SHAKA VANSYA AYURVEDA

Routine and Dietary Instructions

 

Dear Patient,

Thank you for your interest in Ayurveda and your dedication to health.  Diet and the Daily Routine are considered the pillars of good health in Ayurveda.  This report covers the necessary basic points about diet and routine.  If you are interested in video learning more than reading, I have 2 videos covering these topics:
Also, our website is full of information about Ayurveda including lots of recipes some of which I will link to in this document.  Here is the Knowledge section of our website.
 
Lastly, I realize this information about changes in diet and routine can be overwhelming.  Don’t worry, that’s why I’m here to help you.  To start, as you’re reading and studying this information, make a list of the easiest points.  Maybe they are things you’re already doing or feel you can incorporate quickly with no strain.  Start with those things first.  As time goes by, you’ll begin to have more energy and understanding.  Then it’ll be easier to tackle other more difficult points.  The main point is that every step you take in the direction of better health will yield some good result.
 
Dr. Beech
 
P.S.  I am highlighting in RED the most important things to start incorporating.
 

I start with the daily routine because without it, even good diet won’t be much help.  The most important point about routine is the Bedtime.  If you can be in bed by 9:30 on most nights, that will yield remarkable results.
 
Following the proper daily routine is the way to make your digestive system strong.  Correcting imbalances is more than eating good food, you must have a digestive system that is intelligent enough to recognize and process the nutrients.
 
Proper daily routine timed to the Nature's rhythms is an essential ingredient in your treatment plan.
 
Here is the breakdown of the daily routine:

1. 9:30 PM - Bedtime
2. 6:00 AM - Arise
3. 6:30 AM - Breakfast of stewed apple or pear
4. 8:30 AM or whenever you feel hungry again - Oatmeal/ Cream of Wheat/ Quinoa Flakes
5. 12:00 - 1:00 PM - Lunch - the largest meal of the day: protein, vegetable, grain, probiotic (yogurt), bread
6. 6:00 - 7:00 PM - Dinner - same as lunch minus meat, cheese, yogurt or other heavy foods

In general, we classify food as Intelligent, Dumb and Dead.  Intelligent food is alive and fresh.  It contains all of Nature’s organizing intelligence and provides the best source of Nutrition.  Dumb food is when the life of the food is draining out, such as a leftover.  Dead food has no intelligence or was never alive in the first place.  Read my article: Is your food Intelligent, Dumb or Dead?

So first of all, you don’t have to become an Indian Cook to benefit from this program.  The most important things to remember are this:

• As much as possible have fresh Intelligent Food.
• Favor green vegetables, green leafy vegetables, sweet juicy fruits and whole grains.
• Use your spice mix on some dish at lunch and dinner.
• As much as possible, avoid the foods listed on the avoid list.
• Have some form of probiotic daily.
• Don’t skip or delay meals.

If you can follow the above points often, you will do great with this program.

 
The following information are the “brass tacks”.  As you progress you can include more of these specific ideas and recipes.
 
3 Important Videos to Watch
 
How To Make Food Your Medicine
 
How Herbs Are Affected By Diet
 
30 Minute Preparation of Breakfast and Lunch 
 
Protein
 
Vegetarians: have lentils, grains, nuts, yogurt, milk and Paneer as your protein.
 
Non Vegetarians: in addition to the above, favor chicken, fish and turkey.  Avoid red meat and pork.
 
Vegans: same as Vegetarian minus the milk products.  For probiotic, you may try the Coconut Probiotic.
 
GREEN PROTEIN
 
This is the most important therapeutic food in your diet. We cannot EMPHASIZE this point enough. Please make this dish daily.
 
THE MOST IMPORTANT DETOX IS TO STOP THE PRODUCTION OF TOXINS.
 
The purpose of green protein is the micro encapsulate the protein in an antioxidant to prevent oxidation of the proteins in your diet. The effect is that you stop the production of toxins in your digestive system and provide an abundant source of amino acids for the synthesis of new proteins in your body. All your neurotransmitters, hormones, neuropeptides etc. are made of protein. These chemicals are the intelligence of your body. So, this food heals by allowing the intelligence of your body to function at an optimum level.
 
