Yes! Holiday season is here! For some of us, it is the best time of year. For others, it’s torture. Christmas dinners are great – when you’re eating it! But sometimes, afterwards, your don’t feel so good anymore. Sometimes, you need to ‘cut yourself some slack’ – and don’t overanalyse what you’re eating. Here’s why: according to Ayurveda, how (and when) you eat is at least as important as what you eat.

Have you ever wondered the effect of how you approach your food on your actual digestion – and the assimilation of all the wonderful nutrients that are in it? Ayurveda states that a person’s health is mainly defined by his/her digestive system. In other words – the better you’re able to digest your food, the healthier you are. Sounds simple, right? So what if I told you that the circumstances in which you eat, and the intention and attention with which you approach your food, actually have a huge influence on your ability to digest it? How many people you know take their breakfast as they rush out the door, or eat their dinner while watching TV? Plenty, right? And how many people you that actually chew their food, and take the time to really taste it? Chances are that these numbers are significantly lower…

Paying attention to your food, taking time and rest to eat, chewing carefully, tasting… All these things are very important for good digestion. The actual act of eating begins with preparing the food. Prepare food with love, care and attention. Take time to cook. When it comes to eating, there are a couple of guidelines.

• First of all, Ayurveda states that food should be eaten sitting down. So don’t eat your breakfast or lunch on the bike or running out of your house. Time to eat is also a time to share and connect – the company you enjoy your food with can intensify and lift your experience.
• Secondly: chew! A lot of people seem to try to chew as little as possible. They wolf their food and swallow it as quickly as they can. What a shame…! You barely have the time to taste all the lovely flavours. Besides, chewing your food is vital for activation of enzymes – and they are crucial for the assimilation of nutrients in your food.
• Last but not least: enjoy your food! According to Ayurveda, the intention with which we take our food in is as important as the food itself. In other words – you can have food that is less healthy, but as long as it is ‘welcome’ in your body, it will do less harm, than healthier food that you prefer not to eat.

If you eat food with attention, chew well, and take time to eat, you will notice that your body feels more satisfied after eating, which will lower the chances that you over-eat, crave more food, or want to snack afterwards. After eating, you should not lie down, nor do heavy exercises. Taking a short walk about 20 minutes after finishing your meal is ideal. Especially Kapha-types benefit from this*. Best is not to eat after 8pm, and approach your lunch as the most important and heaviest meal of the day.

Coming back to the holidays, eating only healthy food might seem impossible. And maybe it is. Remember that how you eat, in some cases outweigh what you eat. If you follow the ‘rules’ above, you see that food is mostly about love and attention… what other words describe the holidays better?

For the people that are already puzzling over what to make for Christmas… I included not one but two super easy recipes that are not too heavy in a Christmas meal, easy to digest and still super tasty & festive!

*PUMPKIN HUMMUS*

• 1 small pumpkin (about 300 grams)
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cm fresh ginger (root)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• ½ – 1 teaspoon salt
• some black pepper according to your taste (if you are a Pitta person, it is best to skip this)

Cut the pumpkin in two and take the seeds out with a spoon. Cut the pumpkin in cubes and steam for about 15 minutes or until the flesh is soft. You can toast the rest of the pumpkin seeds in the oven or toast in the pan – they make a nice and healthy snack! (Take all the remaining flesh off and wash them carefully first). Place pumpkin and all other ingredients in a food processor / kitchen machine and blend with enough water to make a smooth hummus. Garnish with some of the roasted pumpkin seeds.

*ALMOND APRICOT TRUFFLES*

• 1 cup of ground almonds
• 1/3 cup of apricots (dried and cut in small pieces)
• ¼ cup of sunflower seeds (toasted on low fire)
• a pinch of vanilla powder
• 2 table spoons of maple syrup

Mix all ingredients and make smooth round balls, the size of a truffle. In the picture, I used some rose petals for decoration. Great for Pitta types.

Happy holidays! <3
*What’s a Kapha Type? Missed my last blog with the explanation of the 3 types (Dosha’s)? Read it here!