G O U R M E T K N OW L E D G E
WELLNESS SECRETS FROM THE PAST Priyanka Elhence learns how Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine have natural superfoods at the core of their nutritional practices.
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mproving lives through the medium of food isn’t something new. Promoting health and wellness through specific timehonoured herbs, spices, fruit and vegetables has been a defining pillar of two of the most revered systems of medicine. Ayurveda regards even the most common of everyday herbs and spices as superfoods that help eliminate ill-health by creating balance for each unique constitution through nutrition. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that organs play a vital role in boosting immunity, so nourishing diets should be planned carefully to help these organs perform at their peak potential, rather than burden them by eating the wrong foods.
HERE’S A CLOSER LOOK AT BOTH SYSTEMS Simply put, Ayurveda is an ancient traditional system of Indian medicine that covers everything from gut health, diet, nutritional food and microbiome; to yoga and healthy lifestyles that promote mental and physical health. In Ayurveda, disease results when life balance is disturbed, and restoration of that balance expels disease. Rather than work on disease symptoms, this holistic healing system goes to the root cause of the imbalance. Says Shailu Suresh, Ayurvedic lifestyle practitioner; director, Om Vedic Heritage Centre; founder-president, Ayurvedic Practitioners Association of Singapore, “Ayurveda originated from the ancient Indian Vedic culture more than 5,000 years ago. In Sanskrit, Ayuh means life and Veda means knowledge or science, hence Ayurveda means ‘Science of Life’. Ayurveda forms a holistic basis of understanding food as medicine and staying healthy.” Suresh goes on to explain that a core concept in Ayurvedic nutrition is the six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent; adding each of these six tastes in each meal means a balanced diet. Ayurvedic diets encourage eating minimally processed foods and practicing good eating habits such as eating
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fresh, seasonal and local produce; concentrating on mindful eating; eating when hungry after the previous meal has been digested; not overeating; and finally, eating a light dinner before 8pm when the digestive system is more active. “Ayurveda has been leading the forefront of the wellness revolution for years as it revolves around three fundamental states - physical, mental and spiritual,” says Suresh. “Health is a balance of all these three states, along with our relationship with nature through the five-element theory of pancamahabhuta (space, air, fire, water, and earth).” These five elements are further grouped into three metabolic types or tridoshas - vata (a combination of space and air), pitta (fire), and kapha (water and earth). “Typically, one of these three doshas determines our constitution or body-mind type. Just as each individual has a unique fingerprint, we all have a particular constitution and unique levels of energy too.” According to ancient Ayurvedic wisdom, wellness means staying in balance with the body’s constitution. “Simply put, imbalance means disorder, and health is order. Our prominent dosha or constitution helps determine our optimal diet to help maintain a balanced constitution and energy by nourishing our body properly,” adds Suresh. She continues, “Ojas is the subtle essence of a healthy physical body; when ojas flows freely through the body, bala, or strength and immunity is created in the body. Toxins or ama are obstacles to the production and flow of ojas, primarily stemming from stress, fatigue, weak digestion and poor metabolism. Having a balanced and easily digestible diet based on your constitution helps prevent ama, since well digested food provides nourishment to the body. With strong digestion, ojas are more dominant than ama, hence the body’s energy can better fight off infections. My motto is ‘You are what you digest’, and a toxin-free body is the way to always staying healthy.”
