Click one of the buttons above, or cut and paste the following link to share this page with your network.
This link will automatically track your referrals to Joyful Belly:
Ripe peaches herald the arrival of summer's joys : picnics at the beach, playing in the sun, and endless summer days. A juicy peach can bring a smile to every child. They are ideal for your summer diet.
Hydrating & Energizing
Natural water content and the sour taste makes peaches juicy. The sweetness and juiciness of peaches rehydrates and energizes after summer heat dehydrates.
Supports Healthy Digestion & Elimination
Peaches belong to the class of subsour fruits. Their sourness improves digestion while gently cleansing the liver. Peaches are so easy to digest they are often given pureed to babies. As the sourness in a peach makes the mouth juicy, it also makes the digestive tract juicy, encouraging smoother, softer stools and easy elimination. Peaches reduce coating on the tongue. Peaches are also high in fiber.
Enjoy peaches in late July & early August when late summer dries out the body, leading to insomnia and harder bowel movements.
Effect on Doshas
In general fruits are sugary and may provoke Kapha dosha - but the warm temperatures of summer keeps blood moving, offsetting any Kapha aggravation. Peaches are also slightly heating, increasing Pitta. That sticky, sweaty feeling after eating too many peaches is your cue that too many peaches under a hot sun may overstimulate your metabolism on a hot day.
Peach kernels are a common ingredient used in traditional Chinese medicine to dispel blood stasis, counter inflammation and reduce allergies. Like many orange colored foods, peaches are high in vitamin A and good for the eyes.
About Peaches
Originating from South Asia and China, today's peaches tempt weary travellers on summer highways in the South. The sight of a rough, hand-written "Peaches" sign along a hot, dusty roadside is enough to induce salivation for the soft, juicy sweet taste of summer.
Peaches seem to strike a perfect blend between sweetness and juiciness. They are luscious to look at, touch, and taste. The phrase peachy keen is a playful way to say, "Everything's perfect, just right, like a peach."
"Peaches were known as 'Persian apples' to the ancient Romans. To the ancient Chinese, peach was slang for a young bride." A pretty girl has been called 'a peach' since the Civil War, from a peaches and cream complexion'.
Buying & Preparation
Peach season lasts from May into August depending upon location. Look for perfection when choosing a ripe peach. Overripe peaches may be too soft, delicate and easily bruised. Underripe peaches are very hard and crunchy. Due to their high perish-ability, peaches are best stored at 0C (32F) and high-humidity.
Yellow-fleshed peaches are more acidic & tangy than white fleshed varieties, which are often sweeter. Peaches are further categorized into clingstones and freestones, depending on whether the flesh sticks to the seed or not. Peaches are closely related to prunes, almonds, apples and cherries. Peaches and necatrines come from the same species, but nectarines have a smooth instead of a fuzzy surface. Peaches melt quickly when cooked. Lemon juice and sugar helps bring out the flavor of a fruit.
Cooking Peaches
The sweet flavor of the peach is incredibly versatile and used in a variety of desserts from peach cobbler to a garnish for vanilla ice-cream. Whether in peach sorbet or smoothie it's hard to imagine a meal that can't be improved with peaches. They are a favorite in marmalades, chutneys and salsa. Although they store well canned or frozen, their velvety texture is best experienced canned. They can be baked, pureed, or sliced into a salad.
Learn about the health benefits of peaches for FREE
You'll receive free access to our entire website including
healthy recipes,
nutritional diet plans,
medicinal uses of ingredients,
& ayurvedic health tips.
Sign in once and you can use our website indefinitely..
Find out by taking this free, easy quiz.
You'll learn your body type, and whether 'Peaches' is a good fit.
Complete the basic quiz in 1 minute, or go deeper with additional quizzes
at your own leisure to learn more about your body.
AYURVEDA'S GUIDE TO VITALITY & WHOLESOME NOURISHMENT
Your Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body and your specific imbalances.
With an Ayurvedic diet you feel joy and satisfaction because what you are eating truly nourishes and balances you.
Disease results from diets and lifestyles that are incompatible with your nature.
By eating a personalized diet matched to your body, you experience optimal health.
See How it Works.
Ayurveda assesses metabolic imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics
(gunas).
Aggravating them weakens your body and causes imbalance.
By knowing which biocharacteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct metabolic imbalances before you get sick.
Every biocharacteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold).
You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite biocharacteristic.
Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food.
Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body.
Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food.
Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods.
Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion.
Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste.
One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes.
The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below?
Ayurveda is a metabolic theory of medicine that explains individual health, tendencies, and disease patterns through the concept of doshas, which can be understood as your metabolic patterns and tendencies.
