Ayurvedic Fat Fighter #4
Add curry powder to each meal. Ayurvedic medicine recognises six tastes – sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent and pungent. In order to feel satiated at a meal and eat less, you have to have all six tastes present in your food. These six tastes also help to improve your digestion and melt fat in your body. The average American diet usually only has three of these six tastes – sweet, salty and sour. Curry powder is an easy way to incorporate the six tastes into every meal. You can either cook with it so that your food gets the full flavour of the curry powder or just add a small amount as a condiment. You can even keep it in a saltshaker on your dining table and sprinkle it on your food.
When you go shopping for curry powder, avoid the traditional ones that you see at most grocery stores. These may be too spicy and overpower the other tastes. Instead, you can look online for Ayurvedic Churnas. These Churnas have an equal blend of the six tastes. Even better, make your own! My favourite curry powder recipe comes from my Aunt Indra. It takes only a few minutes to make.
Curry Powder Blend
In a coffee grinder, grind the following ingredients together:
- 5 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 small (1 1/2 inch) cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves
After you grind the above ingredients together, add:
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
Ayurvedic Fat Fighter #5
A raw silk glove massage, called Gharshana, is an easy and inexpensive home spa treatment that fights fat. This type of massage helps to energise and detoxify the body. It’s specifically designed to help with weight loss, cellulite and water retention by improving lymphatic drainage and circulation. This helps to move toxins and fat out of your body and stimulates digestion.
The three main areas for the massage are the arms, abdomen, and legs. For the arms,begin with circles on the shoulder and proceed down the upper arm with back and forth strokes covering all surfaces. Make circles on the elbow and then back and forth strokes on the forearm. Resume making circles on the wrist. On the hand, make back and forth movements emphasising the spaces between each finger. Repeat the same sequence on the other arm.
For the stomach, you start with a clockwise motion first, which supports the natural direction of digestion. Then massage the abdomen using horizontal strokes with hands moving in opposite directions. Next, use up and down strokes on the sides of the torso.
The last area is the legs. Using circular strokes, massage the buttocks and hips. Move back and forth on the thigh using both hands and covering all surfaces. Use circular strokes on the knee using both hands. Return to the back and forth strokes on the lower leg using both hands. Then use circular strokes on the ankles. The feet require back and forth strokes. Emphasise the sole of the foot and the spaces between each toe. Repeat on the other side.
Raw silk gloves are easily found online. You can do the raw silk massage daily and it doesn’t require any massage oil.
You can also have the massage done at our Maharishi Ayurvedic Health Centre.
By Kulreet Chaudhary, MD. Originally posted on doctoroz.com
