
Basil's warm and spicy aroma adds a passionate flare to any dish, bringing the heat of the Mediterranean sun to your table. Its bright green color and vigorous flavor is unmistakable in pesto. It adds verve to a home-made tomato sauce, and is a perky...
"A tale that begins with a beet will end with the devil", wrote Tom Robbins in Jitterbug Perfume. For good reason too - cooking with red beets leaves the hands looking blood-stained. A chef who slaughters beets cannot hide - only run from the scene of...
Chamomile infuses your tea with a delicious floral aroma that is warm, light & airy. Its smell is reminiscent of apples, first noted by the Greeks, who named it 'ground-apple' (kamai=ground & melon=apple). Improve Sluggish...
Romance may be sealed with a box of chocolates, but passion for chocolate is as eternal as true love. Long before John Cadbury invented the chocolate bar, native meso-american peoples brewed chocolate with medicinal herbs. Chocolate has been used as...
Cloves are native to India and Indonesia. They are the aromatic dried flower bud of a tree in the same family as Eucalyptus and Guava (Myrtaceae family). Cloves resemble a nail in shape. The English name 'clove' derives from the latin 'clavus'...
Stay GroundedMushrooms have an earthy taste like the dark, rich loamy soil itself. This earthiness is a sign of mushrooms' ability to keep you grounded and calm your nervous system. They are considered tamasic in Ayurveda meaning...
Regarded as both a force for good and evil, folklore and superstition abound when it comes to this little but poignant member of the onion family. A garland of garlic kept evil spirits and vampires away in the west. In an eastern Islamic myth, garlic...
Introduction Heavy, oily and slightly sweet, hemp seeds are a hearty addition to your winter diet. These dense seeds nourish and build tissue, leaving you feeling strong, stable and sustained, even during the harshest months of...
The name lavender comes from the latin root lavare meaning 'to wash.' Lavender flowers yield abundant nectar for beekeepers. Pumas respond to lavender the way cats respond to catnip.
From tingly shampoos to teas and flowerbeds, mint is an inspiring, popular worldwide herb whose medicinal qualities are also extensive. Varieties of mint grow in nearly every country and climate. In Central and South America mint is called hierbabuena,...
Nutmeg is aromatic, astringent, and a sedative. It's aromatic quality makes it ideal for improving digestion, while astringent quality helps bind the stool. Nutmeg is thus the preferred spice for cold type diarrhea. Nutmeg cuts through fat of milk...
The expression "Feeling your oats" testifies to the use of oats as a tonic for increased vigor. Oats calms the nervous system by nourishing and strengthening. It is useful for insomnia and anxiety. Oats have a slimy quality (they are demulcent)...
From the poppy family, contains slight traces of narcotics that, like nutmeg, help induce sleep.
Mushrooms are considered to be tamasic and a bit dark in Ayurveda. They are earthy and soulful. Chinese medicine uses many mushrooms as immune tonics. Many western herbalists entertain the notion that mushrooms come from an alien planet. While this...
Saffron's use is ancient. Saffron-based pigments have been found in 50,000 year-old paintings in northwest Iran. It conjures romance, royalty, and delicacy wherever it appears. Alexander the Great bathed in saffron to cure battle wounds. Cultivated...
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Founder of Joyful Belly Ayurveda, John Immel, answers the question ‘What is Ayurveda?’