
Acai means fruit that cries. Acai is a sweet & juicy fruit with a satisfying purple pulp. It provides rich nutrition, high antioxidant value, and fiber.
Adzuki beans are known to have originated in China where they are used extensively in traditional medicine. They are a staple in the macrobiotic diet and very popular in Japan, second only to the soybean in terms of consumption and popularity.
Aloe includes more than 250 species of flowering succulents and is native to Africa, Madagascar and Jordan. It is closely related to cactus, yucca and onion. For thousands of years and across many cultures, aloe has been used to heal a variety of...
Amaranth represented up to 80% of the caloric intake of the Aztecs before the Spanish conquest. Amaranth tastes somewhat like corn, but is somewhat less sweet. Others have described the taste as nutty, like bacon or wood, or slightly bitter. It is...
Frank Cook and I happened to visit our friend Aaron Wilson during apricot season in Jerome, Arizona. The Turks have a saying, 'the only thing better than this is an apricot from Damascus.' We should rewrite that phrase to include wild apricots from...
Artichokes are a traditional liver remedy. As a member of the thistle family, they are
Asparagus has a delicate flavor and texture making it an ideal vegetable for gourmet cuisine!
The avocado fruit grows on trees, but does not ripen until after it has been picked. It has a pear shape, and a rough, dark green to black skin with tiny bumps, which earned it the name "alligator pear". Unlike other fruits, avocado isn't sweet at all,...
Replenish Electrolytes and RehydrateYou have spent a long hot afternoon tending your garden or chasing the kids and you're feeling parched. But sometimes, no matter how much water you drink, your body still feels thirsty. Simple...
Rice builds ojas. Ojas is said to have the smell of burnt rice. Of rices, Basmati is the most sattvic and aromatic. Rice is nourishing and easy to digest giving more 'bang for the buck'. Rice offers more calories with less effort from digestive...
Black beans are a rich source of vegetable protein, easing any meat cravings for those seeking satiation. The shiny obsidian quality of the beans are a beautiful addition to any meal, providing an earthy depth and dark contrast. Black beans appear...
Popular in southern soul food. Apparently, eating black eyed peas on New Years Day brings prosperity.
Pop a few blueberries in your mouth and you'll notice reduced agitation, a relaxing sensation in the eyes, and cool feeling in your skin. These visceral signs are your personal cue indicating blueberries' beneficial effect on your liver, and their...
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.
Brown rice syrup is a sweetener derived fby cooking rice with enzymes (usually cultured from dried barley sprouts). It is only twenty percent as sweet as regular sugar.
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.
Love for cardamom resonates through history - for instance, ancient Egyptians chewed cardamom to whiten their teeth and sweeten their breath. Cardamom helps take the edge off of caffeine in the famous drink Turkish coffee. Cardamom is a member of the...
Berries arrive just in time for late spring, early summer. Berries are lymphatic movers that complete the spring process of cleansing your liver. They are also liver tonics to protect your liver during summer. Berries are rich in anti-oxidants that...
The dark meat of chicken is oily and has a rich fat content, making it a grounding, nourishing meat for Vata and Pitta. Chicken is an excellent choice to balance conditions of dryness and debility by giving the body strong protein with a heavy dose...
The short answer is yes, chickpeas are good for you. Here are some of the ways: The fiber in chickpeas is nearly 75% insoluble and remains undigested as it reaches the colon. This significantly bulks up stools for a satisfying morning...
Cilantro is the leaf of the coriander seed. Both the leaves and the seeds have citrus overtones. Cilantro, as a cooling herb, pairs well with hot spicy dishes.
Fronds of a coconut palm sway in a tropical breeze,...
Replenish ElectrolytesAt any corner market in sweltering India, Thailand or Bali, you can drink fresh coconut water out of the nut with a straw, and dig out the sweet meat with a spoon. Coconut water quenches even the strongest...
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.
Oft considered a vegetable, these elongated cylindrical delicacies are actually a fruit. They join watermelon and honey dew as succulent members of the summer friendly melon family. Originally from the Indian subcontinent, cucumbers are now grown...
Date sugar is a complex cabrohydrate that takes longer to digest, thus releasing it's energy more slowly over time into the body.
Egg whites are pure protein - ojas. Without the cholesterol egg whites are better than yolks for Kapha. The gel like nature of egg white may be whipped to trap air bubbles as in a meringue. These air bubbles act as a leavening agent in many batters...
Cool and soothing, verdant and fragrant, fennel is a member of the carrot family that includes other popular spices such as cumin, coriander, dill and celery. Fennel is used as a flavoring in some natural toothpastes and mouth fresheners.
Figs are a heavenly and blessed fruit. Buddha achieved enlightenment under the bodhi tree, a large and old sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa). In Genesis, Adam and Eve hid their nakedness with fig leaves. The prophet Muhammad exclaimed, "If I had to...
Fish is lighter than poultry or meat. Although all meat is considered heavy and tamasic, we are labeling fish as sattvic relative to poultry and red meat.
Goji berry is called wolfberry in Chinese medicine because it is a member of the nightshade family.
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Founder of Joyful Belly Ayurveda, John Immel, answers the question ‘What is Ayurveda?’