Foods for painful digestion + Delicious tomato free, pasta sauce recipe...

In Ayurveda it is recognised that every health condition starts with incorrect digestion:

When something is not properly digested, undigested food then travels around our channels and lodges in the tissues that are familiar to it.

Let me explain in brief... Every food has it's own elemental constitution and so does each one of our tissues. So if I have a kapha imbalance and am eating a lot of kapha foods (earth and water) for example, such as potato, dairy and refined grains/sugars and my digestive fire is low (due to kapha imbalance) the foods are not properly digested and this undigested substance is then likely to accumulate in our kapha tissues (fat and/or muscle) depending on any other imbalances we may have of course.

Or if I was to eat tomatoes (fire and water) everyday and was under a lot of stress so my digestive fire became too high (I had an excess of pitta - fire and water in my body) these undigested tomatoes would go and lodge in the pitta tissues and sites such as blood, eyes, skin, head and stomach causing things like heartburn, diarrhea, headaches and hot flushes (and eventually leading to more serious health conditions).

There are lots of ways to take out the lodged toxins and re-balance the digestive fire with the help of an Ayurvedic practitioner but it is important to know some foods that will not further aggravate the condition while you are working on recovery.

Pasta sauce is always an easy meal but it tends to be made with tomatoes, like much of our food. Tomatoes are extremely aggravating to an impaired digestive fire so is likely to worsen a problem. Instead this pasta sauce recipe avoids extremely aggravating foods such as tomatoes, raw foods and chilli and focuses on neutral soothing foods like squash and coconut. If you have a particularly aggressive digestive disorder avoid the things with a star next to them and remember that this condition does not have to be for life, Ayurvedic medicine can support your recovery, contact us now to start your treatment.

Pasta sauce recipe:

Nice alternative to tomato sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 of a large squash or cauliflower or a bit of both!

2 tsp coconut oil

2tsp coriander

½ tsp cumin

A pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp fennel seeds

½ tsp Himalayan rock salt

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp cinnamon

½ inch of fresh ginger

*1 garlic clove

1 Packet of silken tofu (can use firm but add more water)

1 can of coconut milk

*1 tbsp of nutritional yeast

1-2 cups of water or more milk depending on preferred consistency

*¼ tsp mustard (optional)

*1 tsp soya sauce (optional)

Broccoli

Peas

Spinach

1. Chop the squash into slices, put the coconut oil on a roasting pan and let it melt in the oven.

2. Put the squash and garlic clove in the roasting pan with the oil and all the spices and mix together and roast at gas mark 6 until soft (about 30 mins).

3. Meanwhile put some boiling water on for the pasta or noodles and follow instructions on the packet. Put in the chopped broccoli, and near the end of the cooking process add the peas and spinach.

5. Blend half the squash and the garlic in the food processor with all other ingredients (except pasta and greens). Make sure you use enough liquid to make the mixture in to a sauce.

6. Drain the pasta and mix everything together including the left over squash.

Enjoy!

Here is list of some foods to choose and what not to have so regularly if you are finding digestion PAINFUL:

Condiments:

Avoid:

Vinegar

Margarine (salted)

Pickles

Ketchup

Mayo

Mustard

Eat:

Small amount of sunflower oil, coconut oil (can cook with this), sesame oil, olive oil

Miso

Pesto

Soya sauce

Preserves

Avoid:

Peanut butter

Cashew butter

Nutella

Marmalade

Marmite

Eat:

Maple syrup

Small amount of jam

Small amount of almond butter

Vegetables

Avoid:

Generally raw, dry and pungent

Onions (raw)

Garlic (raw-don’t put too much in to cooking either)

Radish

Carrots (well cooked is fine occasionally)

Swede

Parsnip

Turnip

Beetroot (well cooked fine to have occasionally)

Celery

Lettuce

Tomato

Peppers

Chilli pepper

Mushrooms (fine to have occasionally)

Olives (green)

Kohlrabi

Cucumber

Aubergine

Eat:

Seasonal veg is always best.

