How to Make Cucumber & Coconut Cooler

SERVINGS: 1

PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 0 MINUTES

MEAL: DRINK, LUNCH-DINNER

PREPARATION: PUREE, SMOOTHIE, RAW, JUICE

EAT IN: SUMMER

How Can This Ayurvedic Recipe Make You Feel Great?

AYURVEDIC ANALYSIS

Refresh yourself this summer with a Cucumber & Coconut Cooler. Ever hear the phrase, "Cool as a cucumber?" Cucumber is known as an herbal refrigerant, which means it naturally cools you down. Coconut water also cools while rebuilding electrolytes. Sip on this all-natural beverage (perhaps under a palm tree?) and notice your eyes soften, your skin cool, and your mouth water. You'll feel calm, cool, and collected after a glass of this revitalizing mocktail.

Chill Your Pitta

As summer reaches its height, signs of pitta abound. Irritability, sleepless summer nights and exhaustion all point to an overheated, pitta-aggravated mind and body. You may also notice soft stools or irritated bowels, dehydration, heat rashes as well as yellowing of the eyes during the blistering summer months. Choosing cooling ingredients can help you combat the pitta-aggravating environment! Aloe vera, cucumber, and coconut are all considered cooling in Ayurveda for their ability to tame heat and high pitta in the body. Aloe vera specifically soothes internal irritation and calms heat-induced inflammation. All together, the ingredients in this drink create an ideal summertime beverage: Cucumber & Coconut Cooler.

Pass the Cucumber, Please!

When you're feeling a little hot and bothered, cucumber is a natural refresher will alleviate your thirst, cool your body, and freshen your breath. Its jade green skin recalls a pleasant afternoon under your favorite shade tree. Moisturizing & cooling, a single slice is restorative, helping you mellow the summer heat.

Detoxify Your Blood

As cucumbers calm your eyes and cool down your liver, you may feel the pressure in your arteries decreasing - cucumber's diuretic nature has been used to reduce blood pressure, water retention, and detoxify the blood for ages. Its cooling & soothing nature aids urinary, bladder, and kidney function. Those who suffer from gout will be pleased to know that cucumbers aids removal of uric acid from the blood. Aloe vera is a cholagogue that cleanses the liver of any stored heat. Aloe vera is also a gentle laxative, which both cleans and cools your GI.

Altogether Cucumber & Coconut Cooler is Pitta pacifying due to its cooling qualities. It is Kapha pacifying due to its light qualities. To help make this drink more supportive for Vata individuals, remove Aloe Vera.

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.

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Is Cucumber & Coconut Cooler Good for My Ayurvedic Diet?

Find out by taking this free, easy quiz. You'll learn your body type, and whether Cucumber & Coconut Cooler is a good fit for you. Time to complete: approximately 1 minute.

AYURVEDIC MEDICINAL QUALITIES

INCREASES Increases These Qualities (Gunas) Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main characteristics (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. Learn More	CLEAR ABOUT CLEAR GUNA Clear refers to anything that cleanses or flushes out wastes, or that digests ama. LEARN MORE ABOUT CLEAR LIGHT ABOUT LIGHT GUNA Lightness is identified by reduced weight. LEARN MORE ABOUT LIGHT COLD ABOUT COLD GUNA Cold refers to anything that reduces body temperature, metabolism, and blood flow. LEARN MORE ABOUT COLD MOBILE ABOUT MOBILE GUNA Mobile refers to anything that stimulates the nervous system, muscles, or activity. LEARN MORE ABOUT MOBILE
TASTES The 6 Tastes 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? Learn More	BITTER ABOUT BITTER GUNA Bitter is disagreeable and stimulating rejection, and a strong taste often associated with black coffee, dark chocolate, and most salad greens. LEARN MORE ABOUT BITTER ASTRINGENT ABOUT ASTRINGENT GUNA Astringency is characterized by constriction, drawing together, or drying. LEARN MORE ABOUT ASTRINGENT
DOSHAS The Three Doshas / Body Types People tend to get sick, over and over again, due to similar causes and habitual 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. Learn More	PACIFIES AGGRAVATES
HAS THE FOLLOWING	EFFECT: Prana PRANA Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital life energy, similar to Qi in Chinese Medicine. Many herbs stimulate your energy, or improve the flow of prana through your body. Generally, prana needs to be increased in spring after a sleepy winter. LEARN MORE ABOUT PRANA , Ojas OJAS Ojas is the essence of healthy tissue, immunity, stable energy and happiness. Substances that improve ojas are recommended after long-term illness, debility, emotional and physical trauma, and even sadness. LEARN MORE ABOUT OJAS , Alkalizing ALKALIZING An herb or food that makes the urine more alkaline (higher pH). This herbal action can be helpful for a number of inflammatory conditions. LEARN MORE ABOUT ALKALIZING , Sattvic SATTVIC Sattvic foods promote awareness and a refreshed mind by nourishing the body without taxing digestion. Sattvic foods do not stimulate desire or nervous energy. They create clarity instead of drowsiness or heaviness. LEARN MORE ABOUT SATTVIC TYPE: Vegetables NUTRIENT: Vitamin K, Potassium COLOR: Green NOURISHES: Plasma PLASMA Plasma (Rasa Dhatu) includes plasma, white blood cells, and lymph. LEARN MORE ABOUT PLASMA MOVES ENERGY: Downward DOWNWARD Downward-moving (Adho Gati Marga) substances move food downward in the GI tract, settle the nervous system, and relax muscles. LEARN MORE ABOUT DOWNWARD

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

Experiences are Personal

Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary. The list of actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.

Digestion:

Quenches thirst

QUENCHES-THIRST

An herb or substance that relieves thirst.

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Cleanse and Detox:

Detoxicant

DETOXICANT

An herb that eliminates or metabolizes toxins from the body.

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Heart & Circulation:

Rebuild Electrolytes

REBUILD-ELECTROLYTES

Substances that increase your electrolyte balance. Electrolytes help you retain water, keep your palate moist, and truly quench your thirst.

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Refrigerant

REFRIGERANT

An herb or substance that strongly cools the body. Can be helpful in cases of heat conditions.

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Opthalmic

OPTHALMIC

Benefits the eyes.

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Alterative

ALTERATIVE

Literally, an herb that restores the proper function of the body. In practice, alteratives are usually blood cleansers and blood chemistry balancers. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter.

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Immune System:

Anti Inflammatory

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY

Reduces inflammation in the body. Different herbs and carriers target different body systems.

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Liver & Gall Bladder:

Cholagogue

CHOLAGOGUE

Cholagogues stimulate the release of bile from the gall bladder for improved digestion.

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Mind, Stress & Sleep:

Relieves tension

RELIEVES-TENSION

An herb that releases tightness, constriction, and rigidity in a muscle.

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Relaxes eyes

RELAXES-EYES

Eases tension in eye muscles, so the eyes feel less strained, often by supporting the liver.

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Skin Care & Beauty:

Refreshes skin

REFRESHES-SKIN

Flushes the lymphatic system to cool, awaken, and revive the skin.

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Weight Loss:

Hypolipidemic

HYPOLIPIDEMIC

Scrapes fats / cleanses blood vessels

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Find Your Symptom:

Refreshing

REFRESHING

Stimulates and wakes up the body, leaving it feeling cool, fresh, and energized.

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Bowel-Poop-Elimination:

Relieves burning

RELIEVES-BURNING

Herbs that soothe a burn or reduce an internal burning sensation, such as aloe vera.

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General Laxative

GENERAL-LAXATIVE

Promotes a bowel movement. General laxative is an umbrella term that refers to several different types of laxatives...

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