Enjoy holiday foods, don't let your celebration cause you discomfort.
In America, we think a lot more about food than we used to. Exotic ingredients are more commonplace, palates are opening, and the idea of food as medicine is a plausible notion for more and more American eaters. Americans are waking up following the post-World War II era of dreary, unhealthy national food approaches.
Food became corporatized, taste trumped effect, poor-quality fats, salt, and sugars smothered taste buds. As a obese teenager, I often cried with confusion: Why were the only choices bad choices? Childhood obesity was not a mainstream notion at the time and it felt very lonely to have a disease that was not yet recognized.
I lost 50 pounds over some years and America changed as I did. Obesity was recognized as an epidemic. Culture shifted: soda was branded as harmful, fast food restaurants were implicated in promoting dangerous diets, people began to explore whole foods traditions. Now you can find kombucha at Kroger and goji berries in mainstream cereals, and that’s kind of like progress but there’s an important missing component: digestion.
Because you aren’t what you eat. Not at all. You are what you digest. And what you don’t digest is you too, in the form of what Ayurveda calls ama—basically the bi-product of incomplete bodily function. Built-up ama threatens the vitality of the human body. Big time. Let’s talk about that more one of these days.
Now, I have a long-saved message I’d like to air here. Foodie-ism is a concept I can kind of get behind. I enjoy chefs and diners unearthing and enjoying unique cuisines, funky mixtures, and adventurous eating in general. My beef is with the lack of digestive awareness around foodie-ism.
See, the impression I get is that many devoted foodies are wrecked intestinally, plagued by poor combinations borne out of gluttonous, joyful eating. I am all for joy, but just as I am showing up for joy, I want to show up for the less appreciated side of foodie-ism: wretched farts, painful diarrhea, hard stool and hemorrhoids, offensive belches, and more. Ever eaten a rich and highly expensive meal and had to retreat to the bathroom in order to double over with insane cramps? And then go back to the table in order to pay the hefty bill?
Doesn’t that feel like a rip-off?
That’s what bums me out about many whoo-hoo-type dining experiences—it’s a big old waste. Wild flavor mixtures, poor food combining, excessive alcohol consumption during the meal, overindulging in sweets on top of it, well, I’d be more for it if it wasn’t sick-gut city. If we actually assimilated the calories from these over-the-top experiences, that would be nice too—and a fitting tribute to the many people who make extravagant meals happen. Instead, most of us are pooping out these challenging foods as fast as we can, or amassing intestinal plaque in the case of those without the constitutional heat or moisture to properly, um, dump em.
As a cook, I can’t help think of two celebrity foodies—Anthony Bourdain and David Chang. These chefs present televised ape-shit eat fests, devouring fritters and cocktails, weird meats, a gallon of beer, some strange crab, a yummy but puzzling watermelon salad thingy, maybe some gummy bears, and a 5 pound banana split, and I can’t help but wonder, how do they survive? Do they have lovers or are their farts simply too stinky? While these two are certainly not Michael Pollan, with his moderate, educated style of eating, they do represent a facet of American eating that is rarely discussed but is actually a huge part of many people’s lives: overindulgence and the lack of know-how to avoid the pitfalls of overindulgence, or the education to make better choices.
And here comes the holidays, a challenging time for all of us in terms of making good choices around food. And here comes cold and flu time of year as well, unfortunately because poor digestion and lackluster food habits increase vulnerability to viruses.
But don’t worry foodies, I am not looking to ban your pleasures, or shame you in public (sorry Chang and Bourdain, but we were all thinking it!). I am going to arm you with suggestions and remedies to avoid the pitfalls of inevitable holiday overindulgence. This is what one of my instructors once called “cheating with Ayurveda.” But I’d like to avoid calling it cheating; none of us are perfect. Most of us know what caused our pain and are on the lookout for tools to modify and improve life. This is why I love Ayurveda!
