How to Make Watermelon & Basil Smoothie

SERVINGS: 2

PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 0 MINUTES

MEAL: DRINK

STYLE: WESTERN

PREPARATION: RAW, SMOOTHIE, PUREE

EAT IN: SUMMER

FOR OCCASION: CLEANSE

How Does This Ayurvedic Recipe Improve Wellness?

CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW

Watermelon invites children and adults alike to step out of the heat and enjoy a refreshing treat on a summer day. Full of delicious juice, watermelon cools your body and restores balance to overheated blood.

Late June and early July is the perfect time of year to enjoy watermelon. Its sweetness is restorative for heat induced fatigue. Its cold nature and betacarotene calms your liver, easing frustration. In the summer, your heart beats faster to regulate body temperature, an effect called heart heat in Chinese medicine. Watermelon's calming effect on your spirit relieves the restlessness and impulsivity of too much heart heat.

A touch of basil's bitterness paradoxically brings out watermelon's sweetness. The earthy aroma of basil enhances subtle flavors in watermelon, a gourd after all. Basil's pungency adds zest for a exciting finish.

Reduce Water Weight, Puffy Skin, & Swelling

On hot, humid days you might feel puffy and swollen, especially if your lymphatic system is congested. Even your ankles will get swollen with the heat. Those who suffer from puffiness and water retention will be happy that watermelon's diuretic properties dry out your blood (due to potassium) and reduce summer swelling. As it purges extra fluids from your body, watermelon leaves you feeling light and refreshed.

The dryness and low calories in this festive fruit are ideal for those trying to lose weight. Watermelon also has a surprising ability to reduce insulin resistance.

Note: Summer swelling is called damp heat in Chinese medicine. Ayurveda describes damp heat as the hot, sour, spreading, & liquid nature of pitta.

Cleanse Your Urinary Tract

The more you sweat, the less you pee. Your risk for urinary tract infections (UTI) and bladder stones increases with summer heat. As you sweat more, urine thickens to a dark yellow. When it sits too long in your bladder urine becomes turbid. The foul, and often sour smelling urine irritates the bladder and urinary tract. Concentrated urine also forms stones more easily.

Watermelon flushes and cleanses your urinary tract by its diuretic action. Its cooling quality reduces inflammation. Pay attention to the color and quantity of your urine. When you notice it has returned to a light yellow color and is more copious, you will know that you are reducing your risk of a urinary tract infection this summer.

Be sure to drink lots of water when cleansing your urinary tract with watermelon. Although an exuberant slice of watermelon might be a tempting way to relieve dehydration, due to its diuretic effect watermelon's juiciness only quenches thirst temporarily. Dry Vata types should exercise caution with watermelon, and be careful to restore electrolyte loss as well.

AYURVEDA'S GUIDE TO VITALITY & WHOLESOME NOURISHMENT

Your Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body and your specific imbalances. With an Ayurvedic diet you feel joy and satisfaction because what you are eating truly nourishes and balances you. Disease results from diets and lifestyles that are incompatible with your nature. By eating a personalized diet matched to your body, you experience optimal health. See How it Works.

See a complete list of all biocharacteristics.

INCREASES Increases These Biocharacteristics (Gunas) 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. Learn More	LIQUEFIED ABOUT LIQUEFIED BIOCHARACTERISTIC Substances that thin fluids (lower viscosity of blood plasma). These may include blood thinners or mucolytic herbs. LEARN MORE ABOUT LIQUEFIED EASY ABOUT EASY BIOCHARACTERISTIC Easy refers to anything easy to digest, or digests quickly. LEARN MORE ABOUT EASY DRY ABOUT DRY BIOCHARACTERISTIC Dry is identified by lack of moisture, lack of fat, or anything that causes diuresis. LEARN MORE ABOUT DRY CLEAR ABOUT CLEAR BIOCHARACTERISTIC Clear refers to anything that cleanses or flushes out wastes, or that digests ama. LEARN MORE ABOUT CLEAR LIGHT ABOUT LIGHT BIOCHARACTERISTIC Lightness is identified by reduced weight. LEARN MORE ABOUT LIGHT COLD ABOUT COLD BIOCHARACTERISTIC Cold refers to anything that reduces body temperature, metabolism, and blood flow. LEARN MORE ABOUT COLD
DOSHAS The Three Doshas / Body Types 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. They are easily stimulated, hyperactive, underweight and dry. Metabolic individuals tend to burn or use energy. They tend to be rosy-cheeked, easily irritated, focused, driven, and easily inflamed. Anabolic individuals tend to store energy as body mass. If they store too much energy, they could gain weight easily and have congestion. Anabolic people tend to be stable and grounded. Learn More	PACIFIES AGGRAVATES
HERBAL ACTIONS (see all)	Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Watermelon & Basil Smoothie Experiences are Personal 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. Cleanse & Detox: Detoxicant DETOXICANT An herb that decongests or dislodges toxins from the body and the lymphatic, transforming or altering fluids to a more healthy state. SEE ALL 'DETOXICANT' FOODS / HERBS Heart & Circulation: Alterative ALTERATIVE Restores the proper function of the body by cleansing the blood and balancing blood chemistry. In Ayurveda terms, they pacify Pitta in rakta. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter. SEE ALL 'ALTERATIVE' FOODS / HERBS , Refrigerant REFRIGERANT An herb or substance that strongly cools the body. Can be helpful in cases of heat conditions. SEE ALL 'REFRIGERANT' FOODS / HERBS , Blood Tonic BLOOD-TONIC An herb that produces more blood cells in the body, or otherwise improves blood cell quality or hemoglobin content. Helpful for anemia and other types of deficiency. SEE ALL 'BLOOD-TONIC' FOODS / HERBS Kidney & Urinary: Diuretic DIURETIC Herbs that promote urine formation, thereby flushing the kidneys and urinary tract while eliminating any excess water retention. As diuretics reduce water retention, they are often used to reduce blood pressure. SEE ALL 'DIURETIC' FOODS / HERBS Liver & Gallbladder: Livotonic LIVOTONIC An herb that strengthens the liver. It is helpful for people with a history of substance abuse, chronic liver issues from hepatitis and hemolytic anemias. Generally, liver tonics are oily, cool, sweet, mildly sour, or contain beta-carotene. SEE ALL 'LIVOTONIC' FOODS / HERBS Reproductive Health: Aphrodisiac APHRODISIAC Herbs that increase sexual arousal through various actions including increased circulation, relaxation, stimulation, or tonics that strengthen glandular health. SEE ALL 'APHRODISIAC' FOODS / HERBS

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Joyful Belly is a recognized school of biocharacteristics medicine.