Therapeutic Power Of Food Through Four Seemingly Different Schools Of Thought

Ancient wisdom has always been a repository of healing edibles. Harvesting secrets from the East to the West, Sonal Ved breaks down the therapeutic power of food through four seemingly different schools of thought

- Sonal Ved

The Mayans and Aztecs are believed to have turned to hot raw cacao to open their heart chakras. In the Amazon basin, ayahuasca leaves continue to draw hordes with the promise of a spiritual experience, and in Japan, for centuries, monks have sworn by a matcha fix before meditating. Closer home, the Bhagavad Gita prescribes prayers to be recited pre-meal, with verses that draw a connection between food and spirituality. What all these ancient civilizations seem to share is the Hippocratian oath to let food be your medicine.

“It is Vedic wisdom that our bodies are made up of five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Whenever there’s an imbalance of these elements, there is a disease. As soon as we bring back the balance, there is health,” explains Subah Jain, founder of the Satvic Movement, an Indian health education platform with over two million followers on YouTube. In New York, Zoey Gong, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) nutritionist, and chef echoes Jain when she explains: “The core of Yao Shan (TCM food therapy) is to use food to adjust imbalances.” The two schools may seem diverse, but both celebrate the healing properties of cinnamon, ginger and gotu kola in our diet.

For me, the foremost repository of food-based healing rituals can be found in the Atharvaveda, wherein rests the philosophy of Ayurveda. Even 3,000 years later, many Indians subscribe to it. The way we cook, whether it is the tempering or chunk that comes loaded with phytonutrient-rich spices, or garnishing with vitamin C-soaked lemon juice, it all goes back to the principles in Ayurveda.