Global Nutritionist
Cheryl Sindell
To design your diet & lifestyle plan... blend together what you know about yourself with Ayurveda & western nutrition
The question I’m most frequently asked is:
Is it better to eat raw or cooked, vegan or vegetarian, fish or chicken, meat or vegetables?
The answer depends upon the individual — his or her unique constitution, taste buds, beliefs and lifestyle. Western nutrition provides no information about how to individuate a person’s diet. That’s why scholars refer to Ayurveda as: "The Mother of All Healing". Ayurveda clearly shows that the path to creating your healthy weight is a deeper understanding of how nature functions to set up the body to heal itself. However, because Ayurveda has been around for over 5,000 years, this ancient wisdom doesn’t address the condition of the soil, or so-called technological advances such as processed foods, GMO, preservatives, or additives. Optimal health, ideal weight, and that luminous glow are the result of integrating all you know about yourself with both Ayurveda and Western nutrition. Fortunately, the same foods and beverages that balance your body will also feed your soul.
"If diet is wrong, medicine is of no use; if diet is correct, medicine is of no need!" ~ Ayurvedic saying
Ayurveda
According to Ayurveda, the universe is the interplay of: ether, air, fire, water and earth. Ayurveda groups these five elements into three basic types of energy: vata, pitta and kapha (VPK), that are present in everybody and everything.
Since every person’s constitution consists of variable amounts of vata, pitta and kapha, no two people are the same. Knowing and understanding your specific combination is like shining a light of awareness on your personality, dominant sense, physical and emotional challenges. To discover more, take this short quiz: What's Your Constitution.
air & space
VATA
fire & water
PITTA
earth & water
KAPHA
Vata regulates bodily motion: awakening, breathing, chewing, swallowing, thinking, nerve impulses, muscle movements, peristalsis, bowel movements, urination and menstruation.
Pitta regulates digestion. Think of pitta as “fire”—heating, cooking, burning or transforming. The energy of pitta is: metabolism, digestion, and the regulation of temperature, sensory perception and comprehension.
Kapha governs lubrication, stability and structure. Kapha energy is grounding. Yet an excess of kapha leads to excess weight. To release excess weight, pacify kapha first. And, according to Ayurveda, the way to keep the weight you lose off is to eat seasonally.
To come into balance vatas need rest, pittas may need to tame their fiery tempers, and kaphas need to become more physically active.
To discover more, take this short quiz: What's Your Constitution.
Fortunately, Ayurveda offers optimal food and lifestyle guidelines—based on each constitution and the season of the year—from which you can handpick the diet that’s “right” for you.
"Proper food is proper medicine..."
~ Dr. Vasant Lad
Dr. Vasant Lad is an author, Ayurvedic physician, professor and director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Because of Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. Robert Svoboda, Dr. Claudia Welch, Dr. David Frawley, and many other educators, Ayurveda has now reached a critical mass of awareness in the United States, Germany, England. What’s more, there is a revival of Ayurveda in India, where it originated.
Global Nutrition
During every season of the year, supermarkets today import fruits and veggies from all over the world. It's difficult to know what’s in season. We could see the same fruits and vegetables all year long. In addition, grocery store shelves are lined with an overabundance of processed products often labeled with misleading jargon. With irrelevant and misinformation added to the label, it’s impossible to know what’s healthy, and what’s not; unless of course, we’ve done our homework. Fortunately, those of us who are the boss of our weight loss are questioning whether an item is local, seasonal, organic, and delicious. Don’t settle for anything less than the best.
As conscious consumers we want to know if the produce is local, and if the fish was caught wild? Are the eggs pasture raised and cage-free? Are there hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, preservatives, harmful chemicals, or sugars added to the items we’re considering? We want to know what nutritional terms really mean, and whether labeling is authentic and exact, or misleading and false.
Taking the quiz: What's Your Constitution, is an important first step to understanding your constitution and authoring the diet you’ll want to stay on. Check it out.
Fortunately, no matter what’s approved by the food and drug administration—ultimately, we get to decide what to put into our own shopping cart and body!
