- Hey, I'm Kendra and today,
I am super excited to share with you
about Ayurvedic cooking and how life-changing it can be.
At its core, it's about understanding
what your body needs on a physiological level.
It's really a practice of observation and response.
It's a conversation between you and your body.
Rather than defining what it is,
I wanna talk a little bit about what it isn't.
First of all, Ayurvedic cooking is not a fad or a diet.
A diet really implies that something is used short-term,
whereas Ayurvedic cooking is implemented for life.
It really isn't centered around any goal
other than having good digestion and finding balance
in your body.
It isn't about restrictions or limitations.
What you're gonna be doing is working
to increase and decrease the foods that work best
for your constitution.
The first thing that you need to know
about Ayurvedic cooking
is that it is all about digestibility.
How easily can your body break down food
into the nutrients that you need to fuel yourself?
If you don't have strong digestion,
you're gonna be experiencing things like gas,
bloating, constipation, loose stools.
Nobody really likes that.
If you have strong digestion, however,
first of all, you're not gonna really experience any
of those things, and you're gonna have regular elimination.
I mean regular elimination,
maybe so regular you could set your alarm clock to it,
if you know what I mean.
And you're gonna have an easier time tolerating
bad food combinations for quite some time.
Which brings us to the next idea, food combining.
Food combining is such a hot topic.
And in Ayurveda, it's this idea that certain foods
when paired challenge your digestion, right?
It all comes back to digestibility.
So a good example of this might be
mixing complex proteins, for example, beans and nuts.
Those are heavy, rich foods,
and it's more challenging for your body to break that down.
But we have a ton of guides about this on our website,
so go check it out there.
Another component of Ayurvedic cooking
is using spices, right?
Using spices for more than just imparting flavor.
Spices have the ability to support
our overall digestive process.
For example, if you are having some of that gas and bloating
and need to dispel some air elements,
you might try some fennel seed.
Herbs and vegetables have different tastes.
In Ayurveda, ideally you'll have all six tastes
in most of your meals,
and that's sweet, salty, sour,
bitter, pungent, and astringent.
Now this is where it gets cool.
The ratio of those flavors is what you can tweak
to make your meal more balancing
for your unique constitution.
So let's talk about another concept in Ayurvedic cooking,
that of prana-full foods.
You've probably heard the word prana before
if you've taken a yoga class, right,
like it's your breath, your inspiration, respiration.
In Sanskrit, prana also means your vitality
and your life force.
And so when you consume foods that are high in prana,
you're nourishing yourself with that vitality.
Now how do you identify what a prana-full food is?
Well, first of all, when you go to the grocery store,
pretty much anything that's in the center
is not gonna be prana-full food, right,
it's been heavily processed.
If you've ever had the experience
of pulling a carrot straight outta the ground and eating it,
then you know on a personal level
what a prana-full food feels like.
Its taste enlivens you, right, it tastes so good.
Basically, the closer to the harvest
and the dirt, the better.
Lastly, all of these beautiful concepts
really mean nothing without one more idea,
and that's your mindset.
So in Ayurveda, if you're stressed and angry
while you're cooking or eating your food,
that food is gonna be imbued with that energy.
And if you really think about it,
right, if you're angry and you're cooking,
your attention is elsewhere.
You're more likely to burn your food
or over season it.
So really, approach all of your meal prep
and consumption with that mindset of loving-kindness.
I really hope that you're as excited about Ayurvedic cooking
as I am, and if you'd like to learn more,
then go ahead and subscribe to our channel.
If you have any questions at all,
leave your comments below.
Thank you so much for watching.