Highly aromatic & spicy, Allspice is an ideal appetizer that refreshes the mouth. It is a delicious addition to meats and desserts, where it doubles as a digestive aid. It's taste and astringency closely resembles cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and it...
In Norse mythology, apples are said to provide eternal youthfulness. Apples appear in many religious traditions, including the bible, often as a forbidden fruit. Apples originated in Western Asia, where its wild ancestor still grows today. There are...
Apples are crunchy and leave a rough feeling on the roof of the mouth, both signs of astringency. Astringency is drying. Thus raw apples provoke Vata and constipation. Cooked apples and apple sauce are more Vata friendly. They are not astringent....
The word 'pepper' is dervied from the South Asian word 'pippali'. Pippali (long pepper) is a famous herb in Ayurveda for lung and heart conditions, and is a close relative of black pepper. The word pepper gradually came to include the unrelated New...
Brown rice has a superior nutritional profile than white rice but it more difficult to digest. Brown rice is made by removing the husk from harvested rice grain but the bran layer and the germ are kept intact. In white rice, the bran and germ are...
Buckwheat's hearty warmth hits the spot on any damp cloudy day in November. Enjoy as you snuggle up with your loved ones, or while listening to crackling logs in a wood burning stove. Smoky, nutty and earthy, buckwheat is slightly demulcent like...
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...
Cinnamon is a small evergreen tree in the Lauraceae family native to Sri Lanka. Other members of this family include sassafras, avocado, camphor, and spicebush. Trees of the laurel family, including cinnamon, predominate in the world's laurel forests....
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'...
Coffee as a SacramentWhat are your rituals around coffee? Coffee has become a sacrament in our culture. A client reports, "The only time my husband and I relax together is over coffee." My response, "If your marriage is dependent...
Cranberries grow in acidic bogs. Early settlers in North American thought cranberry flowers looked like a crane, and named them 'craneberry'. They are a major commercial crop in North America.
Hot, pungent, antiemetic, appetizer, digestive, spleen tonic; stimulates saliva.
Eggplant has inspired colorful sayings and stories wherever it spread from its origins in South Asia. In India, where it was domesticated, it is sometimes called the "king of vegetables" (baingan ka raja) because of its ability to absorb spices...
Hot and stimulating, dried ginger kindles the digestive fire, supports healthy circulation, and melts away sluggishness.
Goji berry is called wolfberry in Chinese medicine because it is a member of the nightshade family.
Also known as devil's dung, stinking gum, food of the gods, and giant fennel, hing has a varied and suprising diversity of uses. Along the Tex-Mex border hing was used for wolf bait. The odor attracts wolves. In Jamaica, hing is used to protect the...
The origin of lemons are a mystery. Do they come from southern india? burma? or china? Speculation abounds. Genetic study reveals lemons are a hybrid of a sour orange and a citron.
Small but potent, mustard seed's penetrating warmth enlivens agni, supports circulation, and clears heaviness from the system. Its hot, sharp, aromatic qualities dispel stagnation and are Ideal for cold, damp, or congested states.
Found in Tutankhamun's tomb, black cumin is a famous as an Old World spice and medicine. The 'Tibb-e-Nabavi" or "Medicine of the Prophet (Muhammed)", reports the only disease it cannot cure is death. It's many uses have earned it the nickname "seed of...
The zest is the orange skin of the orange. The rind is the white part of the orange beneath.
Parsnip is native to the Mediterranean, where it is cultivated like carrots.
Pecan is from the Algonquin word meaning 'a nut needing a stone to crack.' Pecan is a species of hickory native to south central north america.
High fiber (pectin) and phenolic compounds have made prunes famous as laxative. While prunes are a great choice of laxative for Kapha's with lazy colon constipation, Vata should take caution due to the diuretic nature of prunes. High potassium makes...
Rosmarinus, is from the latin "dew" (ros) and "sea" (marinus), and means "dew of the sea". Rosemary grows in arid Mediterranean conditions and, as its name implies, can survive on the humidity carried by the sea breeze.
Sesame oil is derived from nutty sweet sesame seeds. As the seed matures, it bursts out of its pod. Think back to the children's story about "open sesame," a secret password in the medieval Arabic adventure tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. As the...
"Open sesame" was the secret password in the medieval Arabic adventure tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. These magic words revealed a cave rich with treasures secreted by thieves. Sesame seeds and oil are a food treasure rich with myriad health...
Beans are the 'musical fruit' because they contain saponins to protect themselves against insects. Saponins form the sudsy foam on the surface of a cooking pot of beans. They prevent protein digestion resulting in stagnation and gas of the bowels.
Star anise is a small evergreen tree native to China that closely resembles anise in flavor. Its licorice-flavored start shaped fruit is also grown in Japan and Vietnam. It has a dark brown color and contains six to eight seeded petal-like segments. ...
Sprinkle dried nettles into any soup or stir-fry, and they will impart a rustic, hearty earthiness. This is a rough, tough plant that brings its strength and stamina as a gift for your body. It's deep green color is a sign of its stellar nutritional...
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Founder of Joyful Belly Ayurveda, John Immel, answers the question ‘What is Ayurveda?’
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