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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You may have this question about the safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic medicines if you are interested in trying these out, or you may just want to know where Ayurveda stands on this matter. Ayurveda is a systematic, scholarly tradition with time-tested medical protocols. Its appearance on this side of the globe, however, is rather recent and so it’s natural to ask, “Can we trust this ‘new’ system? Does it have any evidence supporting it?” The short answer is “yes, it does”.

Today’s medical standards have driven many Ayurvedic doctors, students and researchers to conduct trials and studies to prove or disprove the validity of Ayurveda. While these give us some valuable information, modern methodologies aren’t always the best means to obtain reliable answers to the research questions posed about the Ayurvedic system, since many fundamental aspects and paradigms of the system are not duly considered when conducting your typical double-blind clinical study.

Some of these studies, for example, may administer a potentially beneficial drug and a placebo to a group of arthritis patients, to determine the usefulness of the drug. On analysis, if a greater number of patients taking the drug show positive results, it is concluded that it must be a drug “likely to be beneficial”.

Now according to Ayurveda, every patient with arthritis is a unique case with a unique pathology, depending on what causative factors and vital elements have been compromised. He or she would also have a different body constitution, and follow a different type of diet and lifestyle that may be either conducive or detrimental to arthritis.

This means that to gain insight into the positive effects of a drug, whether herbal or not, these factors must be evaluated, and an appropriate drug then given for the patient, not the condition. In one way, you could even say there is no drug for arthritis, but only a “right drug” for the “right patient”.

Some modern studies consider that animals such as rats are good “subjects” to experiment on, and that this research can produce significant results that can be used to establish theories for humans. From an Ayurvedic perspective, a number of objections can be raised to obtaining evidence in this manner, one being that it bypasses the fact that rats don’t have human consciousness, a factor that invariably plays a role in all our physiological and pathological processes of disease.

The data on the validity, safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic treatments, including research methods, has been recorded in “shastras”, medical encyclopaedias of great depth and value, such as Caraka Samhita. These encourage practitioners to practise and develop their Ayurvedic knowledge using various logical, empirical and analytical methods. Furthermore, they advise practitioners to continuously sharpen their intelligence and analytical skills, and to maintain rigorous standards of physical, mental and spiritual “purity” in order to enhance astuteness and ensure accurate results in both their practice and research.

Here are some links, if you are interested in browsing modern research on Ayurveda.

• International Journal of Ayurveda Research
• Digital Helpline for Ayurveda Research Articles
• Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences 

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