Food is thy medicine
What does this mean from an Ayurvedic sense?
As I progress in my Ayurvedic studies, I reflect often on my own understanding of food, of health and of wellbeing. In 2020, I had my own bout with COVID. It hit me so hard. I had the red rash on my elbows, I started to feel the onset of a cold and then on a Friday, I remember waking up with the absolute worst taste in my mouth. I confirmed through a test that I was positive for COVID. Having an incredible fever (and after having not had anything like this in so long I couldn’t immediately discern what was happening to my body), I lost my sense of smell and taste (this returned about 3 months later). My energy levels plummeted. We know all these experiences, many of us likely had our own bouts that were similar. What was different for me was the response of my Ayurvedic Practitioner when I reached out for care. She said in disbelief, ‘you’re so healthy to have gotten this’.
A bowl with fresh food items on a table.
And from the outside and perhaps even compared to many others in our population, this may be true. I was teaching a handful of yoga classes each week, I was teaching academic classes at the community college, I was working for a local government so despite the many positions I had, I had a decent amount of flexibility in my schedule. I was active, especially because of the yoga classes I taught. Here’s the deal though, I also would occasionally (and by occasionally, it was likely 1x a week atleast) that I would stop at a Wendy’s drive thru after teaching yoga to order a frosty and fries for dinner. I would grab Chick-Fil-A after class or anytime I just didn’t want to cook. I also have been known to eat cold cereal with a cold milk alternative (oat was my preference) for dinner more than 1x a week as well. My meal times lacked a consistent schedule, so my body wasn’t always ready to intake food, which can cause digestive issues.
Ayurveda teaches me a different level of ‘body awareness’ that I didn’t get from my advanced yoga training. Ayurveda teaches me a different level of ‘mind awareness’ that I didn’t get from all my training and coachings in Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (CBT). I may understand how to comply with the directions of cues from yoga classes, I can contort my body in really amazing ways and I may also feel remarkably different at the end of a yoga session….I also understand my thoughts and feelings better and can discern different outcomes based on my own mental state. However, if I’m not fueling my body with the ‘right’ foods, I am potentially leaving my body system vulnerable to something like COVID.
A rendition of the brain, a symbol of the cognitive behavioral reference from above.
What do I mean about food as medicine then?
I think there are different layers of understanding when it comes to food. And the different layers come from our own education and experience with food, our access to food and our level of motivation when it comes to our own health.
Food that is given or provided.
This can be what we give to kiddos, they have little autonomy in what they consume and/or may be really picky about what they consume
Food that is provided to those in prisons, serving in the military, public school lunches, and in shelters
I do think parents want to and in fact do, provide the best quality food they can for their kids, with the means they have. However, I think in other situations (listed above), food is provided that is cheap, fast and often prepared in a manner with very little thought or care.
A young child holding a bowl of cereal.
We consume food because we know we need to it
We get wrapped up in our day to day, we work stressful jobs, we take care of other people over ourselves and we forget to fuel ourselves.
We think ‘it’s better than nothing’
Like me as described above, we eat cold cereal for dinners, fall prey to the latest diet trends like juicing, veganism, salads all day etc.
In this sense, I often think we shovel food in without giving it much thought. We know we need to eat and we either don’t have the taste for it (this is called aruchi in Ayurveda and is classified as a disease or roga) or our digestion is such that it slow (called agnimanda) and our own digestive strength is weakened so we don’t have the drive to take in much or what we take in isn’t the best or doesn’t get digested well.
We consume food based on cravings of the mind rather than cravings of the body.
Our mind will seek extremes. Our bodies seek balance. How can this play out? I have a craving for cookies (mind). My body craves sweets (this is a reflection of the elements, the sweet taste comes from the earth and water elements). Sweets that are supportive for the body (and mind) are foods like yams, sweet potatoes, basmati rice, carrots etc.
About to be baked cookies.
I used to be a vegan and I remember meeting some besties for sushi one night. One of my friends ordered the raw salmon roll and my mouth was literally watering. I wanted that and my body needed it. My Ayurvedic Practitioner later would give me the permission I needed to eat meat. Rather than this faulty sense of justice I had in positively impacting the world through not eating meat (sushi roll or otherwise) I was depriving my body of something that it really needed. I started gradually adding meat back into my diet and I still consume meat today.
Food items as medicine.
Eating food because it is aligned best with the concept of time
Time can be in reference to the time of day that you consume items (ex: lighter meals for breakfast and dinner as this is kapha time, a more nourishing meal at lunch when pitta is high).
Time as a reference of where you are in your cycle of life (ex: older adults are in vata stage so may do better with more nourishing meals).
Time in terms of the season (ex: in vata/fall season, it is already a drier time, its windy, cooler etc, having meals that are heavier, oily, nourishing will provide more balance).
Timing in Ayurveda is very important. And I think this is where food can start to become more medicinal. As we start to better sync up with nature, we start to understand that our bodies are also the nature. We are nature. When we eat our foods to align with the times around us, we are better supporting our bodies already built in capacity to digest, process and restore.
A pile of clocks.
Eating food because it is fresh, cooked and easy to digest.
We understand that fresh and cooked food not only tastes better, it is also more easy to digest. As food is more digestible, it has the ability to replenish and nourish our bodies. Food becomes a way to build up depleted dhatus (tissues) in our bodies.
Fresh and cooked food requires dedication and time to prepare for meals properly. This is a big shift for many of us who are eating on the go, who eat ‘whatever is in the fridge’ or whatever everyone else is having even if that isn’t going to be best for you. This is food as medicine!
Intentionally consuming food/spices that will provide balance for your body and mind
In Ayurveda we learn there is a different dominance of elements in each food item, different tastes and different qualities of the food as well.
If you experience excess heat in your body or you’re feeling fiery in general, adding cayenne, black pepper, or even more sour items like sauerkraut, cold yogurt can increase the acidity and heat in your body. On the contrary, if you were to add in something like coriander, cilantro, cardamon, fennel to meals you are adding items with more cooling qualities (hence you start to alleviate the heat in your body).
Now if you’re experiencing stagnation, sluggishness you may consider adding in something more like ginger as it has usna (heating) qualities and we know heat causes things to expand. And the expansion may be helpful in getting things moving in your body and mind.
This also means that you have an understanding of your own body constitution and imbalances. That you understand that eating tortilla chips (I have a giant bag still in my pantry) when you have vata imbalances and its vata season… will cause even more dryness in your system. You opt for freshly made tortillas instead. This is food as medicine.
Freshly cooked tortillas.
Growing your own food, knowing the farmers who grow your food, thanking the land for food etc.
What a gift to know where your food comes from and even more of a gift to give thanks to all those (soils, plants, animals, etc) who provide food! We start to understand we really are all a one world family, that the life of one being provides health for another.
That the apple on the tree outside will be converted into an apple within my body and as I exhale, I give life to the plants around me.
What an exchange! This is food as medicine. This is healing. This is living. This is thriving.
If you are ready to make a leap into a deeper understanding of your own health and the foods around us, I’d love to meet you! Feel free to email me (createherwithkate@gmail.com) or book a free 30 min with me today!
