If my hard core Ayurvedic friends knew I was a fan of the smoothie bowl they would probably disown me and call the ‘ama police’. Read: Why Good Ayurvedists Don’t Drink Smoothies
The ‘ama police’ are the Ayurvedic individuals committed to serving and protecting your digestion from mis-digestion or ama. I wish there was a similar community for miscommunication, but that is another topic.
The basics of a smoothie bowl is to turn a smoothie into a meal. If you have ever enjoyed one, these Ayurvedic tips can help keep your digestion strong while you enjoy your smoothie bowl.
When you make a smoothie bowl, you make a smoothie and then dress it with delicious toppings. Your imagination is the only limit in this regard. In terms of Ayurveda there are six tips when making your smoothie bowl.
Fat balances out sugar and stops your blood sugar from spiking so high when you are enjoying a fruit smoothie. By making your smoothie with coconut, hemp, chia, almond butter or avocado. This will help to balance out the fruit.
Ayurveda does subscribe to food combining which states that fruit is best eaten alone. If your digestion is really compromised than it is probably true in terms of digestion, but it is not true in terms of blood sugar balance.
Smoothies are extremely cold and it takes a significant amount of energy in order to heat up the cold food you eat. Eating cold food could lead to gas, bloating and fatigue. One way to avoid this is to add spices to your smoothies. The best in this regard is fresh ginger, but it depends on the type of smoothie bowl that you are consuming. Experiment with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves in your smoothie bowls.
There are some powerful adaptogens that can help your body adapt to stress that don’t have a strong flavor if you add a teaspoon to your smoothie bowl. Whenever possible it is great to add these herb powders to your smoothie bowl. Some examples are ashwagandha, maca, shatavari and macuna.
Most of us don’t have enough vegetables in our diet and an easy way to increase our intake of these powerful antioxidant reservoirs is to add them to every meal. Since our smoothie has now become a meal by placing it in a bowl it is great to add leafy greens to your smoothie. This can sometimes make the smoothie brown in color and so it may not work with every creation.
Smoothie bowls are best when it is warm outside or in the middle of the day. Even though warmer temperatures do dampen our digestion it can be nice to have a cold treat on a hot day and a smoothie bowl is a much better choice than ice cream. Avoid smoothie bowls early in the morning or late at night when it is cool outside or in the winter months.
A lot of smoothie bowl recipes say to add ice cubes. Cold foods require energy in order to heat up the stomach enough so that they can be digested. If you have the option it is best to leave out the ice cubes and use some room temperature water instead.
These simple strategies can help you to make some delicious creations while maintaining strong digestion. Because as we say in Ayurveda you are not what you eat, but what you digest.
Ayurveda is all about time, place and circumstance. That means, if you understand all three of these, there are situations where something like a smoothie bowl (antidoted with some warming spices) can be exactly what you need. Enjoy!
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