Transcript EP 307 – Ayurvedic Food Hacks to Stay Healthy this Holiday with Dr. Taz

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Dr. Taz: Welcome back, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Super Woman Wellness, where we are determined to bring you back to your super powered self. Now we spend a lot of our time running around. I know this and I know you do too because I’m right there with you. Between kids and work and who knows what else the date slips by. And oftentimes we are not taking the best care of ourselves. Well, this is only more true during the holiday. So in today’s episode, I want to spend some time talking about the Ayurvedic ways to de-stress and to prevent overindulgence during the holidays. Listen, when we take tiny steps, tiny little steps on a day to day basis, it adds up and makes a tremendous difference. So let’s talk a little bit about Ayurveda. Now, remember the whole premise of Ayurveda, and if you read my book, the Super Woman Rx, you know a little bit about what I’m talking about here.

But the entire premise of Ayurveda is that we are all of distinct types, and within those types, there’s a prescriptive way for us to eat, to live our lives, to sleep, and even to move, even, honestly, how to think. One of the things we’ve seen over and over again is that many of you are the Ayurvedic dosha, pitta. Pitta is a lot of digestive fire, go-getters, getting a lot of stuff done. You’ve got that list, you’re barreling through that list. You’re probably a super woman, believe it or not. Now, pittas were the boss ladies in the Superwomen Rx, and as a pitta, your gut is your strongest but also your weakest link. That is entirely where you will feel stress. So bring in the holidays and here’s what happens, we are over indulging, right? An extra cocktail, maybe some sugar, more sweets, more fatty foods, and that gut most certainly takes a hit.

Well, 88% of Americans believe that the holidays are one of the most stressful times of the year. And holiday fatigue, we know, is real, and we want to help everyone out there turn that around. So I’m going to present to you my five tips straight from Ayurveda to help us really turn the holidays around so that they’re working for us and not against us. Let’s start with my first tip. Your midday meal should actually be your heaviest meal. Now, you may have heard that one before, right? It’s like eating like a king at lunch, but like a pauper at dinner. But really in Ayurveda, the idea was you want to help the digestive engine and you don’t want to overburden it as it naturally starts to slow down throughout the day. So if we’re eating the heaviest meal at the end of the night right before we retire to bed, or we’re sitting around more, well, what are we doing?

We are not only lowering our metabolism, hello weight gain, but we are also stressing out our digestive systems and leading to more unhealthy habits overall. That bloating, that sort of uncomfortable feeling, all of that leads to us just not feeling quite right through the holiday season and feeling incredibly remorseful when we hit January one. So my first step is really to make that midday meal your heaviest meal of the day. The second one you may have heard me talk about before, but Ayurveda and many of these eastern systems of medicine we’re all about eating in season. So for example, if it’s cold outside, we’ll eat warming foods, not cold or raw foods because those in turn nourish you and help you to provide the nutrients you need when you’re facing temperatures and other conditions that are different. Eating more cooked vegetables like squash and greens and asparagus. Again, eating root vegetables was a big part of Ayurveda in this particular season.

And lentils, chickpeas, many of these that were pre soaked and then cooked properly, these were foods that were essential for this time of year. Animal protein was a part of the Ayurvedic winter diet, again, because it provided the fat, the iron, the nutrients to really help with overall energy. The western world around this time of year, especially going into a new year, might be talking about more detox and cleanses, maybe raw foods. But in Ayurveda, it’s all about eating for the season, eating things that are warm, cooked, nourishing and whole. All right, our third tip, let’s talk about this one for just a moment. This is one of my favorites. This is what I do to this day, sipping on ginger and lemon water first thing in the morning.

I actually have a whole pot of this made and I’ll keep adding it to my teas, to the water that I drink throughout the day. I love this because winter time comes along, we’re a little bit more sedentary, first of all. Secondly, we also are not only as active, but our digestive systems slow down and to help that digestive fire, that agni is what they called it, eating and drinking foods that support that are essential. So ginger, for example, improved digestive energy overall. Lemon water also helped improve digestion, generating heat so that the body could do what it needs. The stomach could digest all the foods it’s eating. So think about sipping on ginger lemon water first thing in the morning and remembering that you can add it at any meal, not just in the morning, but the ginger’s helping digestion and really helping to cut down on bloating.

All right, let’s try a couple more tips. Hopefully this can help you guys as you get through this holiday season. An Ayurvedic herb that I love, Triphala. I don’t know if you guys have heard about Triphala or not, but it really helps with constipation, helping to go to the bathroom very regularly. Now, eastern systems of medicine, Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, stress the importance of regular bowel movements, having whole and regular bowel movements. Triphala is a great one, especially if you’ve had too much sugar or gluten or dairy or any of the foods that we say we need to be watching, but when we socialize, all of that, I know, goes out the window. So add Triphala in, maybe daily. You can take it as a supplement, you can take it as a tea. It is one of my favorite Ayurvedic medicinal remedies and one that I love using personally as well.

Okay. And if all is going to hell, what do you do? How about an Ayurvedic rescue tonic. That’s going to help sort of jumpstart, think of it like jumper cables almost, but jumpstart your digestive system. So what am I talking about here? Maybe a drink where you blend together, kiwi, cucumber, a little bit of kombucha, add some yogurt to it, fresh cilantro, blend all that together, pour it in a drink. Again, all of these ingredients have a purpose. Cucumber, remember, is a diuretic. Kombucha has a lot of… helps with the fermentation and provides some fermented bacteria into the gut. Lots of probiotics of the yogurt, cilantro for the liver.

Mixing all of that together is a great way to sort of help the gut, maybe before a party, after a party, at any time during this holiday season. So as you get ready to enjoy the season, my head’s still not wrapped around that we’re we’re here, remember to try to include these Ayurvedic food hacks to stay healthy this holiday keeping your gut prime and center right in the middle and in focus to keep your immune system, your energy, your weight, and so much more on track as we get ready to welcome in a new year. All right. I hope you enjoyed this particular episode of Superwoman Wellness. If you liked it, remember to rate and review it and share it with your friends. And if you do post a review, email me to hello@doctortaz.com with your address and I’ll be sure to send you a bottle of Boost. That’s hello@doctortaz.com, and I will see you guys next time. Take care.