Tips to keep you in good health!

As food plays such an important role in the development of disease and also treating disease, then really caring about what you eat, and when you eat, should be of paramount importance when considering your health. 

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Here are some general tips for eating:

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• Eat seasonally - using the cues of nature for your eating will steer you in the right. direction. Buy fruits and vegetables that are currently in season.

• Balance - keep your cold salads for summer and opt for hearty soups and stews in the colder months to maintain a balance.

• Eat locally - eat foods that are grown locally to where you were born as they will be aligned with your natural constitution and easier for your body to digest.

• Eat organic - due to the increasing amounts of chemicals that are sprayed on and in our food, organic is always the best choice. If you cant afford to buy organic then try and grow your own from organic seeds. Always make sure you wash fruit and veg before consuming.

• Eat when you are hungry! - never ignore the body when its asking for food, on the same token, don't feed your body when it doesn't need it!

• Leave at least 3 hours between meals -  by leaving a decent gap between meals you allow your body's natural process of digestion. Putting food in in between these times will cause food to be 'overcooked' and not able to absorb the proper nutrients or 'undercooked' which allows for toxins to form.

• Don't eat right before bed - leave at least 3 hours before bed to consume your last meal to allow the body to rest fully when asleep.

• Eat whole foods - foods that are whole (i.e. one ingredient) are the best foods. Processed foods are full of sugar etc which are not good for our health. By eating whole foods you also know exactly what is going into your body.

• Eat fresh - the fresher the food the more goodness it has. Food that is dead or diminishing has less nutritional quality and has a lower vibration which will effect the body on an energetic level. The same goes for frozen, it just doesn't have the same quality as fresh food. Avoid re-heating food where possible (although sometimes it is more practical), fresh is always best!

• Cooked over raw - cooking food is the first part of the digestive process as the cooking helps break down the food making it easier to digest. Also, when we see food being cooked and smelling the food, it signals to the body to prepare for food and like warming up an oven, the gut gets ready to digest the food.  Although some people can eat raw foods with no problem, there are some of us with weaker agni (gut fire) that struggle with raw foods and experience gas/bloating etc. 

• Cook with love! - by putting good energy into your food that will carry throughout your body and give that same good energy to your cells. When cooking for yourself, take that same care as though you are cooking for someone you love - this also puts out an energetic sign to the universe that you are worthy!

• Cook with all 6 tastes - according to ayurveda, by using all of the six tastes of sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent, this will leave you feeling satisfied after your meal, it also gives your food a nice balance and curbs any cravings.

• Awareness - work with your body to keep balance. When feeling hot or heat in the body eat cooling foods such as coriander and coconut. When feeling cold eat hearty warming foods such as soups, casseroles and stews. When the body has dryness eat goods that offer internal moistness such as ghee and creamy heavy foods such as mash potatoes. If the body is oily then avoid oily foods such as oily fish etc. Use herbs and spices too as they not only offer flavour but medicinal and balancing properties too.