AYURVEDIC PERSPECTIVE ON GRAINS
Grains are seeds from the grass or buckwheat family. Grains are sweet and heavy, but are generally less oily than nuts & seeds. Autumn and winter are the best time of year for grain consumption. Since most grains are gooey, they should be minimized during Spring, the "gooey" time of year.
The amount of grains you consume depends on what your body! The most simple and clear way to regulate your dose of grains is by checking the thickness of your mucus in the sinuses. If your mucus is thin you may actually need more grains to sweeten your blood. If your mucus is profuse or thick, that is a sign to back off of heavy, gooey foods and grains like wheat.
In general, grains have a high energy density, and aggravate heavy, gooey, sticky, oily, and thick conditions in your body, such as mucus mentioned above, or weight gain. Other symptoms you have too much gooeyness in your blood for grain consumption include a oily skin, acne, and oily hair.
Not all grains are gooey and heavy. If you have the conditions above, favor light grains instead. There is a range of qualities in grains though from heavy to light, or cooling to warming. Here's a list of grains to start from. Click on one of the grains below to learn ore about it.
See the complete list of grains on Joyfulbelly.
When you purchase and prepare grains, remember that whole grains have more fiber and are slower to digest, which will sustain your energy levels longer and won't cause a crash. It takes more energy to break down the hull, bran and germ of the grain, which gives your digestion a good workout and keeps you feeling satisfied longer. If your digestion is weak and you need more nourishing properties, white basmati rice is a great choice.
Soaking your Grains
Soaking grains in advance remove the phytic acid. Phytic acid is a chemical that resides in the hull of the grain and protects it from insects and weather. It's the reason that rice remains edible for so long after picking. But you don't want to eat it! Phytic acid is such a good defense system, that it can't be broken down by digestive juices in your stomach. It inhibits your ability to absorb the proteins of the grains. Soaking them and tossing out the water removes the phytic acid, enabling you to benefit as much as possible from hearty, nourishing, whole grains.
Light, gluten free grains like quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, corn should be soaked for thirty minutes before cooking if desired. Heavy grains like barley, wheat, rice, Farro- a delicious Italian strain of wheat, kamut-strain of wheat, & rye can be soaked for two hours prior to consumption.
Dinner Idea
Japanese Soba Noodles are made with buckwheat, one of the lighter, gluten free grains. Most of us love pasta, or any kind of noodle. When made with refined flour, or even whole wheat, they can be very heavy to digest. Soba Noodles satisfy the part of us that loves pasta. You can make them into a clear broth soup with miso, various mushrooms and sprouts. Or substitute this noodle in classic pasta dishes like Pasta Puttanesca, Pasta Primavera or good old Spaghetti.
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