How you eat is important
Oh man, there are so many supplements for digestion out there! But I like to start with the free approach to better digestion: how you eat. If you have challenged digestion, you can make huge strides in your troubles by eating mindfully. Beware: This is very difficult at parties, but practice at home!
Began meals with a prayer of gratitude—it’s a cheesy concept to some, I know, but it can serve as a Pavlovian signal to your body to get ready, food is on the way. Perhaps it is also a nice technique for those who find eating terrifying because of digestive disorders (eating for some means a potential for an accident, or an embarrassing sprint to the bathroom).
Other mindful eating techniques include: sitting quietly for 10 minutes after eating, eating in silence, never eating when walking or driving, etc. Yeah, these techniques won’t work at a party, but could be helpful in those days of unbalance after several parties. The nervous and digestive system are of course connected; these approaches honor that connection.
Ginger
I am in love with ginger. Ginger makes it all better, from nausea to gas. I recommend fresh ginger for everyone—powdered ginger is very hot and not suitable for all. People who experience fiery digestive symptoms like burning diarrhea should avoid powdered ginger and take fresh ginger moderately.
Fresh ginger can be a pain to process; I find that I am less likely to use it if I just have a big pile of unpeeled ginger root in the fridge. When I buy ginger, I peel it, chunk it, and pop it in the food processor to be pulverized. Then, I fill a jar with my processed ginger and it lasts about a week. I add it to veggie dishes, I make tea with it several times a day in the winter, I add it to my krauts.
Ginger is also the main ingredient in the “Ayurvedic appetizer” popularized by the world’s most beloved Ayurvedic doctor, Dr. Vasant Lad. This is a great remedy if you have constipation, lack of appetite, or feel over-full and sleepy after meals:
Ayurvedic appetizer
Take a coin-sized, thin slice of peeled fresh ginger, squeeze lime juice over it, sprinkle high-quality salt on it, and eat before a meal, especially a large, celebratory meal. This will get your digestive juices flowing.
Ginger is your go-to if you have a digestive oops. It will help you fart when you are bloated, it will abate mucus if you overindulged in sweets or dairy. The rhizome is also makes a great tea for colds and flus, as well as the prevention of those, so drink up!
Mint
Painful, hot digestive experiences can be so disruptive to people’s lives. “Hot” digestion is the quick kind that burns upon wiping, and can be fast, explosive, painful, and embarrassing. Those poor souls with Crohn’s, IBS, and other inflammatory bowel diseases—try mint! Mint tea, day and night, adds tremendous relief to symptoms. It’s the ultimate tummy soother.
Bitters
Bitters formulas can be found in tinctures, as well as in the liquor cabinet, and both are great for digestion. We are just learning the power of the bitter flavor; in turns out the body has many receptors for the bitter flavor. Bitter plants helped secure humans’ health throughout the ages, aiding in bile flow (too much alcohol and or rich foods, among other aggravators, can congest the liver and gallbladder, thus stagnating bile flow) and also in digestion. Turmeric, gentian, artichoke, chamomile, and yellow dock are just a few bitter herbs. If you want to explore bitters, pick up a digestive bitters formula from your local health food store, or try Fernet Branca, a famous bitter digestive alcohol from Italy.
Avoid bitters if you are a dry type; bitters are drying, and if you experience hard-to-pass, pellet-like stool, bitters could be too drying for you.
While I’m at it, I’d like to recommend a bitter that is not a tincture, but a juice: aloe vera. Having an oh-shit moment, knowing that you’ve overindulged? Aloe vera juice to the rescue! Trader Joe’s has a reputable, inexpensive brand of aloe vera juice, sold by the gallon, that is an amazing remedy for tummy aches and pain, as well as hangovers and that too-full feeling. Add a pinch of turmeric to a cup of aloe juice, go to bed by 10 pm, and you have a simple, do-able daily liver cleanse. People withdrawing from alcohol can drink up to four cups per day of the juice and find it helps reinstate balance. It can be quite cool for some; add fresh ginger or other warm spices to aloe in the winter if you are chilly.
