„In Ayurveda, food is always cooked softly and raw food is avoided“ is a widespread misconception. It is true that in Ayurveda overloading the digestive system is seen as the cause of many diseases.
In classical Ayurveda, leafy salads were rarely used. The food group „Haritavarga“ traditionally referred to fresh „greens“ and included fresh ginger, lime, radish, coriander leaves, carrots, onions and garlic.
We get to the bottom of the question of whether salads are really as healthy, light and digestible as they are considered to be in Western wholefood cuisine.
The fact is:
From an Ayurvedic perspective, food is used for tissue synthesis and energy production. If more energy is consumed for the digestion and metabolisation of food than is subsequently available, this is a loss-making business. We invest more than we gain in the end.
We humans are warm-blooded animals with a body temperature of just under 37°C. Our digestion and the chemical reactions of our metabolism are temperature-dependent. Enzymes have their maximum activity at a certain temperature; in organisms at the same temperature, most enzymes are at their peak at 37°C.
Cold food is first heated inside the body before being digested. Raw vegetable salads are not only cold, but also raw - their digestion therefore requires even more energy (agni). Lettuce leaves are naturally light (laghuguna) but difficult to digest (gurupaka). The light nature will hardly nourish our body, but the heavy digestibility requires a lot of energy to process.
Ayurveda therefore recommends foods and drinks that are easy to digest, absorb, transport and process. Warming preparation methods such as boiling, steaming, stewing, baking, roasting or frying create a kind of „pre-digestion“ in the cooking pot, which relieves our body.
Conclusion:
The strengths of lettuce are ayurvedically manageable. Bitter varieties (e.g. chicory, rocket, radicchio, dandelion) have a blood-purifying, antimicrobial and reducing effect. As we consume too few bitter substances anyway, salads are well suited for this purpose.
Salads are rich in fibre and therefore promote bowel function and defecation. An issue that is a problem for many mixed dieters - but one that does not play a role in an Ayurvedic diet. The flip side: fibre is always fibre, it is indigestible and causes considerable problems for many people.
My tip
If you like salads, choose mainly bitter varieties, eat small portions of side dishes and only eat them at lunchtime when digestion is strong. This way you can enjoy the freshness and health benefits - without annoying digestive problems afterwards.
With best wishes for your health,
Ralph Steuernagel
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