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.
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Denne historien er fra May - June 2021-utgaven av VOGUE India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Breathe In, Breathe Out
A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork
Red Pill, Blue Pill
India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum
Sign of the times
No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily
Return to form
Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports
Dimple, All Day
YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone
Let it grow
When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.
Beauty and the feast
The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.
Sweet serendipity
From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.