Nutrition – Ayurveda Style
The awakenings of spring with energy moving upward also bring the qualities of warm and moist. Accumulated kapha in the body starts to liquefy and run – the wet and drippy melting outside is reflected on our inside! Excess mucous, sinus congestion, spring colds and hay fever/allergies and sluggish GI tracts are all indicative of this season. Try these nutrition tips to clear your system of the elements of winter.
- Use ample ginger, black pepper, and tea made of cumin, coriander and fennel in equal proportions (see Winter newsletter for more tea ideas) Strictly avoid heavy and oily food. Eat less sour, sweet and salty foods (like miso and soy sauce) and avoid dairy, especially in the morning. Avoid ice cream and cold beverages as well.
- Sweet and pungent-flavored foods is recommended; basil, fennel, marjoram, rosemary, caraway, dill, bay leaf.
- Legumes, like yellow split peas, red lentils, garbanzo and pinto beans, are encouraged. Spinach, okra, onions and garlic, as well as hot spices like ginger, black and cayenne pepper, and chili pepper are great this time of year.
- Complex carbs, grains, legumes, rhubarb, mung beans, watercress, plum, mushrooms, radish, young beets, carrots, and other sweet starchy vegetables are recommended.
- Young plants, fresh greens, sprouts, and immature wheat or other cereal grasses
- After meals, drink tea made from ginger, black pepper and cinnamon.
- Use more honey – it has a heating quality. Honey mixed with apple cider vinegar can harmonize the liver.
- Raw foods stimulate liver energy flow
- If you eat meat, chose chicken or turkey; avoid seafood, crab, and lobster.
- Now is a great time for a juice fast of apple, pomegranate or berries.
- Sleep at night only – daytime sleeping increases kapha and is not recommended in spring.
DAILY INTAKE: 30-40% whole grains, 20% protein (chicken, turkey, boiled and poached eggs, most beans, and 40-50% fresh vegetables – optional here is 10% fresh or dried fruit. A daily salad is a great idea.