Ghee is the essence of butter, the end result of a slow clarification process that removes all water from butter. In Ayurvedic cuisine we consider ghee the best type of fat to cook with. For centuries ghee has been a sign of wealth in India, one who had large stocks of ghee was said to possess liquid gold. Indeed, there’s something quite wonderful about the caramel-like aroma and flavour of ghee.

Ghee is a digestive, it helps to improve absorption and assimilation of food in the gut. It’s unparalleled in the way it nourishes the nervous system and it’s therefore called “food for the brain”. Ghee makes the body flexible and in the right dose, it’s good for the three doshas. It particularly pacifies Pitta and Vata and is good for Kapha in moderation. Ghee is regularly used in Ayurvedic pharmacies as a catalytic agent that carries the medicinal properties of herbs into the body tissues. Here are 5 ghee facts for you to remember:

1. Ghee contains omega 3 and omega 9 fatty acids, along with vitamins A, D, E and K.
2. Ghee promotes memory, intellect, power of digestion, immunity and strength.
3. Ghee keeps indefinitely without refrigeration. It just needs to be well closed. Always dip into your ghee jar with a clean spoon, otherwise the ghee can go off.
4. Ghee is suitable for those with dairy intolerance.
5. Ghee is a sattvic food, which means it exerts a calming and pacifying effect on the mind. It encourages positive thoughts and helps to cultivate higher states of consciousness.
   

Preparation: approximate cooking time: 50 minutes.

 Ingredients:

• 750 grs, or 3 packs of unsalted organic butter

• Sterilized clean storage jar

• Muslim cloth or very fine strainer

 Preparation:

1. Place the butter in a heavy pan and melt over medium heat until it’s all liquid. It will take about five minutes.

2. Reduce heat to minimum and let it simmer uncovered for the next 45 minutes or so. It’s very important to use the lowest possible flame, otherwise the ghee will cook too fast and may easily get burned. Let it simmer until there is only a trace of air bubbles on the surface, which indicates it’s done. Turn off the fire and let it cool a little.

3. Pour into a clean jar using a muslin cloth or strainer to filter the froth from the top layer. Make sure that the sediment remains at the bottom of the saucepan.

4. Once the Ghee cools down it will solidify and it will be ready to use.

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Ariadna and Issy at April’s cooking workshop on cleansing

I’ve recently had a chance to do a much needed fast/cleanse for which I’m most grateful for. I’ve been doing fasts since I was 17. This last one might have been one of the best yet. During the first month of our move you see, getting pots and pans to cook with was an adventure, which at times involved leaping. Hence we (heavily) relied on takeaways, frozen food and left overs (gasp!). Yes, not ideal and certainly detrimental to digestion.

The situation improved in the months that followed, yet by the time April arrived, I could feel the burden the poor diet had created on every cell of my being. I needed to detox and detox I did. Perhaps one of my longest detox so far, for a period of three full weeks. As the days went by, I felt better and better, mentally clearer and happy as I renewed myself inside out.

Cleansing is perhaps one of the most simple and yet most effective ways of healing (maybe the most cost effective too). You can do it at home, whilst on holidays (my favourite), or at a retreat with the help of a professional. It is important for a cleanse to be appropriately done though. Otherwise we risk causing an imbalance to our Vata (the bio-element that runs the nervous system), and our Prana (the vital force that glues the body, mind and soul). If that were to happen, we might end up in a worse place than we started.

A simple vegetarian diet with plenty of moong bean and vegetables like courgettes, carrots, broccoli, spring greens and asparagus (they’re now in season) might just do the trick. Certain Ayurvedic remedies also work wonders in the cleansing process. Do get in touch if you’ll like to get started with your cleanse, and you’ll like some guidance. It’s not too late and your body and mind will thank you for it. If you find yourself either tired, sluggish, bloated, constipated, suffering with generalised pains and aches, lacking good skin complexion and mental clarity, chances are high that your digestive system is overloaded with ama- toxins, and you need to cleanse.

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It’s late at night. First you lie on your left, then on your right. Face up, face down and back to your left to start all over again. Is this familiar? It turns out that more than 50% of the population has difficulties getting to sleep, and women are three times more likely than men to suffer, say new statistics from the Great British Sleep Survey. The results? Mornings lack a spring in our step getting out the door; our focus and attention is diminished; simple tasks are insurmountable mountains, in days that seem to drag on and on. Caffeine may come to the rescue and provide an extra push, but even the caffeine lady can’t lift one up when many a night has been bad. We are officially tired, in need of sleep, which can make things worse when getting to bed at night.

Here are my top tips for you to try and resolve the issue in a natural Ayurvedic way:

• Massage your feet and calves; your face, neck and head. An over-active mind, coupled with stress are often the main causes for insomnia. Massaging these areas effectively releases the accumulated tension, soothes the mind and calms the nerves. Apply pressure with your finger tips, thumbs and palms. Neal’s yard has a nice variety of creams, lavender, rose and geranium are ideal.

• The nose is a direct route to the brain. Relaxing aromas can shift an anxious state of mind to a calm one. On a flannel, on your pillow, or on round cotton pads, pour a generous amount of rose water. On top of that, add either jasmine, lavender or sandalwood. Keep on your forehead and under your nose.

