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Peel, core and chop a raw apple. Peel the skin from the fresh ginger by scraping it with a knife. Select a banana that is ripe but not too soft. Under ripe bananas are too grainy for smoothies. Add with juice of lime and remaining ingredients and 1c water into a blender and puree. You may also substitute 1/4 tsp ground ginger for 1/2 inch fresh ginger root.
All freshly blended raw drinks are best consumed immediately. They lose a great deal of their antioxidant power after about 30 minutes. Fruits in general should be eaten on an empty stomach and at least a half hour before a snack or meal.
How Does This Ayurvedic Recipe Improve Wellness?
CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW
Summer Circulation
Dramatic changes in circulation by late spring help your body adapt to the brutal summer sun. A red, flushed face on a hot mid-summer afternoon reveals how your body keeps cool - by circulating more blood close to your skin. More blood in your skin means you radiate more heat away and encourage evaporation of sweat.
Heat also increases your heart rate, bringing with it courage, boldness, and a sense of summer adventure. It also relaxes your muscles, which feel heavy during the dog days of summer. Dilation of blood vessels lowers blood pressure and causes swelling in the hands and feet on warm days.
Sweat: Water or Blood?
Although sweat cools the body, it depletes vital fluids, making dehydration a serious concern this time of year. But sweat is more than mere water. It also contains electrolytes and oils, and is more like blood plasma. That's why Ayurveda equates sweating to bleeding. While summer sweat is inevitable, it shouldn't be encouraged.
As it depletes electrolytes, the summer sun withers your strength. Electrolyte loss causes fatigue and eventually muscle spasms. Leg cramps, often called "charlie horses" is a common sign of low electrolyte/potassium levels. A pounding headache may accompany your fatigue and the feeling that you've been cooked beneath the summer sun.
You can prevent dehydration by paying attention to your tongue: a dry tongue or palate is one of the first signs of dehydration. When fluid loss is sufficient to dry up saliva, stomach glands are also too dry to produce the 2/3's of a liter of hydrochloric acid necessary for digestion.
Refresh, Replenish & Keep Cool
Apples, bananas and limes are juicy. They replenish electrolytes and restore energy after sweating or whenever muscles are tired in the afternoon. Bananas are especially high in potassium and also contain Tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known as the "happy and relaxed" hormone.
Apples, bananas, and limes are also refreshing. They cool the blood. The sourness of apples and limes gently releases bile from the liver. Since bile is a hot and oily substance, its release reduces general irritation and inflammation in the body. Apples are crunchy and leave a rough feeling on the roof of the mouth, both signs of astringency. Astringency tightens and tones tissues that are loose and lax from hot summer dayheat excess.
Light for Summer Digestion
When too much blood moves into the skin, there is less blood in the chest and abdominal organs. Reduced blood supply to digestive organs causes appetite to wane by summer. You might also have acid reflux, or other signs of indigestion. Lime and ginger coax blood back to GI tract, stimulating appetite and digestion. Whereas oatmeal may be too heavy for breakfast this time of year, an apple and banana smoothie in the morning provides fiber without heaviness.
WHAT IS BANANA & APPLE SMOOTHIE WITH GINGER?
On hot & lazy summer mornings, start your day with a refreshing, thirst quenching breakfast that replenishes your strength and vitality.
This delicious smoothie is loved by kids and adults alike, and it's easy enough to blend up when friends and neighbors drop by. It's ideal for breakfast or to replenish electrolytes during an afternoon lull. Best of all, it's dairy and ice-free.
WHY EAT AN AYURVEDIC DIET?
Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. An Ayurvedic diet is
tailored to your individual body type and the specific imbalances you are working with
at any given time. Ayurveda shows you your specific body type’s needs and what
should be favored in your Ayurvedic menu. Watch as you eat less but feel more satisfied because what you
are eating truly nourishes you. Since Ayurveda believes all disease begins in the digestive
tract, food is your first medicine. By eating a healthy diet that’s ideal for your body, you
experience optimal health.
Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics
(gunas).
Aggravating these characteristics weakens your body and causes imbalance.
By knowing which characteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct imbalances before you get sick.
Every characteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold).
You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite characteristic.
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?
According to the biocharacteristic theory of medicine,
people tend to get sick, over and over again, due to habitual causes and imbalances that are unique to the person.
Your body type summarizes this tendency, showing you the 'type' of conditions and imbalances that frequently challenge your health & wellness.
Using body type, you can also identify remedies likely to improve your strength and resiliency.
Your body type identifies physical and mental characteristics as well as your personal strengths and weaknesses.
The calculation of your body type is based on your medical history.
The 3 functional body types
(doshas),
are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha).
Catabolic individuals tend to break down body mass into energy.
Metabolic individuals tend to burn or use energy.
Anabolic individuals tend to store energy as body mass.
Catabolic people tend to be easily stimulated, hyperactive, underweight and dry.
Metabolic people tend to be rosy-cheeked, easily irritated, focused, driven, and easily inflamed.
Anabolic people are heavy, stable and grounded, but if they store too much energy, they could gain weight easily and have congestion.
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.
Here are the herbal actions of Banana & Apple Smoothie with Ginger:
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.
Stimulates the release of gas. Helpful for bloating or cramping abdominal pain. Propels food downward. Carminatives typically expel gas by relaxing the muscles of the intestines.
An herb that increases appetite or settles a nauseas or nervous stomach. These generally increase the digestive fire, therefore relieving symptoms of sluggish or difficult digestion.
Antipruritics are herbs that inhibit itching that is often associated with itching skin conditions such as sunburns, allergic reactions, eczema, psoriasis, chickenpox, fungal infections, insect bites, or contact dermatitis (as in poison ivy exposure.)
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda biocharacteristics.
His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs Joyful Belly's School of Ayurveda,
offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.
John's interest in Ayurveda and specialization in digestive tract pathology was inspired by a complex digestive disorder acquired from years of international travel,
as well as public service work in South Asia.
John's commitment to the detailed study of digestive disorders reflects his zeal to get down to the roots of the problem.
His hope and belief in the capacity of each & every client to improve their quality of life is nothing short of a personal passion.
John's creativity in the kitchen and delight in cooking for others comes from his family oriented upbringing.
In addition to his certification in Ayurveda, John holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John enjoys sharing Ayurveda within the context of his Catholic roots,
and finds Ayurveda gives him an opportunity to participate in the healing mission of the Church.
Jesus expressed God's love by feeding and healing the sick.
That kindness is the fundamental ministry of Ayurveda as well.
Outside of work, John enjoys spending time with his wife and 6 kids, and pursuing his love of theology, philosophy, and language.
Comments & Impressions of 'Banana & Apple Smoothie With Ginger'
Do you like 'banana & apple smoothie with ginger'?
Why or why not?
What makes it unique? Is there something you'd like to know about 'banana & apple smoothie with ginger'?
- Leah Willis, Cleveland heights, OH, 04-25-12 (Reply)
Boy, am I glad to have this recipe! I wish I had known about it last year - I was seriously dehydrated and suffered from heat exhaustion during a brutal NYC summer. Thanks, John!
This was a great start to the morning for me and even rib-sticking, considering there's no dairy or other protein source. I may try substituting cardamom for ginger next time. The combination of lime and ginger was slightly burning to my ulcer.
- Leah Willis, Cleveland heights, OH, 04-25-12 (Reply)
Boy, am I glad to have this recipe! I wish I had known about it last year - I was seriously dehydrated and suffered from heat exhaustion during a brutal NYC summer. Thanks, John!
This was a great start to the morning for me and even rib-sticking, considering there's no dairy or other protein source. I may try substituting cardamom for ginger next time. The combination of lime and ginger was slightly burning to my ulcer.
* 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.