by Susan Westfall

For part 1 of this article click here

What should YOU be eating?

According to Ayurveda , there are six tastes, some of which are beneficial and others aggravating to a particular dosha type. These tastes are: sweet (madhur), sour (amla), salty (lavana), bitter (katu), astringent (kashaya), and pungent (tikta). Each of these tastes reflects a pair of elements, hence aggravates some doshas while balancing others.

So, now that you know a bit about what your dosha is and what you need to balance, look below to find the foods that you should include and exclude from your diet based on a balancing of tastes!

Now let us consider some of the general healthful practices of Ayurveda philosophy to ensure vitality and ongoing health.

Food preparation

Raw foods are not considered particularly healthy in Ayurveda as they take too much energy to digest, release prana (nourishing life-giving energy), and give only a quick bout of energy. Raw foods are often used in cleansing regimes as they release ama, the built-up toxins from our daily life. Cooking enables easy digestion and efficient nutrient absorption. Further, well-cooked grains, beans and vegetables release prana in the colon, instead of using it to be digested, which provides a longer, more sustained energy release.

Cleansing

Cleansing is not an overly attractive practice in the West, yet is an essential component of Ayurvedic health. Recently in the West, the benefits of cleansing have been recognised and coined 'the sleeping lion of medicine'. Undigested food left in the colon accumulates and is known as ama. These toxins create digestive distress leading to bloating, constipation and/or diarrhoea, weight gain and/or loss and improper absorption of nutrients. Being a waste product, its accumulation will surely lead to disease.

Here are some symptoms that you have an ama build-up:

• White coating on your tongue in the morning
• Prominent body odour and bad breath
• Dulling of skin/eyes
• Excessive sleepiness, low energy, lethargy
• Constipation and/or diarrhoea
• Poor appetite and a craving for quick energy (junky or sugary foods)
• Loss of vitality
• Cloudy mind, 'spaced-out', difficulty concentrating
• Aches and pains

Almost everyone can ascribe themselves to suffering from the above ailments and yet accept them as a normal part of their life. We should accept nothing but an optimal sense of vitality – so do not live with feeling of malaise and lethargy; clean up your life by cleaning out your colon!

Cleansing in Ayurveda is called panchakarma. Generally, as soon as anyone enters an Ayurvedic clinic, the first thing that the practitioner will prescribe is an intense cleansing protocol. There are many different kinds of cleansing, including therapeutic sweating, blood lettings, nasal cleansing, external application of soothing oils, fasting paradigms and herbal treatments. Cleansing paradigms are generally catered to the individual person but everyone can benefit from a routine cleanse with fasting combined with herbal treatments.

Consciousness and food

Now we will touch on one of the most important aspects of Ayurveda, one which will be sighed upon heavily in the Western world, yet is seamlessly brilliant. Basically, while you are cooking food, you are creating, and the energy in your hands and in your mind will be reflected in your cooking. For example, if you are stressed, worried, rushing, and unhappy while cooking, not only do you increase the probability to drop your dish or burn your sauce, but you are making your food inherently unhealthy, infusing your dish with the emotions of the chef.

Then, while eating, one should be calm, relaxed, at peace and with every bite, chewing completely and intentionally. Food needs to be appreciated, enjoyed and consumed in a peaceful manner so as to maximise the absorption of nutrients and wellness.

This is why vegetarianism is essential to the Ayurvedic philosophy. When an animal is killed for consumption, all the stress, fear and suffering is implanted into every molecule of meat – and this is the energy that you will soon put into your body. If that is not enough, then you must consider the unnatural state of most of the meats that you buy: hormonal treatment, toxic chemical contamination from the factory's manufacturing, steroids, antibiotics and an entire myriad of treatments that we would never consider placing upon ourselves!

Conclusions

How simple it is to cure your own imbalances that creative the essence of disease! You do not need to visit a doctor for every ache and pain, every feeling of malaise or even chronic fatigue! Just look into your constitution and manage your lifestyle so as to maximise balance and recreate the perfection you were designed to encompass!

Susan is a formally trained scientist with a passion for alternative health and eastern philosophies. She strives to connect allopathic medicine with Eastern wisdom, thereby creating a holistic view of life. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.

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