Vata Time – Ayurvedic Autumn Breakfast

For me the source of feeling healthy and happy lies in living a balanced life. Good sleep, good exercise and good food are therefore essential. When life goes too fast it’s easy to get unbalanced. But especially a healthy eating pattern helps me to survive stressful periods.

Knowledge of life
It’s the ayurvedic eating pattern that provides useful guidance for me. This millennia old medical system, originally from Kerala, South India, tries to rebalance our bodies. Ayurveda means ‘science’ or ‘knowledge of life’. A prominent notion in ayurveda is ‘agni’ or ‘digestive power’. It’s essential for your well being that your ‘digestive fire’ is always burning. When food isn’t digested well, your body could create toxic waste (ama) and you might get ill.

The ayurveda also distinguishes three body types, or ‘dosha’s’: vata, pitta, kapha. Depending on your dosha you may need to adjust your diet. For me vata is dominant in  my constitution. That means that I’m a creative, open minded person, but can also be sensitive. Although I love to travel and try new things, my body has the tendency to run out of energy very quick and to get cold. According to the ayurvedic guidelines I need to eat warm and moist food to antidote dry- and coolness. Furthermore it’s important to eat sweet, salt and a little sour food.

Tame your vata
It may be no surprise that vata increases in autumn. The days are getting colder, shorter and darker and windier. The elements of vata, ether and air – are more dominant in autumn. Therefore it’s easier to get an vata-imbalance this time of the year. In this season I keep an extra eye on my diet. Especially in the cold and dark early morning I try to nourish myself well with a warm, sweet and moist breakfast. It warms me up and sooths my stomach well. My favorite autumn and winter breakfast is a spicy porridge. This simple, recipe contains quinoa and rolled oats, but you can use also grains like basmati rice or semolina. For the milk I prefer soya milk, but rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk or cow milk are also excellent options. Feel free to use other nuts or seeds to garnish the porridge. As a vata person I am careful with raw nuts, because they are difficult to digest.

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Apple and carrot porridge Recipe
Serves: 1
Preparation time: 15 minutes.

Ingredients:
20 gram rolled oats
20 gram quinoa
1 carrot, peeled and chopped in little cubes
½ apple, washed and chopped in little pieces
200 ml soya milk
200 ml water
1 inch fresh grated ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp kurkuma
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp grated coconut flesh
1 tbsp of roasted pumpkin seeds

Put the rolled oats, quinoa, milk, water, carrots, ginger, and salt in a small pan and bring to a boil. Cook for five minutes. Add the apple pieces and simmer until they are soft (about 2 minutes). Turn of the heat and let the porridge cool down for 5 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon, kurkuma, roasted pumpkin seeds and grated coconut flesh and serve.