Ayurveda and Fermented Foods

Ayurveda, and probably every kitchen wife in before the industrial revolution, knew the benefits of homemade ferments

Because they were an essential tool to make food last

The vaidyas of yore noticed that fermented foods enkindle agni – the power of digestion

I remember reading Dr

Robert Svoboda’s Aghora series a decade ago

In it he tells a story of his guru, Tantric adept Aghori Vimalananda, teaching him about the 5 elements

His guru tells him to worship the 5 elements… but if he has to choose one, to choose fire

That is the teaching of agni in Ayurveda

If your is strong and balanced… you have an opportunity to thrive

If you’re not digesting well…  you’ll develop ama, or gut inflammation and toxic residue from undigested unabsorbed foods and that will slowly sink your ship

Fermented foods contain living bacteria that digest ama and replenish enzymes – which create functional agni

Pathologically enough, in Ayurveda school I didn’t learn how to ferment vegetables

I learned intellectually the benefits of adding yogurt to cooked foods meals

But, it was just intellectual and I didn’t get my hands bio-enzymatically engaged and learn how the power of agni is in my own cabbage-squeezing hands

(In the Living Ayurveda Course I fill in this missing education)

After a few years in my Ayurvedic practice I went to India for 3 months to see what I could learn

During that time I completed Dr

Lad’s Gurukula program in Ayurvedic practice, I spent a few weeks at Krishnamacharya’s YogaMandiram chanting, I sat a Goenke Vipassana Retreat, and I studied Pancha Karma in Kerala

A day didn’t go by that I wasn’t served small batch fermented foods

Indian food is fermented

An Indian Thali – or lunch

Usually costs $1-2 US… and is packed with small-batch homemade fermented foods

For breakfast I’d have idli – a fermented lentil and rice cake

Idli is served with chutney, which is also traditionally a fermented food

For lunch I’d have the local thali – or one plate meal that has 10 different things on it, based on rice, sambar (a loose dhal), and vegetables

Thalis always include a few fermented foods – namely a yogurt sauce and fermented vegetable and fermented fruit relishes

Dinner may be a dosa, stuffed with potatoes and chutneys

Dosas, like idli’s take rice and beans and ferment them for digestibility

This explains why people in India have better (more diverse) gut bacteria than us wealthier Westerners

We simply outsourced our food creation to the extent that we lost most of the good bacteria in our diet

“More (gut microbial) diversity is probably better than less, because a diverse ecosystem is generally more resilient — and diversity in the Western gut is significantly lower than in other, less-industrialized populations” Michael Pollan, New York Times May 15 2013 (Bold added because I know my readers scan)

As Westerners we have outsourced and outsmarted ourselves once again in our exploitation of convenience, mass production, and centralized food production

Ayurvedic Eating 101

Example of pushing constitution over seasonal kitchen skills

When we have clients or students who are new to Ayurveda we often teach them to eat a doshic diet first

Instead of teaching their clients how to eat seasonally and teach them basic kitchen skills like sprouting and fermentation… we give them a print out of a “doshically appropriate” diet

Pittas need to drop the wine, the hot sauce, the chocolate and the coffee

Vatas need to cut out chips, salads and coffee

Kaphas need to get over their comfort foods

This is helpful, but not as helpful as it could be

And it’s definitely not capturing the essence of Ayurveda

Ayurveda teaches practitioners to prioritize the most helpful remedies and to uproot problems at their source

If a whole family needs to up their gut bacteria– and they have different constitutions, focusing on constitutions is going to make the mother who is trying to feed her family neurotic… without touching the root of the problem

If we’re going to help our clients where they need it most, we need to really get that Agni is king… and that agni is fed by small batch biodiverse fermented foods

Most people get off track when they are prescribed an “Ayurvedic Diet” without the larger context of understanding that nourishes their agni

This may be because most Ayurvedic practitioners don’t make their own locally grown fermented foods

Bringing Fermented Foods into Practical Modern Ayurveda

Make some sauerkraut to boost your agni and aid elimination

As Ayurveda merges with the western world – we need to be aware that most westerners have a lack of diversity in the microbiome

Many of my students before working with me were taking probiotic supplements and enzymes to deal with their poor digestion

While a doshically-appropriate diet will help, my sense is that a local and seasonal diet with homemade fermented foods will help a lot more

We need to teach our clients and students to make their very own fermented foods… just like we teach them to rub oil on their very own bodies

Yes, it takes time… as good things with multiple side-benefits often do

Dr Claudia – do you think squeezing cabbage increases serotonin or oxytocin like petting a cat or kneading bread? It just might…

If you’re psyched to become a fermentation revivalist or simply make some sauerkraut – start today

It’s a ridiculously simple and inexpensive hands-on kitchen skill to up your immune function, your digestion and your thrive

And check out my interview with Fermentation Revivalist Sandor Katz

He’ll get you massaging your cabbage in no time