Spices
Ayurvedic practitioners often prescribe spice blends to assist clients with digestive woes. Spice blends change lives. People with miserable digestive health find hope with spices, as well as these other remedies—but spices have a special portability. Distressed digesters will carry their spice blends in a plastic bag or jar, and sprinkle it on food, especially potentially problematic foods. Condiments not supplements!
While you’ll have to come in to Elemental Ayurveda for your personalized spice blend recipe, I can recommend a spice tea that is suitable for all, and tastes delicious.
Cumin, coriander, fennel tea
Add a quarter teaspoon of each seed to a cup and a half of boiled water, cover, and steep until cool enough to drink. Feel free to strain the tea, or to drink it while chewing the seeds. For a stronger brew, gently boil the seeds in two cups of water for about 10 minutes. Either preparations can be boosted with a spoonful of fresh ginger.
This tea can be taken long-term by anyone. Make this tea when you are the chef and you have served a meal that you recognize could be problematic in richness; your guests will thank you. Maybe Bourdain carries a thermos of it, and this is what allows him to share a marital bed?
Love obviously trumps silly stuff like smelly farts, but let's face it, it's a lot easier to be in a body that doesn't have putrid emissions.
Know yourself, know your remedy
Yes, you can “cheat” with Ayurveda, but only if you can identify what your problems are, and what triggers you. Ask yourself: What are my symptoms? Vurps? Burps? Rumbling belly? Post-overindulgence constipation? Hangover diarrhea? Undigested food in the stool? Even simple old gas, which so many of us experience, is a sign that food is not being properly digested and assimilated.
Pre-Thanksgiving, go ahead and skip a meal that day, leave room for the indulgence to come, and maybe do a dropper of bitters before the meal begins. Or the Ayurvedic appetizer might be appropriate if you anticipate an uncomfortable food coma. Have a cup of ginger tea with that slice of pie—you’re going to need it.
Having little rabbit pellet poops the day after a big meal, or can’t go at all? Try eating a bit less next time, over a longer period of time, and make sure that the majority of your food is well-cooked. Skip the salad, double up on the mashed potatoes with extra ghee, and make sure everything is moist and oily. I mean, if you have dry-verging-on-constipation digestion, can you see how it would be super hard to digest a baguette for instance? Butter it up, no skimping! Or better yet, skip it.
Having acidic digestion with bouts of diarrhea? Go easy on the alcohol this holiday season, and if that’s not so easy, at least steer clear of fried foods including all chips, avoid crap candy in favor of more wholesome sweets like baked apples or pumpkin pie, and don’t forget your aloe before bed! No spicy for you, either, and while we’re at it, dairy should be limited.
And if you anticipate gaining weight this holiday season, enjoy ginger and spices with meals. Be moderate with dairy and sweets. Be wary of symptoms like mucus and lethargy after eating—you are headed into imbalance. Pack your bitters alongside your potluck contributions, and don’t forget, a brisk walk after a big meal will help the over-full feelings.
The holidays aren’t the times to skip our favorite foods, even if our faves knock us out of balance. Moderation and awareness will facilitate true enjoyment, instead of that lopsided mouth-joy-gut-misery dynamic. I say this a lot and I’ll say it again: Ayurvedic disease pathology points to the digestive system as the seed of the eventual blossom of disorder. Digestion counts. Big time. Our digestive system is at the core of our person; how we feel there affects our attitudes, our worldviews, our relationships. The holidays are a time when families and friends come together—feeling good matters so much at these times. Go ahead and walk your tightrope of balance and indulgence; Ayurveda will hold your hand.
Eva Saelens is a professional member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, with over 1500 hours of training in Ayurveda, massage therapy, and Ayurvedic treatments. She graduated from the California College of Ayurveda in 2013. Subsequently, Eva spent a year interning and studying Ayurveda, Tibetan medicine, whole foods nutrition, aromatherapy, and pancha karma at the dhyana Center in Sebastopol, Calif., and in India.