Ayurveda : Spice and Green

Ayurveda literally translates to "the science of life". In Ayurveda, health is defined as an active state of wellness--a state in which you truly live, not merely exist. The ayurvedic approach to health is inclusive, extending to your daily diet, your routine, and your environment. Ayurveda offers a wide range of therapies and tools to restore balance, from dietary recommendations and ayurvedic rasayanas--herbs, fruits and spices that help maintain good health--to internal cleansing and rejuvenation treatments.

Spices are pungent or aromatic substances obtained fromthe bark, buds, fruit, roots, seeds or stems of various plants and trees and used to season or flavor foods. Spices are revered in the ayurvedic tradition because of the therapeutic value they bring to a meal. There are almost no dishes in ayurvedic cooking that are not embellished with the aroma, flavor and healing wisdom of spices.

The exotic colors and heady aromas of spices can elevate an ordinary dish into a sublime feast for the sense of sight, smell and taste. What's more, most spices also come with therapeutic properties, so every meal that includes spices can become an experience in enhancing health and well-being.

All six tastes -- sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent -- at every main meal is a basic tenet of Ayurvedic dietary wisdom, and spices are a convenient, flavorful way of accomplishing this.

Some general tips for cooking with spices:

• Most spices are potent, so a little goes a long way. You want the spices to enhance the flavors of foods, not overpower the whole dish.
• When blending several spices in a dish, experiment to find combinations you like. Be adventurous! A good Ayurvedic cookbook can start you out with suggestions for spices especially balancing for mind and body in each season.
• Many spices release their flavors and aromas best when sautéed in Ghee (clarified butter) or oil, some when they are dry-roasted. Be nimble when sautéing or roasting spices, they tend to burn quickly. Remove from heat when aromas are released and continue stirring or shaking to prevent burning.
• Look for organic, non-irradiated spices.
• Store spices in airtight containers away from heat and light.

Since diet, along with daily habits, is crucial to the health of an individual, it must be made clear at the outset that there is no standard ideal diet for all people in general. The various factors that need to be kept in mind while working out the ideal diet, which will be distinctly different based on the person’s specific constitutional characteristics, are as listed below:

• The natural qualities of each food.
• How those natural qualities can get altered.
• The effects of combining foods – proper and unacceptable combinations.
• The quantity of food intake.
• Individual differences in food intake.
• The places & climate where the food is grown, prepared and consumed.
• The effects of the seasons and time of day.
• Avoidance of artificial flavors, chemicals, preservatives and colours.

Green : According to ayurveda, dark green leafy vegetables have a special place in the daily diet -- they are considered a particularly nutritious class of vegetables. And modern science says they contain important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin B1 and B2. Ayurveda recommends that you have some leafy greens each day to help meet the nutritional requirements for optimal health.