Curious About The Gut-Healing Powers Of Ayurveda? This One-Day Cleanse Is The Place To Start

Ayurveda is an ancient Indian medicine and lifestyle system that can enrich your life in unbelievable ways. Partaking in an Ayurvedic-type cleanse can not only help rest and heal your gut but also achieve the best results possible for your tummy, brain, and soul.

In Ayurveda, each person has specific energies that circulate around their body and govern both their physiological activity and appearance, called doshas. There are three main doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha.

Vatas are creative and contagiously energetic. The elements associated with vata are air and ether, meaning just like wind, you can quickly get off balance.

To balance a vata, I recommend the following:

Start your day with slow breathing exercises to bring awareness into your body. Not only is this a calming way to begin a morning, it also prepares you for the day ahead. Gentle yoga is an amazing tool for a vata and should be undertaken regularly. Calming walks through nature can help bring you back into balance. Try to slow down and focus on breath rather than movement.

Your diet staples should consist of warm and cooked foods. Start the day with a nourishing breakfast bowl such as my Fig and Cardamom Breakfast Bowl, which you can make by blending together a cup of almond milk, four figs, one banana, and a tablespoon of almond butter until smooth and creamy. There's nothing more comforting for vatas than the fragrant sweetness of figs and the creaminess of almond butter. Figs are cooling and soothing for the delicate tissues of the digestive system.

This can be accompanied by warm water or a mug of herbal tea, which should be continuously sipped on throughout the day. A lovely tea for vatas is my turmeric, cardamom, and cumin tea. Simply combine 1⁄4 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom or the seeds from 2 pods, ground, and 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cumin in a mug. Pour over boiling water and let steep for at least one minute before drinking.

Method

Combine all the ingredients except the peas in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. Add the peas 10 minutes before serving. If you don't have a slow cooker, bake this in an ovenproof dish in a 140°C (275°F) oven for 2 to 3 hours.

Pittas have a sharp mind and are very good problem solvers but tend to be controlling. The elements associated with pitta are fire, meaning they can be warm, oily, and intense. When a pitta is out of balance, they often feel anger and jealousy. To cool down a fiery pitta, cooling foods are your go-to. To balance a pitta, I recommend the following:

Start the day with cooling breathing exercises, focusing on keeping a relaxed and extended exhalation. These breathing exercises have a cooling quality to bring about feelings of compassion and kindness, which are a beautiful way to bring in the new day.

Serves 1

Method

Combine the mushrooms, zucchini and spices with a few drops of filtered water in a frying pan over medium heat and cook for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and add the egg whites. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until the egg is cooked.

During your cleanse, I recommend steering clear of excess salt, hot spices, sour fruits, and alcohol and instead, focus on cooling foods to keep you in balance. As a pitta, it's important to not miss meals as it can avoid and aggravate your system and mind.

To achieve balance, pittas should exercise regularly during the cooler part of the day. Engage in water activities like swimming, or if that's not your thing, immersing in nature walks is great too. Some fabulous yoga poses for pittas include standing forward bends and additionally, focusing on that abdominal area with yoga twists!

Kaphas are the most grounded of the doshas and are very nurturing but tend to fear change. The element associated with kapha is earth, linked to damp and slowness, so it can be a slow process to bring a kapha back into balance. To balance a kapha, I recommend the following:

Dairy tends to aggravate a kapha and cause mucus accumulation, so you will need to reduce your intake. Focus on airy and dry foods, like veggies, fruits, salads, legumes, and spicy foods. I recommend scrambled eggs spiked with turmeric and cumin, or, if you're up for it, you could go for a fast until dinnertime. Start the day with my Cup of Life Morning Broth. Go as long as you can just sipping the broth; however, if you feel tired or faint, break the fast with some kitchari (recipe below).

Makes ½ cup

Pungent spices like cayenne pepper, mustard seeds, and ginger should be used frequently and are your best friend. Ginger is a great spice that can stimulate digestion, so it's the perfect beverage to be enjoyed after a meal.

Using just a few of these beautiful Ayurvedic tools can seriously improve your overall well-being. If you want to keep the cleanse going longer, just repeat these recipes for several days, or get even more options in my cookbook.

Note: Pittas should omit the salt or use minimal and only use basmati rice; kaphas should halve the quantity of the ghee.

Serves 4