Healing with Food

According to Ayurveda, an illness indicates that one's constitution, or dosha, is out of balance, a condition that can be exacerbated or improved by eating certain foods.

By Lizette Montgomery

"But Ayurveda is not intellectual," stresses Copple. "It is a practice that uses your intuition, the creative aspect of your mind, your own body knowledge. The bottom line in Ayurveda is relying on what your body tells you, not what a theory or a book or a practitioner tells you. Ayurveda is just a framework for understanding your own body."

When a person is cold and has congestion in the chest, that congestion is kapha, explains Copple. In order to reduce the kapha, pitta needs to be increased. Pitta is heat, so eating hot foods, like ginger, will reduce the congestion. Continuing to eat kapha foods, like ice cream, will increase the congestion.

Amadea Morningstar, a nutritionist who teaches polarity nutrition at the New Mexico Academy of Healing Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, considers the Ayurveda diet a constant source of inspiration. She recommends the following Ayurvedic recipes for cold symptoms.

Tea for Colds

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon dried hibiscus flowers (from a health food or herb store)

1 to 2 sticks of cinnamon

Put ginger, hibiscus flowers, and cinnamon sticks in 3 cups of boiling water. Simmer for several minutes, then turn off heat and cover. Sweeten with fresh orange juice or honey.

Sore Throat Gargle

This very traditional remedy is less palatable and more antiseptic than the tea, but it strengthens throat tissue.

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder

Dissolve turmeric in hot water. Gargle with it, then swallow.

Kichari

Cynthia Copple says kichari is the best food for those recovering from illness, as it is very healing and easy to digest.

1 tablespoon ghee

6 ounces basmati rice

3 teaspoons cumin

3 teaspoons coriander

3 teaspoons fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

3 ounces split yellow mung beans (dal)

vegetables appropriate to your doshas

Wash rice and beans together under cold water. Melt ghee in a pan, then add fennel seeds. Cook for one minute. Add cumin, coriander, and turmeric, and the rice and beans. Stir so the mixture is coated with ghee. Then cover the mixture with hot water by about two inches. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally. Add more water as needed—you don't want the pan to dry out.

Add diced vegetables, starting with root vegetables. Leafy vegetables, like spinach, should be added toward the end of cooking time. The dish is cooked when most of the water has evaporated and the grains are soft and slightly mushy.

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