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Learn What Food is Good for You at Certain Times of Year
Source: Reach Media / Urban One
With us today is Ayurvedic medicine practitioner and counselor, and she’s my sister, Elena Adkins.
GUMEC
Let’s jump into this for those who don’t know what Ayurvedic medicine is, tell them what it is.
ELENA ADMINS
It is a 5000-year-old life science based on the premise that we are trying beings mind, body and spirit and that health is maintained and achieved through diet, lifestyle and sleep. These diet lifestyle choices are based on qualities within our bodies and our environment that determine our specific diet and lifestyle.
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GUMEC
During the winter months, many of us crave warm and comforting foods from an Ayurvedic perspective, how does this impact the kind of foods that we should eat?
ELENA ADKINS
So that is true and we actually should be favoring warm foods because during winter there’s two primary energies that are governing winter and that is vatta, which is cold, dry light and rough. And kapha which is cold, wet, heavy. These environmental qualities determine we should eat in this season.
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GUMEC
So people in cold, dry places need something versus people who would say live on an island?
ELENA ADKINS
Correct, because it’s drier outside if it’s very dry and cold and you having dry and cold foods and you have something like joint pain or nerve pain, it can actually make it worse versus if you’re eating hot, spicy foods in the summer time, it can increase acidity or dizziness versus if you ate that same In the winter.
GUMEC
Elena, you’ve highlighted 5 foods that may not be ideal for winter, starting with ice-blended smoothies. Do a smoothie probably 4 times a week, and many people think smoothies are healthy to go. Why are they problematic in colder weather?
ELENA ADKINS
It’s because of cold and raw foods, increased vatta and kapta, which leads to sluggish digestion, bloating and weakened immunity. Your gut is responsible for a great deal of your immunity. So if you must have a smoothie, it’s best to use fresh fruit, no iced, no frozen fruit.
GUMEC
Can you explain how cold dairy carbonated drinks, dry snacks and night shades like tomatoes and Peppers affect our well-being in the winter? And what alternatives we should consider?
ELENA ADKINS
So for dairy, if you think kapha think like congestion, having a sinus mucus and mucus increasing mucus buildup. And so when you eat those dairy and cold ice creams and yogurt, you increase kapha lead to again the congestion, the mucus buildup and sluggish digestive system. And speaking of that, I know many people pair yogurt with fruit because they think that that is healthy, but it is actually a bad pairing. It is an unsuitable pairing according to Ayurveda, and it leads to a lot of things, not only sluggishness but allergies, especially in children. You’ll see a lot of eczema breakouts because they’re getting yogurt and fruit together, which is a no-no. It is best to add warming spices like cinnamon that help to counter the slow, sluggish heaviness of the yogurt and also adding honey to unsweetened yogurt.
Check out the full interview with more health tips
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