Health & Wellbeing Podcast #5

Hooray, it’s podcast number 5! In this episode I talk with naturopath Lisa Costa Bir about Ayurvedic Medicine.

Want to subscribe to get podcasts automatically? You can do that here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/health-wellbeing-podcast/id1006574743

Lisa is a Naturopath, lecturer and writer as as well as an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant and in this episode I pick her brains on all things Ayurvedic Medicine and how she incorporates her knowledge from this area into her Naturopathic practice and her own health.

Lisa has an interest in treating thyroid and adrenal health. Her practice is in Caringbah in South Sydney.

You can connect with Lisa via Facebook, Instagram or on her website http://lisacostabirnaturopath.com.au/

Ayurvedic Medicine – Podcast #5

Podcast Breakdown:

1.18 A bit about Lisa Costa-Bir, her Indian background and her first experience with Ayurveda in treating her skin condition.
3.24 What is Ayurveda/Ayurvedic medicine?
4.00 The origins of the Ayurvedic word: Life Knowledge
4.43 How does Lisa blend her Ayurvedic knowledge into her Naturopathic practice?
5.22 About the Prakruti, or the individual doshas Vata, Pitta and Kapha
6.30 Want to work out your own prakruti? http://ayurvedadosha.org/doshas/ayurveda-dosha-test
8.35 Lisa discusses what dosha she is, a Vata-Kapha and talks a bit more about Vata
9.56 Pitta people often love spicy foods even though it’s not so great for them.
10.36 Kapha people usually love ice cream and other dairy, but its often too damp and mucous promoting for them.
11.04 A bit more about Kapha and Pitta
13.16 Everything that we do in our diet and our lifestyle influences our health:
“As is the atom, so is the universe
As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm
As is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind”.
13.45 What are the main Ayurvedic teaching Lisa has incorporated into her life personally? Mostly they are around digestive function.
15.30 Food should be body temperature. Spices for Vata and Kapha.
16.10 Combining foods and spices to negate the negative effects of foods.
17.35 Start the morning with a spice mix to get the digestion going.
18.00 Classic ayurvedic recipes Lisa loves: Ginger tea with herbs and spices,
19.40 Golden milk and Benefits of turmeric, plus how to get more benefits out of turmeric such as adding black pepper, fat and using heat.
21.00 Avoid heating honey as it destroys the ‘vitality’ of the honey
22.30 How to look after your spices
23.20 Chai tea
24.00 Spice milk
21.19 The benefits of dates: A rejuvenating tonic, also known as rasayana which is often consumed after giving birth or after intercourse
25.00 Some health and lifestyle techniques that have their origins from Ayurveda such as self massage with sesame oil (great for all the constitutions) or coconut oil.
27.00 Tongue scraping and tongue diagnosis
29.17 Oil pulling
30.20 Seasonal eating
32.45 Some dessert ideas for winter
33.47 Dahl for breakfast? Yes!
34.45 Other techniques to adjust to the season: oil massage for the body and hair
35.25 Pranayama: A series of breathing exercises, a great way to start and/or finish the day.
36.10 Practise the breathing exercise along with Lisa.
38.00 We discuss our favourite Ayurvedic herbs: Shatavari, Ginger and Tribulus for Lisa, Holy Basil and Withania for me.
40.35 How to get in contact with Lisa.

The post Ayurvedic Medicine Podcast appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Ingredients

• 1 fresh organic or hormone free chicken, cut into 8
• 1 small knob fresh turmeric, sliced finely
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced finely
• 1 small red chilli diced small (remove seeds if you don’t like too much heat)
• 1 small knob ginger, sliced finely (don’t worry too much about peeling the skin unless its not organic ginger)
• 1 litre free range chicken stock (e.g. Pacific brand)
• 1/3 cup tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 6
• 1/2 bunch kale, roughly chopped
• 2 fresh limes, juiced
• A small portion of dried seaweed such as Kombu, Wakame or Nori (this helps the proteins to break down and is a good source of iodine)
• 1 packet fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced finely

Method

1.  Heat a heavy based pot to medium heat and add 1-2 tbsp coconut oil.  Brown the skin off the chicken until brown.  Put onto paper towel to drain.

2.  In the same pan add the ginger, onion, garlic, turmeric and chilli and saute for 3-4 minutes.

3.  Deglaze the pan with the shaoxing wine, stirring to lift up all the flavour.

4.  Add chicken back in, then gently pour in stock.  Add shiitake mushrooms and half of the seaweed and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.

5.  Cook for 2 hours.

6.  Put on your rice with the remaining half of the seaweed.

7.  At the 2 hour point add the kale and carrot and cook for a further 20 minutes. (You do this so the vegetables are fresh and crisp).   You can go through and pull out the bones if you wish.   Taste and season accordingly.

8.  Serve with rice and enjoy!  There should be enough for leftovers and this should freeze well.

Tips

This is great for immunity and warding off colds and flu. You can cook this once a week as it gets colder.

I leave the skin on the chicken for flavour, but will remove it before serving.  Remember that we need certain amounts of fat in our diet for a healthy metabolism, but it is processed carbohydrates which are the baddies.

Garlic, ginger, turmeric and chilli are great for the heart and circulation.  You can add more or less chilli if you like.  When you cut the fresh spices thinly you can eat them.

Turmeric is naturally bright yellow and will stain, so be careful it doesn’t come into contact with anything you can’t clean or don’t want yellow (i had yellow fingertips the next day after cooking this).

The post Chicken, spices and shiitake mushroom hotpot with kale appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

This study was the first to suggest that curcumin (the main phytochemical from turmeric) and piperine (from pepper) could reduce the risk of cancer by targeting stem cells. Based on the hypothesis that malignancies arise in tissue stem cells, limiting the number of stem cells may mean that the number of cells with potential to form tumours is also limited.

To investigate the effects of curcumin and piperine on breast stem cell markers and signalling pathways in vitro, investigators used doses that were 20 times the potency available in food. The equivalent doses are possible to achieve with dietary supplements.

The results showed that curcumin and piperine, administered both separately and in combination, decreased the number of stem cells while having no effect on normal differentiated cells. Being selective to cancer stem cells and having low toxicity means these substances have a possible future in breast cancer prevention.

Kakarala M, Brenner DE, Korkaya H, Cheng C, Tazi K, Ginestier C, et al. Targeting breast stem cells with the cancer preventive compounds curcumin and piperine. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2009 Nov 7.

Curcumin’s Potential in Oesophageal Cancer

 The survival rate for oesophageal cancer is low while its incidence is increasing. This study assessed the effect of the natural phytochemical curcumin on a panel of oesophageal cancer cell lines. Of particular interest was the mechanism by which it exerted its purported anti-cancer effects, whether by promotion of mitotic catastrophe, apoptosis or autophagy.

The curcumin treatment reduced all cell line viability within 24 hours of treatment. The predominance of a non-apoptotic form of cell death was observed with features of mitotic catastrophe and autophagy apparent.

Curcumin appeared to affect a key cell cycle checkpoint regulator in curcumin-responsive oesophageal cancer cells, disrupting mitosis and producing cytotoxic effects. Thus, curcumin represents a promising anticancer agent for prevention and treatment of oesophageal cancer.

O’Sullivan-Coyne G, O’Sullivan GC, O’Donovan TR, Piwocka K and McKenna SL. Curcumin induces apoptosis-independent death in oesophageal cancer cells. Br J Cancer 2009;101(9):1585-1595.

The post Spices show promise in anti-cancer properties appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.