“I’m having zero digestive issues.”
This simple sentence was recently sent to me from one of my students who finished The Healing Diet pilot I ran this Fall.
She hadn’t realized how much her digestive problems were controlling her life. They affected her daily. After applying what she’s learned about good digestion from Ayurveda – they don’t. Her sleep has improved. He relationship with food has improved. Her relationship with her partner has improved. Connected? Ayurveda would say it’s all connected to the gut.
And for those of you with digestive issues of your own – I know you get it! I remember when I couldn’t go out to eat without worrying if I’d be able to eat or not without ruining the rest of my evening. In stepped intuition – and then Ayurveda to back me up.
I mentioned in part one that I was going to share three common foods that can cause of aggravate IBS. You may have self-diagnosed, or not. You may not feel like you can say that you have IBS, but you experience discomfort – gas, bloating, pain, constipation or loose stools, regularly, daily even, and don’t know what’s going on. And you feel like it’s not fair because “I eat pretty healthily!”
We are all individuals. ‘Healthy’ is relative to our body types, the season, and our digestive capacity. In our western culture three ‘healthy’ foods could be nasty culprits. And now I don’t mean to confuse you…but I do want to make you think about your diet in a different way.
The three tough guys are smoothies, salads, and ice water. I have no problem if you want to try this before you buy it. These three culturally common and considered ‘healthy’ foods, can be really tough on us with sensitive digestion.
Smoothies:
Think about your beloved smoothies. Fruit, yogurt, ice, plus perhaps your favorite superfoods and supplements. How could we go wrong here? There are two big no-no’s in here (at least) that go against Ayurveda’s food rules for good digestion. And right away, we learn it’s not only the what we eat, but how. All of the above are really nutrient dense, and healthy. But if we have compromised digestion, we can’t take on all of it at once.
First, food combinations. Fruit and just about anything DO NOT MIX. And Fruit and Dairy, especially. So the same goes with fruit/yogurt/granola. Fruit ideally is eaten alone, and only takes about 20 minutes to digest. If eaten with anything else, it sits atop and ferments, causing indigestion and gas.
Second – heavy and cold qualities. Our metabolic fire, is well, just that. Think of it like a fire. To keep the campfire going, we can’t throw yogurt on it. We need to keep it warm, give it a little space, and proper kindling. Read on.
Salads:
Again, gimme those greens, those fresh veggies, beans, eggs, whatever it is you choose to create your maharajah’s lunch. Feel bloated after you enjoy the bountiful plate? Don’t be frustrated – it doesn’t mean you can’t eat greens and beans and things, but it’s time to prepare them in a different way. Try lightly steaming them, and using fragrant spices. Perhaps raw carrots and hummus sit like a rock in your stomach. Your carrots might need to be curried, your beans warm and in a soup.
It doesn’t make you weak – it makes you…smart.
It’s all about the qualities again – light, rough, cold, hard. Those probably don’t sound like things you want to throw in your belly. So check out what’s going on in your plate – look at the ingredients, feel them in your hands, your mouth. These qualities listed above are gas-forming, and aggravate the colon. We say they aggravate VATA dosha, or the space and air elements. In Ayurveda, like increases like. If you want the opposite, use the opposite qualities – if gas is a problem, favor warm, liquid, soft and good quality oils.
Ice water:
Sensing a trend here? Ice water can be a huge culprit, and sometimes cutting this out can solve numerous issues. Of course, there may be a time and place for everything, for all qualities. But with a sensitive gut, and especially gas, bloating, belching or constipation – replace that ice water with room temp, or even better, warm water with a little lemon. Personally, this is where my foray into Ayurveda began. Before I even knew the word, I figured out that asking for hot water with lemon with my meals allowed me to feel so much better after dining out!
*Also note that in Ayurveda, there is a little rule to satiation – fill your stomach half with food, 1/4 with water, and 1/4 with space. This ensures that you’re not totally dampening and weakening your digestive enzymes – or as we say, agni.
Ideally, our agni, or digestive capacity is so strong we can digest it all – cold, hot, wheat dairy, etc. But inevitably, looking at the qualities of agni (hit light fragrant) vs perhaps cold, heavy, damp, dry or rough foods we throw at it, we’re going to have a setback. If we don’t have the understanding, or tools, or truly how our physiology, and beyond, works, we’re stuck.
That’s what we talk about in The Healing Diet. Over and over…and over again. From all angles, we’re all individuals, we all learn differently, and connect with different teachings. It’s a big deal – 10 weeks. But it’s meant to bring you, and keep with you, change and healing. Which doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it happens within the context of your life.
We learn about more questions to ask:
What is my body type?
What is my metabolic type?
What time of year is it?
Am I stressed out?
Am I actually hungry?
How do I feel? And what do I need?
We learn about the uber importance of food combining on a sensitive gut. How to think outside the box about food choices, and get more in touch with our intuition.
“I’m having zero digestive issues.” – Can you say that? Join us. Apply today.
Love,