Each dosha reflects a distinct metabolic nature and describes strengths & weaknesses in bodily function, and how these affect energy levels, digestion, susceptibility to disease, and many other tendencies.
Your metabolic nature not only affects your physical characteristics, but also influences your mental thought patterns, confidence, and enthusiasm.
Ayurveda balances these metabolic strengths & weaknesses to support your body's vitality and prevent recurrent disease cycles. This support is a critical aid, especially in chronic or incurable disease conditions.
The 3 metabolic body types
(doshas),
are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha).
Through dosha, Ayurveda empowers people to identify metabolic imbalances early, break repetitive patterns of disease, and cultivate habits that support long-term vitality and well-being.
Ultimately, these metabolic patterns also provide a framework for understanding yourself, including body, mind, and spiritual tendencies.
Ayurveda & Greek Medicine were the dominant form of medicine along the Silk Road from England to China and South Asia.
They work by assessing your metabolic type, patterns, and nature.
Greek medicine recognizes 4 metabolic temperaments, Melancholic, Choleric, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic.
Cold and dry with a slow, variable or erratic metabolism. Colicky, tense. Withdrawn, pensive, anxious, and hesitant. Analytical, intelligent, detail oriented and creative. Prone to ojas depletion, dehydration, an overactive nervous system, and depression.
Has a hot and dry metabolic nature. Enthusiastic, vibrant and bright. In excess burns up fluids and ojas, irritable. Corresponds to high bilirubin in the blood that irritates and heats up the body and liver.
A Phlegmatic has a cold and wet metabolic nature. The coldness implies a slow metabolism, the moisture that you are well-nourished. Phlegmatics tend towards sluggishness and thickened fluids, including mucus.
A hot and oily nature with a moderate metabolism and a well nourished body makes Sanguine individuals vigorous, vivacious, outgoing and generous, and prone to impulsivity and self indulgence. Bullish and intense when out of balance.
Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Peaches
Experiences are Personal
Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary.
The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.
A sialogogue increases saliva. Sour foods are often great sialogogues, and increase output of all exocrine glands. Salty taste is very moistening as well. Bitter, pungent and sweettastes also increase salivary output but to a
lesser degree. Astringents.
An herb that strengthens spleen function by improving strength of the blood. Spleen tonics Builds agni, brighten the person's appearances & firms up tissues.
STRONG STOOL-SOFTENER
Softens hard and difficult to eliminate stool. Stool softeners are the safest and most gentle type of laxative. Examples include warm milk with ghee.
A class of laxative that adds bulk and water to stools. The large size of the stool stimulates peristalsis so the stool can pass more easily through the colon. It is important to drink plenty of water when using high fiber laxatives, as they can be dehydr
Inositol is an alcohol sugar made naturally in the human body from glucose. It is lipotropic (aiding fat metabilism in the liver). It affects a variety of hormones, neurotransmitters, steroid, growth factors and water.
The reports shared below are part of an educational assignment completed by students at
the Joyful Belly College of Ayurveda.
These represent subjective experiences intended to help students explore principles of Ayurveda through personal observation.
In each report below, students ate the selected food for 3 days and self-reported these effects.
See other food & herb reports at Joyful Belly.
TEMPERATURE/CIRCULATION
How did Peaches affect your temperature?
20
16
12
8
4
0
0
11
13
14
0
Much colder
Slightly colder
Same
Slightly warmer
Much warmer
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your sweat quantity?
40
32
24
16
8
0
0
0
34
4
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your appetite/hunger?
20
16
12
8
4
0
4
9
9
15
1
Much less hungry
Slightly less hungry
Same
Slightly hungrier
Much hungrier
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your digestion speed?
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
19
16
2
1
Much faster
Slightly faster
Same
Slightly slower
Much slower
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
TOXINS
How did Peaches affect the amount of gas & bloating?
25
20
15
10
5
0
3
6
21
8
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your stool smell?
30
24
18
12
6
0
1
9
23
5
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
Tongue: How did Peaches affect the thickness & size of your tongue coating?
20
16
12
8
4
0
2
15
17
4
0
Much smaller
Slightly less
Same
Slightly larger coating
Much larger
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect the color of your tongue coating?
30
24
18
12
6
0
5
3
0
5
25
Yellower
Browner
Grayer
Whiter
No Change
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your urine smell?
40
32
24
16
8
0
2
3
33
0
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect the amount of bubbles in your urine?
40
32
24
16
8
0
1
1
33
2
1
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Many more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your sweat smell?