• Bring your attention to your breathing. Notice how your breath may be shallow or constrained. Gradually focus on taking longer and deeper breaths. Feel your abdomen rising and expanding with each breath in, closing as you breathe out. If you are familiar with alternate breathing, practise a few rounds of it.

• Make sure your stomach is neither full nor empty. Having dinner at least three hours before going to bed is ideal.

• A cup of hot milk with honey, turmeric and nutmeg is extremely helpful to induce good sleep. Avoid taking it if you’ve had late dinner. There should be at least a two hour gap.

Hope this helps on your way to many restful nights and sweet dreams!

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My lovely patient Alice(*) has recently returned from a skiing holiday in France. Truth be told, I feel rather nostalgic now. I grew up in Granada, a beautiful city with glorious peaks- the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Every winter I would spend most weekends up in the crispy white slopes, with nature at its best, loving every minute spent on my skis.
It’s no surprise that Alice now reports, “ever since the mountain break and your Ayurvedic herbs my symptoms are gone!” Indeed, this is a revitalizing combination. The mountains are a great place for healing and a source of many medicinal herbs. It’s where the yogis and sages of yore would spend years practising Ayurveda and Yoga.
When I’m high up in the mountains I become totally enveloped by them. It feels like being on a gateway to heaven, where you can almost touch and speak to the Divine. Worries melt away, and there is nothing but an intimate connection between yourself, the earth, the sun and the wind as you slide down from the tops. It’s always an exhilarating experience for body, mind and soul.
We managed to catch the last snow of the season in May 2013, fingers crossed it won’t be long till next trip!

(*) for privacy reasons all my patients are called “Alice” or “Bob”

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There is no vegetable I find as useful as the artichoke for internal cleansing purposes. Well prepared, the artichoke can be a truly therapeutic dish. I’ve loved it since childhood, when my mother used to prepare it as soon as spring arrived. She would cook it in many different ways, all delicious and tasty. Not all artichoke recipes yield the same benefits, though. At this weekend’s spring workshop, you’ll be able to learn useful artichoke recipes for your internal cleansing programme.
Did you know about its many medicinal uses? The artichoke is a mighty antioxidant, as well as a powerful digestive, hepatic and gall bladder aid. It naturally reduces cholesterol, and thereby decreases the risk for arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease. From an Ayurvedic point of view, artichokes exert a cooling and drying effect on the organism. They are effective for disorders of Pitta and Kapha, where their juicy flesh eliminates excess heat and accumulated toxins. Artichokes are therefore great for this time of year,  I can’t wait to start making them!

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I know these days deciding whether or not drink milk can be a difficult choice to make. We are surrounded by many positive and negative arguments. These can leave us confused, wondering whether to happily pick the white bottle or carton out of the fridge, promptly abandon the habit and find a replacement, or fluctuate between sometimes drinking milk and sometimes not. Is this familiar at all?

For our organism to thrive, it is essential we make the right dietary choices for our individual needs, being well aware of the nutritional factors involved.

Ayurveda sheds some interesting light on the subject. This helps us understand milk better and explains that missing piece of the puzzle on why there are so many different experiences with this one dietary choice. So, what does Ayurveda say about drinking milk? Milk is considered to be like ambrosia, best amongst the vitalising and strengthening substances for our body and mind. A beautiful gift of nature offered by the loving cows, it has sweet, cooling and nourishing qualities that build up our body tissues, and promote intelligence, strength and immunity. In addition, it can be very useful in the treatment of diseases, including anaemia, acidity, fever, constipation and disorders of both the male and female reproductive systems. This is good news for milk lovers.

That said, there are certain conditions for consuming milk, which if ignored, can quickly turn it into an unhealthy drink and contribute to several ailments. To avoid this, Ayurveda advises we respect the following golden rules:

1. Milk should always be boiled and drunk hot. This allows us to digest and absorb it more easily. If we drink it cold, milk is difficult to assimilate and can give rise to excess mucous, digestive and respiratory congestion, heaviness and tiredness.
2. Milk should not be taken or mixed with ANY fruits, leafy vegetables, fish, salt or sour foods. Milk is incompatible with these items, which means that its goodness can’t be extracted if eaten in combination with them. Instead, it becomes an undigested build-up of material (known as “ama”) that releases toxins in our digestive system and can spread to other systems to trigger pathological responses. It’s those breakfasts with milk and oranges, or those meals accompanied with milk, that are best avoided and where you may wish to search for a milk substitute.
3. Milk is heavy to digest, and therefore you need a good digestive fire to assimilate it. Milk is thus not be well-suited for people with a low metabolism, with digestive disorders, or with imbalanced kapha, who should improve their condition before they take it.

These days, we must also look at the source and quality of our milk. If it isn’t organic or unhomogenised milk, the chances are that its natural qualities have been altered.

Here are some local milk suppliers who offer good quality milk. Check them out if milk is right for you, and enjoy a hot cuppa before going to bed!

• Ivy Farm Dairy: organic, unhomogenised, Jersey milk. This is my favourite!
• Cow Nation: organic, unhomogenised milk
• Somerset Dairy: organic, unhomogenised milk
• Yeo Valley Farms: organic milk

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