In general sweet, and astringent.

Only Cooked:

Any green leaf

Leek

Cauliflower

Green beans

Cabbage

Mange tout

Spinach

Watercress

Courgette

Squash

Pumpkin

Fennel

Artichoke

Chicory

Potatoes

Sweet potatoes (occasionally)

Cassava

Yam

Okra

Peas

Parsley

Sprouts (sweet)

Coriander leaf

Asparagus

Fruit

Avoid:

Generally sour fruit

Apricots

Citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, grapefruit)

Nectarine

Banana

Sour berries

Pineapple

Plums (sour)

Peaches

Kiwi

Mango (sour)

Persimmons

Rhubarb

Avocado

Eat:

Generally sweet, cooked and/or soaked fruit. Do not eat with other food.

Limes

Apple (sweet)

Grapes (red and purple)

Papaya

Prunes

Pears

Figs

Cherries

Plums (sweet)

Melon

Pomegranate

Coconut products

Soaked dates, raisins and figs

Sweet berries

Watermelon

Breads/Cereals

Avoid:

Oats

Yeasted bread

Buckwheat

Any cereals that are cold, dry or puffed

Corn

Millet

Quinoa

Crackers (of any type)

Rye

Muesli

Granola

Eat:

Amaranth

Rice (not wild)

Pitta bread

Chappati

Barley

Bulgur wheat

Couscous (wheat)

Pasta (spelt is good)

Teff

Sweets

Avoid:

Chocolate

Cocoa

Eat:

Soaked dates

Coconut sugar

Maple syrup

Rice syrup

Fructose

Small amounts of cane sugar

Jaggery

Plant protein

Avoid:

Brazil nuts

Hazel nuts

Macadamia nuts

Peanut

Cashew

Pistachio

Walnuts (occasionally ok soaked)

Corn

Eat:

Almond (soaked overnight)

Sunflower seed

Pumpkin seed

Coconut

Chia seed (soaked)

Psyllium

Halva

Sesame seed

Lentils

Mung beans

All beans (not if these cause pain!)

Chickpeas

Split peas

Soya

Tofu

Herbs and spices

Avoid:

Chilli

Wasabi/Horsradish

Asafoetida

Cayenne

Cloves

Mace

Mustard seed

Allspice (occasionally)

Bay leaf

Fenugreek

Paprika

Poppy seed

Salt (can have some just not excessive and of a good quality)

Turmeric

Rosemary (small amounts)

Eat:

(Nothing in supplement form)

Black pepper

Coriander

Fennel

Cumin

Cardamom

Small amount of Cinnamon

Curry leaves

Saffron

Dill

Fresh ginger

Parsley (small amounts)

Tarragon

Vanilla

Fresh basil

Beverages

Avoid:

Coffee

Green tea

Rooibos (ok occasionally)

Black tea (but better than coffee and add some sugar and plant milk if drinking)

Mint tea

Redbush

Caffeinated beverages

Carbonated drinks

Sour juices

Tomato juice

Carrot juice

Pineapple juice

Orange juice

Grapefruit Juice

Wine

Spirits (if having stick to sweet liquors or white spirits)

Drink:

Chamomile tea

Ginger tea (fresh)

Licorice tea

Lemon grass tea

Fennel tea

Lavender tea (occasionally)

Hibiscus tea

Chai tea (small amount)

5 herbs tea (from clinic)

Gotukola tea (from clinic)

Pomegranate juice

Prune juice

Rice milk

Soy milk

Almond milk

Coconut milk

Grape juice

Pear juice

(no concentrated juice, if consuming juice dilute with water)

This is just general advice for pain during digestion, it is important to listen to your body, everyone is different so this might not work for your perfectly, if you would like some personalised support and to gain a better understanding of what your uniques dosha or imbalance needs please contact the clinic:

samatherapist@gmail.com