By Karen Vasil-Busch
In Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old science of life, emphasis is always placed upon eating for the season at hand by consuming foods that are fresh and local.
While seasonal prescription for food selection may seem a bit foreign to us, just look at the exotic produce in any grocery store and you will know what I mean, selecting oranges from California, or grapefruits from Florida, may not be the best choice for your system.
The locality where we reside has an influence inside our body. The air that we breathe, the foods that are grown near us, consumed by us, that are endemic to our local, influence our body and mind in many ways. Our body works best when we follow the simple rules of Ayurveda, which is based upon principles of” like attracting like” and “opposites decreasing or balancing.” For example, when the weather outside is cold, harsh and dry we need nourishing foods with the qualities of warmth, softness, and moisture.
These qualities found in soups made from root crops like carrots or sweet potatoes are called “grounding foods” because they literally grew underneath the soil before they were harvested. This is winter time eating. When spring arrives the ground turns soft, the precipitation is often heavier and more liquid as the air becomes warmer and things begin to melt.
We call this mud season. The heavier winter foods that were meant to keep us warm are no longer needed; it’s time to “lighten up.” Anything that is consumed by the body or nourishes it is considered food. Food contains attributes, based upon their characteristics that are made up from the five elements of space, air, fire, water and earth.
For example, chilis taste hot, fruits taste sweet, dandelion greens taste bitter and many spices such as cumin taste pungent. These characteristics are important, they are elemental, sweet; composed of earth and water element, sour; composed of earth and fire element, salty; composed of water and fire element, bitter; composed of air and space element, pungent; composed of fire and air element and astringent; composed of air and earth element.
We all need and use these elements in our body to build up (anabolic) our tissues or to decrease, (catabolic) move out waste products. For a local plant example, cranberries are native to New England. They grown in bogs where their climate is, for the most part, cold, heavy, yet dry (sandy bogs) . They are astringent taste, fruit, made of earth and air, we harvest and eat them in the fall time when we need to start bringing in some heaviness into our diet to prepare for winter’s icy blast. In the spring, green things begin to shoot up from the ground, savoy, dandelion are all bitter in taste, they are composed of the fire and air elements which help our body with bile production needed to process the heavy, oily foods that we consumed during the winter months.
Ayurveda knew that food is responsible for building and maintaining the body. Food influences our mental state and our immunity and determines how much energy we will have. Protecting our digestion, which includes assimilation capabilities is of utmost importance. Tips for improving digestion can be undertaken with simple lifestyle changes.
Eating freshly prepared foods is one way to improve digestive fires.
Here is a recipe for Clean Green Soup that will help you ease into the light of spring: INGREDIENTS:
Four cups of soup stock or water
Three cups chopped broccoli or kale or collards
One quarter chopped sweet onion
One inch of gingerroot, peeled and minced
One stalk of celery, minced
One tablespoon of light cooking oil, such as sunflower or Ghee
Turmeric, coriander, cumin
One-half cup almond milk
INSTRUCTIONS:
Boil the water or soupo stock. Add the broccoli, kale or collards, and cook with lid off for 10 minutes.
Heat the oil in a separate saucepan on low, add spices and wait for them to sizzle before adding the onion, gingerroot and celery.
Remove from heat and add to the soup stock. Simmer partially covered for 20 minutes and turn off. Emulsify or blend adding the almond milk. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Karen Vasil-Busch, LMT, certified ayurvedic practitioner, owner of BodyWise Therapy, Massage, Yoga and Ayurveda. Reach her at 207-336-2065. www.karenvasilbusch.com
