Springtime Tea from Somalia with Cardamom and Mint
Food and drink like language and music spreads between cultures without rules. But within any given tradition, within any given culture, its as if there are unspoken rules that govern change; creativity is allowed, but to a point. In the world of food or music, for example, once you change a thing enough it is no longer what it started out to be. This can lead to certain kinds of conformity. For example, in my grandmother’s Russian Jewish culture there were two kinds of gefilte fish–sweet without garlic, but with sugar, and spicy, without sugar, but with black pepper and...
Read MoreIce in Beverages a United Statesean Industry
Comic article in NY Times by a child of Russian immigrants about getting to the bottom of why Russians don’t use ice in their drinks. Of course the whole world doesn’t. In fact, what is great is that, more or less, as you read the comments below her article, you see that all over the world people drink beverages neutral or, in fact, warm or hot, and that people understand it as a health measure. Call it a public health measure if you want! http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/ice-enough-already/?hp The Chinese and Indians, in particular, tend to hot beverages, and...
Read MoreWinter Papaya Salad with Toasted Black Sesame
Winter Papaya Salad with Toasted Black Sesame Papaya is one of the few fruits (the other being banana) that are recommended with other foods. Papaya is especially good with proteins, due to its high levels of the digestive enzymes papain and chymopapain, which act similarly to pepsin. It is also warming, and kindles the digestive fire (Agni), unlike many fruits, which are cooling, so it is good even in winter. (Please avoid cold fruits like melons in winter) Here in the southwest we get lovely large Maridol papayas from Mexico, similar or identical to the ones you get on the east coast...
Read MoreAyurveda: Disease Formation by Dosha Vitiation, Agni, and Ama
Ayurveda: the Formation of Disease through Dosha Vitiation, Weakened Agni/Digestive Fire and Accumulated Ama/Digestive Toxins Ayuveda looks at the formation of disease in the body as the function of two primary factors: One is vitiated or unbalanced Dosha (Vatta, Pitta, and Kapha), and the other, is the formation of Ama, which can loosely be translated as Toxic Material. When doshas are unbalanced they collect in the digestive tract, just as a stranger enters a house through the front door and waits in an ante-room. The unbalanced dosha will effect the digested, or poorly digested...
Read MoreTen Day Ayurvedic Detox Cleanse
Here is a Ten Day Ayurvedic Detox Elimination Diet I first described for use in Spring, when it is desirable to melt some of the Ama (Toxins) and Kapha dosha that build up naturally in winter. But, this is safe enough to also use in Winter, especially after the holidays, when many folk have overdone alcohol, sugar, meat, and food in general. This is a cleansing diet that makes radical purgative type cleanses unnecessary, in fact, it could really serve as the basis for anyone’s long term healthy diet. From Ayurveda’s perspective the use of purgative cleanses involving herbs like...
Read MoreWhat Is a Healthy Digestive Tract
What Are the Signs of a Healthy Digestive Tract? A healthy digestive tract is marked by “good appetite, good digestion and good elimination.” This will produce a clean tongue coating, a postive feeling after eating, and regular, easy, productive elimination. What is good appetite? Good appetite means feeling hungry at meal times, anywhere from two to five times per day, depending on your dosha. There is no rule about times, just that you should crave food fairly strongly with regularity. If you don’t that is typically a sign of weak digestive fire/Agni. What is good...
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