Green Protein Recipe
 
FAVOR ORGANIC FOOD
 
We recommend that you favor organic food over conventional food. Organic foods are grown without any pesticides or herbicides in a manner which nourishes the plant. Also, organic food contains no genetically engineered substances. This means that the intelligence value of the food is at its highest quality and will generate the greatest benefit for your health.

BREAKFAST FOODS
 
Have this for breakfast by 6:30 in the morning. It is very important that you eat early in the morning to prevent acid build up that can create toxins in the blood and liver.
 
For Breakfast have a stewed apple early in the morning. If you get hungry later in the morning have warm oatmeal made from whole rolled oats or cream of wheat.
 
RECIPE FOR NOURISHING STEWED APPLES OR PEARS
Why Stewed Apples?
This is a great recipe for early morning nourishment. It stimulates timely bowel movements as well as digestion.
Recipe for one person:
* 1 whole, fresh organic sweet apple.
* 3 whole cloves (per apple)
* 1/4 cup of purified water
 
Directions:
* Dice apple into small pieces.
* Add cloves, apples and water in a covered pot.
* Stew apples in 1/4 cup of water (less water for pears) until soft.
* Remove cloves and discard before serving.
* Let stand away from heat for 5 minutes to cool a little.
 
Helpful Tip:
Best if you sip a cup of warm water with your meal in the morning. This dish is not recommended at night - always eat as a breakfast first thing in the morning as early as possible.
 
DO NOT SKIP OR DELAY YOUR MEALS
 
This is of major importance. If you don't eat when you are hungry then you are creating acidic toxins in the body. You must have snacks available such are pears, or a nut mixture to eat in emergencies. On our website are recipes for date nut roll and power cookies just for this purpose.
 
NUT MIXTURE SNACK
 
Soak equal parts raisins, walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds overnight. Pat dry and keep in plastic bag to snack on when needed.
 
MILK
 
Note: if you are lactose intolerant, you should talk to Dr. Beech before taking milk.
 
Ayurveda recommends milk for good health. The quality of protein and fat from milk is essential for the joints and the immune system.
 
Unfortunately, milk has received a bad reputation because we have not been taught how to use milk in a healthy way. Ayurveda has been successfully utilizing milk as medicine for over 5000 years!
 
Always start with Organic Milk to avoid the hormone and toxins from commercial cows. My Organic Market (MOM's) carries a Non-Homogenized milk. This one is the best unless you can get raw milk.
 
Here is the Recipe for Milk.
 
You may use this recipe for making tea with milk (Chai), or for cooking oatmeal with milk or for rice pudding.
 
Never take milk with other foods except grains such as oatmeal or something like bread or cookies. Milk should never be taken with meat, eggs, sour foods, salt or spicy foods.
 
LUNCH - MAIN MEAL OF THE DAY
 
It’s preferable to have your heaviest meal of the day as lunch meal and to take a lighter meal in the evening. Lunch should consist of vegetables, lentil (dal), and a grain and some protein. You may eat fish or chicken but try to cook it with your spice mix.
 
PROBIOTIC YOGURT
 
Yogurt is excellent to take at lunch but not in the morning or evening. The reason for this is that yogurt is heavy, and the digestion is not able to efficiently burn the yogurt at those times. The fresher the yogurt the better.
 
Yogurt is the BEST probiotic. You must have a probiotic in your diet every day. If you can't make fresh yogurt daily, then you may use our prescribed capsule to take. Some people do both using the capsule on days they don't have time to make yogurt. Know that yogurt is better than the pill.
 
Ask Dr. Beech for the Probiotic Capsule if you are unable to make homemade yogurt
 
Store bought yogurt does NOT have enough probiotic for therapeutic purposes and will not be enough to correct your gut.
 
Here is the Yogurt recipe.
 
DINNER - LIGHT MEAL
 
Dinner should be like lunch except to not have yogurt, cheese or meat at dinner. These foods are more difficult to digest.

FAVOR THE FOLLOWING FOODS
 
Green vegetables are good. Summer squash is very good for you because it is so easy to digest. Favor light green squashes with white insides. Zucchini is ok but Lauki is best. All green vegetables are good.
 
You must eat green cooked vegetables daily. Asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, green beans, and various other veggies. You don't have to limit to just green veggies, but always include something green.
 
Here are some therapeutic vegetables you can find at a local Asian Market:
 

1. Lauki squash is the best squash for your liver. You may find it in Indian grocery stores or Asian Markets. It often called Long Squash. Lauki is best taken with white daycon radish. Here is The Recipe.

