Ayurveda & Food

When meeting with new clients I always ask them to please keep a “what and when” food/drink journal for 5-7 days before our initial consultation. Typically, there will be some simple tweaks to their diet which if implemented will have a huge impact on their overall wellbeing. It is not uncommon for someone to exhibit a variety of different digestive imbalances. I will show a list of foods to not combine during their meals and the typical response is “but I have been eating this my entire life”. Yes, if we have grown up with a certain food pairing then our digestion may have adjusted towards tolerance. However, if we stop eating these disturbing combinations, we will experience a difference. Our digestion becomes easy and we feel light. 

Besides food combinations, we also need to look at how, when, and where we eat. Our digestive systems are very delicate, some even more than others. It is easy for our digestion to become imbalanced. Our digestion is greatly affected by our emotions. Think of how you feel when you eat something while you are sad. Other factors that affect our digestion are, overeating, undereating, eating too many cold foods, foods that are stale, sticky, or preserved. Foods high in refined sugars will in turn weaken digestive fire and can lead to leaky gut syndrome. 

When we combine foods that don’t digest well together, the result is weak agni (the Sanskrit word for digestive fire) which creates ama (toxins). Ama is undigested or partially digested food which becomes the foundation for disease.

 With attention, we notice that food has a variety of tastes, qualities, and effects on our bodily systems and tissues. When foods of different energetic qualities are combined, they become incompatible and will create a digestive upset. Some examples that we see all the time could be milk or yogurt with fruit, milk, or cheese with eggs, beans with cheese, or beans with meat. Yes, this might alter your next brunch or Mexican dinner but when we avoid these combinations, it is remarkable how quickly the digestion can turn around.

I cannot stress how important it is to eat mindfully. Sitting down without distractions rather than eating on the go, while driving or in front of our screens. The benefits of mindful eating could be an entire course to itself. If you are interested in learning more, please check out this article that I wrote for Banyan Botanicals (click here to read).

Let’s look at some food combinations that do work rather than focusing on what does not. If you would like a list of incompatible food combinations, please find the attachment here.

We will start with fruit as it seems to be the most confusing. First, it is important to eat raw fruit alone. If you are blending a few different types of raw fruit then they should be similar. For example, a fruit combination of banana and orange is not going to digest well together. However, combining apple and pear or a mix of different berries will work fine. Cooked or dried fruit is fine to mix with grains. Fruit mixed with nut milk works as well too.

There is a steadfast rule that melons are always to be eaten alone. Melons have a lot of water and can be difficult to digest which can easily bog down the digestive fire when eaten with anything else. The ayurvedic saying is “Eat melons alone or leave melons alone”.

Grains and legumes are very harmonious. If you know me, you know my love for a good bowl of kitchari. Legumes and grains both also go well with vegetables. Vegetables that are best for legumes are low in starch. Grains pair well with yogurt and milk. Veggies high in starch digest well with leafy greens and other vegetables that are low in starch. Seeds and nuts digest well with leafy greens, yogurt, or milk. Cheese is delicious on its own or with low starch veggies and leafy greens.

Milk and yogurt should never be mixed but apart they can be wonderful medicine. One thing to be conscious about regarding milk is that you do not want to drink it cold. It is extremely hard to digest and will create mucous, which is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. Especially during these times please ditch the cold milk – that includes ice cream. 

However, scalding milk will denature the enzymes making it easier on your stomach. Bring the milk to a quick boil and remove from heat before the pot overflows. Allow it to cool slightly before sipping. Once you begin to scald your milk you will notice the difference in your overall digestion and be amazed. Spicing after scalding is a particularly good idea to make it even more digestible. Try some cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, or nutmeg. Lastly, if you eat meat, it is best to combine with low-starch vegetables and greens.

Obtaining optimal digestion is one of the paramount goals in Ayurveda. With awareness and a few simple rules of thumb, it can be easy to achieve a state of balance and regularity. I hope this information helps you to feel light and satisfied after your meals. If you have any concerns about your digestion state, please reach out to me. I am happy to schedule a consultation either mask-to-mask or screen-to-screen.