Ahara Chikitsa - Food as medicine

  This 8 lesson course explores the principles of Ayurveda Ahara Chikitsa, Food as Medicine and shows how to easily put this knowledge into practice for your own wellbeing.    It describes how we can eat more wisely for our health by eating in harmony with nature and describes a personalised dietary plan for our individual needs and gets away from the idea that one diet fits all.

This course comes out of our desire to create something that is practical, designed for a predominantly European audience, to show you how you can incorporate the principles of Ayurveda Ahara Chikitsa into your life.
In today’s world advice on food and nutrition is often confusing and ever changing. The wisdom of Ayurveda is as relevant today as it was 3000 years ago, and gives us logical well-proven guidelines as to how to eat for our health and well-being.

The course is equally suitable for someone with prior knowledge of Ayurveda and those to whom this is completely new. So, whether you are a Yoga or Health professional, a cook, a chef, a care worker, an explorer or just curious, this course has something to offer you. 

 Most of us cook for ourselves and for others whether it is at home or professionally. This course offers a brilliant insight into looking at food and recipes from a fresh perspective. It teaches us about the relationship between food ingredients, taste and digestion, to help you create both culinary and gastronomic masterpieces enabling loved ones or guests to leave the table feeling nourished, balanced and with increased vitality and energy. 
Each lesson is about 1 hour in length and the course includes a comprehensive manual taking an in depth view of the lessons that we have covered.

Purchase here

    Once you have paid you will be sent a password for each lesson which will enable you to view them as many times as you require

​Click on the picture to watch the video for each lesson

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Lesson 6

Lesson 7

Lesson 8

Lesson 1 -   Food as Medicine

Lesson 2 -   Principles of Ayurveda food & Diet

This lesson introduces us to some of the key principles of 
Ayurveda and gives us a framework for understanding that food is our medicine or our poison depending on how or what we eat.
The Pancha Maha Bhutas (5 elements) – ether, air, fire, water and earth.
The Doshas - Vata, Pitta and Kapha in health (Prakriti) and when unbalanced (Vikriti)
Modern Nutrition and Ayurveda
Supplementary notes:  Dosha Questionnaire 

This lesson addresses guidance on how to eat well, including general principles and the importance of eating mindfully
General principles of how to eat well
Dietary advice for Prakriti and Vikriti
Vata, Pitta and Kapha Dosha metabolism and structuring a diet for each Dosha

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Lesson 3 -   How Dosha relates to time & taste

 Lesson 4   Ama

How Doshas relate to the seasons, times of the day and cycle of life 
Satmya - our predisposition to our place of origin
The six tastes (Rasa) – sweet, sour, salt, pungent, bitter and astringent and how they relate to each 
Creating a single dish incorporating all tastes
Creating a meal incorporating all tastes
​Vipaka

This lesson addresses the subject of Ama, toxic substances in the gut that we are unable to absorb, assimilate or eliminate
Ama and Agni
Signs that Ama is present
Pachana
Anti-Ama diet
Digestive tea recipe
Kitchari recipe
Intestinal permeability or leaky gut
Kitchari recipe

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Lesson 5   Agni

Lesson 6  A more detailed look at food

This lesson looks at Agni, our digestive fire and our ability to digest food and how we can improve this
The digestive process from an Ayurvedic perspective
Main types of Agni
Balanced and imbalanced Agni
Practical ways to improve Agni 
Bone broth recipe
Ghee recipe
Malas – the waste material of the body
Microbiome

This lesson looks at the fact that we should consider food as information
as it has the power to change how we look, feel, think and perform
The Gunas and food
Doshas and their Gunas
Attributes of the Pancha Maha Bhutas or elements as seen in food
Additional information on the different food types and their Gunas
Oils and Fats, fish, meat, sweeteners
Culinary herbs and spices

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Lesson 7   Sattva, Rajas & Tamas

This lesson looks at Sattva,  Rajas and Tamas in relation to our psychology and the food we eat
Sattva  - the quality of purity
Rajas – the quality of action and disturbance in the mind
Tamas – the quality of inertia and darkness in the mind
Foods that promote Sattva, Rajas and Tamas 
​Guidelines on Fasting    

Lesson 8  Putting it all together

This lesson is a synthesis of all the lessons and shows us ways to use this classical Ayurveda knowledge in a practical way to cook and eat, and includes: 
The meal experience
Ayurveda Prakriti diet
Antidoting
Using the Gunas to adapt menus
How to adapt recipes for healthy eating
Sattvic cooking