitta dosha is made up of the fire and water elements. Among its qualities, pitta is hot, sharp, pungent and spreading. People with predominant pitta have a moderate frame and weight and a sharp intellect. When pitta is out of balance, people tend to be critical and irritable or angry, and they may be red-faced. Physical disorders related to imbalanced pitta include:

· acne & rashes

· heartburn and acid reflux disease

· vomiting

· diarrhea or loose stools

· hot flashes

In general, eat sweet, astringent and bitter vegetables, including sweet and white potatoes, parsnips, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, okra and leafy greens. Use ground coriander or fresh cilantro for a cooling effect in any dish. Cooking with moderate amounts of ghee, or clarified butter, is also excellent for pacifying pitta.

To lower pitta, it is best to reduce your intake or completely avoid pungent foods and spices, such as garlic, chilies, raw onions, cayenne and red pepper flakes. Because pitta is aggravated by heat, it is especially important to avoid such hot spices during the summer months. Salty, fermented and sour foods, particularly vinegar and tomatoes, also greatly aggravate pitta, as will nuts and nut butters in excess. Best to switch from peanut butter to almond butter, and you'll swoon in the process! Red meat should be avoided. Dark-meat poulty will also aggravate pitta, as will certain fish, including salmon and tuna.

Kapha is associated with water and earth. Among its qualities, kapha is heavy, cool, slow and oily. Kapha individuals will have a large body frame and heavy bones. They are usually calm and steady, and they tend to need a lot of sleep. Kapha problems include:

· Slow digestion and slow metabolism

· Obesity

· Lethargy

· Swelling

· Colds, sinus congestion and coughs.

In general, people with kapha disorders should eat cooked foods rather than raw foods with a focus on pungent and bitter vegetables that are accented with heating spices. To reduce kapha, it is helpful to reduce or eliminate the intake of cold and raw foods, wheat, red meat, cow's milk and cheeses made from cow's milk. People with kapha problems do best when they avoid olive oil, and should generally cook with minimal amounts of other vegetable oils, such as safflower, and ghee.

In summary, there are some acute or chronic health problems that can be addressed with food, even if you are not totally clear about your constitution or particular imbalance. However, to get a true diagnosis regarding your constitution or your health issues, it is important to see a trained Ayurvedic physician who is expert in taking the pulse. Pulse diagnosis is a complete topic in itself, but in brief, it is the remarkable and subtle form of diagnosis used in Ayurveda and similarly in Chinese medicine.

The Alchemy of Cooking

Learning about Ayurveda can be daunting because the science is vast, and it employs a whole new language not well known by most Westerners. However, if you learn just a few tricks, you will be well on your way toward improving your health (see 10 Tips sidebar).

Although some foods are best avoided altogether because they aggravate all the doshas (such as tomatoes, pizza and ice cream), most foods can be balanced by learning to play with the innate healing power of foods and spices. For instance, a vegetable like broccoli or cauliflower, which is inherently cooling, can be balanced with a mildly heating spice such as fresh ginger. Or the same vegetable can be combined in a dish with a heating food such as onion. Likewise, a heating food such as an onion, when raw, can cause havoc for people with pitta problems; however, when an onion is cooked well, it no longer aggravates pitta.

For this reason, I caution readers not to be alarmed if you begin to study the best Ayurvedic books, which have long lists of foods to favor and avoid based on your dosha. It is extremely important not to become afraid of food and thereby imbue your meal with the energy of fear - a tendency of vata types! Although these lists are quite accurate, in my experience, the authors will tell you that most foods can be balanced with the right spices. This is the most magical - and even mystical - part of learning how to cook according to Ayurveda. As you learn to work this alchemy with spices, you can eat almost any food in moderation and still maintain your health.

The powerful attributes of certain foods can be antidoted or at least mitigated with the right spices; for example, cumin is the antidote to tomatoes' acidity, so in moderation, tomatoes can be tolerated by most people (moderation meaning once or twice a month). Cardamom is the antidote to caffein. And, if you must have an ice-cream cone, you can chase it with a cup of hot ginger tea; in this way the digestive process receives some warm relief from that icy-cold substance you just poured into your usually hot digestive fluids!

Incremental Steps Toward Change

When I first started reading about Ayurvedic diets, I was initially put off, to say it delicately! I had already given up meat when I chose to be a vegetarian, and I was already limiting my intake of white sugar - which seemed a great sacrifice at the time - so I was not even the tiniest bit interested in changing my other eating habits! My advice to you is this: try these recommendations a little bit at a time. Gradually move toward a whole and fresh food diet. Buy a couple of good Ayurvedic cookbooks, and recognize that even if you don't like the recipes, you can apply the principles of Ayurvedic cooking to any cuisine.

Moderation is the key. It's ok to eat almost anything from time to time; it's what we eat day in and day out that has a significant impact on our overall health. My approach is to cook well at home and "cheat," so to speak, when I eat out, since it's much harder to control the ingredients of restaurant food.

It's also important to acknowledge your resistance to change and be gentle with yourself. If you try to eliminate too many foods at once, you may get frustrated and give up on Ayurveda altogether. To decide whether or not Ayurveda works for you, you will need to give these recommendations a try over time and observe how you feel six months and a year from now. As you begin to cook Ayurvedically and notice positive changes in your health, I hope that you will be more inspired to embrace more of what Ayurveda has to offer.

Ultimately, it is most important to enjoy your food. Cook with love, and bless your food so that it is filled with your sweetness. Then your food will truly nourish you.

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Please Note: All information is provided for educational purposes only. This information is not meant to diagnose, treat or mitigate any disease. For medical concerns, please see your health practitioner.

Lisa Joy Mitchell works with her husband, Tom, in Mitchell Chiropractic Healing Center. She is a passionate student of Ayurveda, and she is the author of Healthy Comfort Food: Tapping the Innate Power of Food and Spices, scheduled for publication in December.

References and Resources

1- 3 Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing, Second Edition, Lad, Usha and Vasant, B.A.M.S., M.A. Sc., Albuquerque, New Mexico, The Ayurvedic Press, 1997.

The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies, Lad, Vasant, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc ., New York, New York, Three Rivers Press, 1998

Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners: Familiar Western Food Prespared with Ayurvedic Principles, Morningstar, Amadea, Twin lakes, Wisconsin, Lotus Press, 1995

The Ayurvedic Institute, www.ayurveda.com, 505-291-9698