2. Karela (bitter gourd) is another Asian vegetable that is very good if you have problems with handling sugar such as diabetes or hypoglycemia. Here is The Recipe.

3. White Daycon Radish Chutney – very cooling to the liver and supportive to the kidneys.

You can find many more recipes here.
 
HEALTHY OILS
 
Use organic olive oil or ghee. The best oil is Prebiotic Ghee that Prabha makes just for our patients.  This item we only sell in our office.  Prebiotic Ghee is unique because it doesn’t increase Cholesterol and it feeds the friendly bacteria of the gut.
 
Besides ghee, another oil good for high heat frying is Sesame Oil.
 
SPLIT MUNG LENTILS OR THE TINY RED LENTILS INSTEAD OF LARGE BEANS
 
The Indian word for lentil is Dahl. Try to have Dahl at least once a day.
 
Here is a Recipe for Red Lentils:
 
Dahl Kitcheri (a blend of rice and dhal) is good also.
 
WHOLE GRAINS
 
White Rice (Basmati is good), Quinoa and Amaranth and Barley. Rotate the grains throughout the week. Rice and Quinoa mixed 50/50 is particularly good.
 
FRUITS
 
Sweet juicy fruits are full of Soma and have an alkalizing effect on the physiology. 
 
Lime – even though it is citrus, lime is not acidic.  It is a pH buffer and is full of Soma.  Squeeze lime on the food after cooking.
 
AVOID THE FOLLOWING FOODS
 
The deadly Night Shades are destructive to the joints and can cause arthritis. 

1. Potato
2. tomato
3. eggplant
4. bell pepper

Channel Clogging Foods increase inflammation and reduce oxygenation.

1. Banana – because it is ripened under fluorescent lights in gassed rooms it ruins the fruit. If you are in a tropical country where they are sun ripened then banana is good.
2. Vinegar – very acidic
3. All large beans – tightly compressed proteins are difficult to break down.
4. Winter squash (yellow to orange inside) – clog the microchannels of the body.
5. White Chickpea – same as large bean. Black Chickpea is ok.
6. Soy and soy products – same as large bean
7. Tofu – made from soy
8. flax seed – is over heating to the spleen
9. Citris fruits such as orange or grapefruit. These are ok if you can get them sweet.

High Sulfur containing foods that destroy the delicate Probiotics in the gut.

1. onion
2. garlic 

Even though the above foods are often considered healthy in other systems including many Ayurvedic practices and typical Indian Food, Vaidya Mishra's tradition and the ancient Vedic Texts have known for 5000 years that these foods cause blockages in the channels and should be eliminated from the diet.
 
CAFFEINE - ELIMINATE
 
It is recommended that you eliminate or at least reduce caffeine from your diet.
 
CARBONATED BEVERAGES - AVOID
 
It is recommended that you avoid drinking carbonated beverages. This is for the purpose of improving digestion and overall well being.
 
COLD FOODS AND DRINKS - AVOID
 
Avoid taking cold food and drinks in your diet.
 
COOKED FOODS - FAVOR
 
You should always favor cooked foods in your diet and take fewer uncooked or raw vegetables. You may have salad or raw foods when you want them, but in general cooked foods will be easier for your system to digest.
 
LEFTOVERS - AVOID
 
It is recommended that you always try to eat foods which have been freshly prepared. Try to avoid leftovers, and even food which has cooked and requires reheating. Ayurveda says that leftovers are heavy, hard to digest.
 
INCLUDE BINDERS IN YOUR DIET
 
Binders are food that bind the toxins in the colon so that they are not re-absorbed into the blood stream. Binders are especially important in the spring and early fall when the body naturally detoxifies and therefore the toxic load is greater.
 
The natural binders are:

1. Okra
2. Taro Root aka Eddo and Arbi in the Indian Stores. Can cook it like sautéed potatoes and make French fries.
3. Arrowroot flour - great as a thickener for soups
4. Tapioca - you can put in lentils or soup as a thickener

Alternative: Stir 1 tsp of psyllium powder in a glass of warm water and drink before bed. Although this is simple, it is not as intelligent as eating the above items. Also, chronic use of psyllium can coat the intestinal wall, so don't use for more than 2 months. Use some binder daily during detoxification.