by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Jan 24, 2012 | Asian Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, Balance, Diet, Digestion, Exercise, Finding yourself, Meditation, Preventive Medicine, Self-care, Yoga
Ayurveda is the ancient Indian science of healing meaning “Science of Life” (maybe that’s why I was drawn to a degree in Life Sciences!). Similar to Traditional Chinese Medicine, ayurveda uses the elements as a means of understanding certain properties of nature.
Ayurveda’s 5 elements differ from those of The 5 Element Theory of TCM. They are: ether (space), air, water, fire and earth. Distinct combinations of these elements form to create 3 Doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These Doshas characterize various properties of nature and, in humans, combine to form a unique constitution. Achieving a perfect health balance has much to do with pacifying the dominant Dosha that characterizes your individual self and enhancing less dominant Doshas.
Vata Dosha is made up of the elements air and ether. A person who is predominantly Vata will have some of the following characteristics:
– Thin build, difficulty putting on weight
– Shorter or taller than average
– dryer hair that may break easily and is typically curly
– Tendency towards nervousness or anxiety
– Digestive problems (excess gas, bloating)
– Tendency to move or fidget
– Naturally creative and spontaneous
– Has a hard time staying on task
Vata is airy and like the wind. Therefore, people who are dominant in this dosha tend to have drier skin and hair, feel ungrounded and anxious at times, often get distracted and have a harder time staying on one task. When balanced, Vata types are very creative, sensitive individuals who are full of ideas and inspirational energy. They thrive as artists and working in creative think tanks, in a setting where they can generate a million ideas at once.
Balancing Vata dosha involves setting a routine. Vata should wake up, have meals and go to bed at the same time everyday. Sleeping in (if possible) to the later hours of the morning is beneficial. Vatas are balanced by eating lots of warm, cooked and oily foods (soups, stews and curries), which help combat their tendency towards dryness and flighty digestion. This constitution also benefits from slow, constant, repetitive exercise such as restorative or yin yoga and long, gentle walks. Lying in “corpse pose” with pillows across the thighs will help weigh a Vata aggravated person down. That, combined with meditation, can help balance a nervous Vata mind and help ground Vata’s airyness.
Visit my blog tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday for Part 2 – Pitta Dosha and Part 3 – Kapha Dosha!
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Jan 19, 2012 | Cooking, Diet, Digestion, Family, Food, Recipes
Since beginning classes at CCNM, I’ve entered into a three-way conflict between knowing I shouldn’t eat gluten, knowing I love all things gluten and, well, my Italian grandmother, Nonna.
As most of you know, I live with Nonna and Nonna is not impressed with the evolving disdain the rest of the world is beginning to hold for her pasta, even if it is GMO-modified. In her 84 years of life, I think she’d be hard pressed to think of a day she spent away from gluten. Nonetheless, we’ve been experimenting with some variations of rice pasta and recently I’ve been trying with spaghetti squash pasta.
Although you’ll never fool an Italian with spaghetti squash, it does look surprisingly like spaghetti and produces some of that same, soft, pleasant mouth-feel that pasta gives us. One cup boosts only 42 calories (compared to around 200 for a cup of pasta) and carries with it far more vitamins and minerals than any type of pasta (no matter how delicious) could ever hope to. Nevertheless, I decided to feed Squash Pasta to a true Italian (Nonna) and see if it passed the test.
How to make it:
I bought one whole spaghetti squash from Fiesta Farms, sliced it in half, removed the seeds with a spoon, sprinkled a tiny amount of olive oil on its face and put it face down on a cooking sheet. 
Set the oven to 375 degrees and wait 40 minutes.
Take the squash out and let cool. Then I scraped off all the insides (everything but the rind) into a bowl.
Add your favourite Italian sugo, or pasta sauce (more on that in another post), and serve with Insalata Della Nonna (radicchio, fennel, red pepper and lettuce, topped with extra virgin olive oil and homemade apple cider vinegar) e buono!
The verdict? Nonna decided to make her wheat pasta on the side, just in case. She kept calling the spaghetti squash zucca (her word for zucchini). She said “Chi mangia zucca e beve l’acqua, alza la gamba e la zucca scappa,” (He who eats zucchini and drinks water, lifts their leg and the zucchini escapes) meaning squash is water, not substantial, like, you guessed it, pasta! Ok, Nonna. She did say that she would never go so far as to make it herself, but she liked it. That’s food critic speak for “The most delicious thing I ever ate!” I award this recipe an Italian Pass!
