Food is medicine

   Your body can rejuvenate itself with proper whole foods nutrition.  Ayurvedic nutrition uses all the 6 flavors and all 5 elements in every meal.  The 6 flavors are Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, Astringent, Pungent and each activate a different part of digestion.  The 5 elements are Ether, Air, Fire Water Earth.  Our food and everything around us is made up of the 5 elements, including ourselves.  When we eat a balanced "elemental" diet our body can function at a higher level.  For example, earth element is found in root vegetables like carrots and beets, water element is found in the stalks and trunks, like celery and kale stems, etc. 

   Ayruvedic cooking uses lots of spices as well,  all aid in digestion and circulation somehow. Cinnamon, Cardamom, Coriander, Fennel, Ginger, Tumeric, Garlic, all contribute to assisting the food in not only tasting good but digesting well.  Warming foods open the belly and bitter foods prime the digestive juices. Cooling foods help to expel excess heat from the body, and wet foods help us rehydrate. 

   When we have a good understanding of our constitution, like running hot or cold, we can eat the right foods to help balance our constitution to bring our body out of inflammation and heal.  Eating with the changing season and eating what is fresh in season in our area also helps to acclimate us to our environment.  We are all too tempted for fast food and convenience but it often is lacking in proper nutrition. We eat at least 3 times a day, we owe it to our selves to put attention towards feeding ourselves well more often than not.