40
32
24
16
8
0
0
3
33
2
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
HYDRATION
How did Peaches affect your urine frequency/quantity?
30
24
18
12
6
0
0
2
27
9
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
NERVOUS-SYSTEM
How did Peaches affect your energy levels?
25
20
15
10
5
0
1
1
13
22
1
Much less energy
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more energy
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your muscle tension?
25
20
15
10
5
0
1
9
20
8
0
Much less tension
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more tension
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your anxiety?
25
20
15
10
5
0
2
9
20
6
1
Much less anxiety
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more anxiety
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
DIGESTION
How did Peaches affect your digestion speed?
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
19
16
2
1
Much faster
Slightly faster
Same
Slightly slower
Much slower
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect the amount of gas & bloating?
25
20
15
10
5
0
3
6
21
8
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your appetite/hunger?
20
16
12
8
4
0
4
9
9
15
1
Much less hungry
Slightly less hungry
Same
Slightly hungrier
Much hungrier
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
TONGUE
How did Peaches affect the color of your tongue coating?
30
24
18
12
6
0
5
3
0
5
25
Yellower
Browner
Grayer
Whiter
No Change
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
Tongue: How did Peaches affect the thickness & size of your tongue coating?
20
16
12
8
4
0
2
15
17
4
0
Much smaller
Slightly less
Same
Slightly larger coating
Much larger
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
STOOL
How did Peaches affect your stool lightness?
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
13
21
4
0
Much lighter
Slightly lighter
Same
Slightly darker
Much darker
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your stool smell?
30
24
18
12
6
0
1
9
23
5
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your stool consistency?
20
16
12
8
4
0
1
18
14
2
3
Much softer
Slightly softer
Same
Slightly harder
Much harder
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your stool frequency/quantity?
20
16
12
8
4
0
3
3
17
15
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your stool color?
35
28
21
14
7
0
5
1
1
2
29
More yellow
More gray
More green
More orange
Same
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
URINE
How did Peaches affect your urine frequency/quantity?
30
24
18
12
6
0
0
2
27
9
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect the amount of bubbles in your urine?
40
32
24
16
8
0
1
1
33
2
1
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Many more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your urine clarity?
28
23
18
13
8
3
4
21
13
More cloudy
Same
More clear
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your urine smell?
40
32
24
16
8
0
2
3
33
0
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your urine lightness?
25
20
15
10
5
0
2
8
20
7
1
Much lighter
Slightly lighter
Same
Slightly Darker
Much Darker
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
SWEAT
How did Peaches affect your sweat quantity?
40
32
24
16
8
0
0
0
34
4
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your sweat smell?
40
32
24
16
8
0
0
3
33
2
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
SYSTEMIC
How did Peaches affect your energy levels?
25
20
15
10
5
0
1
1
13
22
1
Much less energy
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more energy
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your muscle tension?
25
20
15
10
5
0
1
9
20
8
0
Much less tension
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more tension
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your anxiety?
25
20
15
10
5
0
2
9
20
6
1
Much less anxiety
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more anxiety
Much more
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
How did Peaches affect your temperature?
20
16
12
8
4
0
0
11
13
14
0
Much colder
Slightly colder
Same
Slightly warmer
Much warmer
Total Responses: 38 REPORT ID:33 (2020-10-08 - 2020-10-22)
Note: These exercises are not part of an FDA-regulated study,
and were not designed or conducted under a clinical research protocol.
They are neither investigational in nature nor scientific findings.
They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
They are experiential assignments rooted in traditional Ayurvedic education, intended solely for instructional use.
No conclusions should be drawn regarding the therapeutic effects of any food, herb, or dietary substance based on these student reflections.
Peaches may be beneficial for these symptoms.
The suitability of any food for a condition is highly dependent on the individual.
Please see your doctor before using this food to treat a medical condition.
Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. Food digests with ease when
right for your body type (dosha). Healthy digestion is seen as the cornerstone of well-being in
Ayurveda. Healthy digestion generally prevents illness. If you do get sick, a strong digestive fire
reduces the severity of illness and increases your resilience. It also improves your mood. Once
you begin eating Ayurvedically, you will feel refreshed, vital and strong.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda.
His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs the Joyful Belly College of Ayurveda,
offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.
John's hobbies & specialties include advanced digestive disorders, medieval Catholic philosophy,
& botany. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John, his wife Natalie and their 7 kids live in Asheville, NC
“From my experience, peaches are better digested when cooked. I think this may be because I have a slight allergy to either the Rosacase family or latex, which has been linked to peaches, bananas, avocados, etc. "
Want our top Ayurvedic recipes and health tips? Subscribe to our free newsletter!
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.