When I squeezed my own orange juice from halved fruit at the breakfast buffet in a trade fair hotel a few days ago, I was surprised once again: to fill a 200ml glass with juice, I needed 6 halved oranges! I would never have eaten this amount as fruit, but I could certainly have drunk more glasses of the juice.
Many people drink fruit juices from concentrates with a high sugar and calorie content every day. As fruit is widely categorised as „healthy“, people rarely think about whether their morning multivitamin juice is really beneficial. In the following, I therefore put fruit juices to the Ayurvedic test.
The fact is:
Fruit (phala) is one of 12 food groups in Ayurveda and is dominated by the water element. The most common flavours are sweet, sour and tart. Sweet and tart flavours have a cooling effect, while sour flavours have a secondary heating effect.
The effect on Dosha can be summarised as follows:
- Sweet fruit increases Kapha, lowers Pitta and Vata.
- Sour fruit increases Pitta and has an irritating effect on the blood tissue.
- Tart fruit increases Vata and lowers Pitta.
In Ayurveda, fruit juices are regarded as nectar (amrit) if they are obtained from fresh, sweet, ripe, seasonal fruit from the surrounding area and consumed in moderation. They then have a moisturising, cooling, nourishing and soothing effect - qualities that are referred to in Ayurveda as rasayana (regenerating). Grapes (Vitis vinifera), which fulfil all these criteria, are considered to be the highest quality fruit.
Fresh juices from medicinal plants are known in Ayurveda as Svarasa labelled. The recommended daily dose is between 20-60ml. Fruit juices can certainly be dosed higher, as they are not medicinal plant extracts in the narrower sense.
Conclusion:
The dose makes the difference! In future, pay attention to the quality of the fruit whose juice you want to enjoy regularly. Never drink more than 1 glass (200ml) a day at room temperature. Cooling additionally increases Kapha and Vata Dosha.
Spices can offset the undesirable side effects of some types of fruit. Adding ginger makes your juice easier to digest, while cardamom and cloves alleviate respiratory problems with mucus and protect the stomach.
If you suffer from chronic Kapha (e.g. respiratory diseases) or Pitta disorders (e.g. skin diseases), first speak to an experienced Ayurveda therapist to find out whether and which varieties are suitable for you. Otherwise the nectar can quickly become „poison“ and the delicious juice can aggravate your symptoms.
With best wishes for your health,
Ralph Steuernagel
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