Heal your digestion and experience balance, clarity and vitality
YOU CAN PREVENT ILLNESS AND PROMOTE VIBRANT HEALTH BY NOURISHING YOURSELF WITH THE RIGHT BALANCE OF AUGMENTING AND EXTRACTIVE FOODS.
Your body needs more augmenting foods than extractive foods to maintain the tissues and balance the doshas. Generally speaking, have 60% augmenting and 40% extractive food on your plate at a meal. Consuming meals in this 60:40 proportion will help maintain a calm, balanced state of body and mind and support agni. When food is thoughtfully prepared with nourishing oils and moderate amounts of spices it will include a proper proportion of the rasa (6 tastes) so that the body is maintained with strength and vitality.
Augmenting foods are those that nourish and ground your body and mind. They build tissue and replenish what is lost. These foods are generally sweeter in taste – things like rice, carrots, pumpkin and avocado. Eating augmenting foods gives us vitality and energy.
Extractive foods are those that are cleansing in nature. They ask your body to give something up in order to digest them and are essential in breaking down healthy fats. They are often bitter or astringent in taste – foods like kale, collards, legumes and nuts. In order to function at our best levels to fight illness and promote health, we need slightly more augmenting foods than extractive. We recommend a 60:40 ratio. This is an easy guideline to follow – just eat slightly more grains and sweeter vegetables than legumes and bitter or astringent vegetables in your bowl to have a meal that will be more easily digested and support the balance of your doshas.
Although enjoyable, cooking is only part of a rich Ayurvedic lifestyle, there is much to explore and learn. If you want to expand your personal understanding or if you are looking for a blissful career, we have several opportunities to study Ayurveda online with courses for every starting point - learn at your own pace and flourish.
The Hale Pule Balance Bowl
The 60:40 ratio is the foundation of the Hale Pule Balance Bowl. There are four base components to the bowl: grains, legumes, an augmenting vegetable and an extractive vegetable. By rotating through a broad list of sattvic foods, herbs and spices, and including additions such as avocado, buttermilk, chutneys, baking or chapati, there is plenty of variety to keep your senses engaged.
To get you started, here is a sample recipe for a Hale Pule Balance Bowl :
Augmenting & Extractive
Serves 4
Preparation time 45 mins - 1 hour
WHOLE MUNG BEANS (EXTRACTIVE)
You'll need
1 cup whole mung beans, soaked overnight in plenty of water
2 Tbsp. ghee
¼ cup fresh herbs (we used Thai basil)
2 tsp. fennel powder
⅛ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. mineral salt
1 tsp. chopped kombu (optional)
2 tsp. fresh squeezed lime juice
Here's how
Drain the soak water from the beans. Warm the oil in a pressure cooker over medium heat and add the spices, cooking 1 to 2 minutes until the aroma comes up. Add the whole mung beans, salt and kombu (if using) and add water to cover the beans by ½ inch. Close the lid on the pressure cooker and bring to pressure. Turn the heat to low and cook for 24 minutes. Allow the pressure to come down naturally and add lime juice five minutes before serving.
CARDAMOM RICE (AUGMENTING)
You'll need
1 cup white basmati rice
2 cups water
2 tsp. ghee
¼ tsp. salt
4 cardamom pods
Here's how
Add all ingredients into a rice cooker and press start. If you are using a pot, bring all ingredients to a boil and turn to very low for 15 minutes. Allow the rice to rest for five minutes before serving. You can remove the pods, or chew the seeds inside for a lovely cooling experience.
SPICED CARROTS (AUGMENTING)
You'll need
2 cups chopped carrots
1 Tbsp. ghee
½ tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. mineral salt
Here's how
Warm the ghee in a sauce pan. Add the spices and cook until the aroma comes up. Add salt and carrots and stir to coat well. Add water to ¼ of the height of the carrots. Cover and cook until a knife pierces them easily (about 5 to 7 minutes, depending on your cooktop and pan).
COOLING KALE (EXTRACTIVE)
You'll need
2 cups chopped kale
1 ½ Tbsp. coconut oil
2 tsp. dried mint (or ½ Tbsp. fresh)
2 tsp. freshly grated turmeric or ½ tsp. powder
¼ tsp. mineral salt
Here's how
Warm the coconut oil in a shallow pan. Add the mint and turmeric and cook until the aroma comes up (about 1 minute). Add the salt and kale and stir well. Add water to ¼ the height of the greens. Cover and cook until kale is bright green and tender (about 5 minutes).
Serve all components together to create your Balance Bowl.
Here is a handy list of augmenting and extractive foods to guide your Ayurvedic cooking
Once you see how easy it is to use the Hale Pule Balance Bowl as your template, you’ll find that meal planning and preparation become second nature, and your creativity with the combinations will begin to flow.
