I enjoy making small plates of food that can be tweaked and combined to satisfy all diets, then serving a few of these. I usually leave the choice of protein up to the eater, because different people have different needs. I know this is a controversial topic, it was for me. But, I thought I would tackle it, because I want to live in a world where we support the health of all people, and show understanding towards different views.
Ayurveda explains that the different constitutions of people and their life/health context, means there is no one diet that fits all. I will be sharing this in more detail in The Ayurveda Series Podacast out later in the year — if there’s anything in particular you would like me to cover in that podcast, let me know in the comments.
My own experience has been as a vegetarian for 18 years eating a very nutritious diet, which just didn’t work for my constitution in the context of my life. I then became vegan when I got married and really struggled during my pregnancy as well as after. I kept the vegan diet going encouraged by all my friends who like me, thought it was the healthiest and kindest option. And this led, over a period of time, to a huge deterioration in my health which included the symptoms of IBS, Leaky Gut and SIBO, along with many food intolerances, lowered immunity, loss of teeth, malabsorption and dehydration. My nervous system struggled which led me to feel emotionally all over the place, and my gut Microbiome was not in a good place, which impacted my digestion, immunity and mood. I lived like this with symptoms getting worse by the year, for 15 years.
Looking back I can see that the food culture I was living in, the brain fog, the high stress levels in my life due to the different health challenges, and a nervous system that was showing so many signs of struggle; prevented me from realising that my diet just wasn’t working for me — I just couldn’t think straight — and I had no idea that all these things were connected.
It only took 3 months to heal every symptom I’d been suffering, with an Ayurvedic approach. When I went on to study Ayurveda I discovered why the vegetarian and vegan diets, although highly nutritious and carefully planned out, just hadn’t been giving my body and mind what they needed to be healthy. That’s why I started eating meat again, and the change to my health and life has been immense.
I continue to cook a lot of small-plate plant-based meals but add meat, fish and dairy into them for myself; leaving others to add beans, bean products like tofu, and nuts and seeds, if they prefer. I don’t recommend processed vegan products because research is showing these to be unhealthy, and the Ayurvedic approach to food and life is nature-based.
I have such a love of food, and don’t want to get caught into diet fads, or the ‘one diet to feed them all’ view. Ayurveda, which takes a simple, balanced approach to food, shows that this just doesn’t work.
For instance, If you are someone who tends to be thin or underweight; anxious and fearful when stressed, waking at 2-3 in the morning; perhaps stabbing pains that come and go; over-sensitive to loud sounds; ungrounded; experience brain fog; are prone to feeling isolated and lonely: then the likelihood is you are a vata type with an imbalance (you can read about vata here). Under these circumstances eating a vegan diet will only make things worse, and the quickest way to return to balance so that these symptoms can fall away, is to eat some red meat, along with other vata balancing protocols. Please do feel free to ask questions in the comments, I know this is controversial but I really am coming from a place of care.
I had a client once, a young man who had some of these symptoms and suffered panic attacks. His life had started to feel unmanageable. He had been eating a healthy vegan diet for a few years. To begin with he felt good on this, but for the last year he had not. He was struggling so much with digestive issues, low energy, low mood and panic attacks that he agreed to eat 4 ounces of beef each day for two weeks. At the end of that time his symptoms were all gone, his energy improved and the panic attacks stopped.
On the other hand, I have seen people with a completely different constitution, who I have advised to stop eating red meat, and for whom a light, warm vegan diet worked well. We are all different.
Today’s recipe is a squash risotto. If you eat meat some chicken would work well. White beans are good as a vegan option and you could replace the cheese with 1-2 tablespoons of yeast flakes.
Squash risotto
INGREDIENTS (2 small plates)
1/2 cup arborio rice
2 cups hot stock
1 tablespoon ghee/butter/olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese or cheddar
Winter squash (I used crown prince)
Rock salt
Black pepper
Freshly grated zest of a 1/2 lemon
METHOD
Slice and wrap the squash in baking parchment and cook in the oven (I cook on high for about 20 minutes in my oven). Sauté the chopped onion and garlic in the ghee, butter or olive oil, on low until soft then turn the heat up and add the rice, stirring for a minute or two. Next add the wine and once the rice has absorbed this start adding the hot stock a ladle at a time. You want the rice to absorb the ladle of stock before adding the next one. Once all the stock has been added and absorbed, add the other ingredients and season with the salt and pepper. Serve with the squash drizzled in olive oil and seasoned with rock salt.
The Pyrenees
The above photo shows the little kitchen I worked in while skill sharing in the Catalan Pyrenees, at the project I mentioned here, and here. It was a temporary kitchen while the new one was being built. The sink was a rock outside with a bowl. Water came from a spring a few hundred meters down the mountain, and a kettle to heat it was an old pan. Definitely not all mod cons, but the simplicity of life there was a treasure so large.
I used to sit on that chair in the photo looking up at the mountains. When the few of us living there shared food together, more chairs would arrive, some people sat on the stone steps. All of us sharing the sunshine, the stillness and the absolute peace of nature there.
I remember a cuckoo that drove everyone crazy, because it woke them up every morning. I’m partly deaf so I didn’t hear it until I put my hearing aids in, and because it was new to me I loved it. A guy called Gerrard used to cuss the cuckoo in Catalan, raise his eyebrows and shake his head, as he ate toast for his breakfast, with tomatoes and olive oil.
I love butter but there was none to be had. We used olive oil for everything. It was the darkest, tastiest olive oil I’ve ever tried. And came from an olive farm nearby.
Each day I baked bread. We would make toast in the morning and for snacks in the late evenings, drizzling copious amounts of the olive oil over, slicing big, red, juicy, freshly picked tomatoes and then sprinkle salt. It was delicious.
Eating these simple ingredients was such a pleasure in the early morning hours, as my gaze got lost in the salmon pink of the Pyrenees freshly lit by the rising sun. And in the evenings munching by candlelight, usually in the company of Gerrard telling me stories of his life there. Maybe one day I will go back for a visit.
Next week I’m going to be playing with risotto recipes, and looking at the work of Dr Iain McGilchrist on the brain, to show why a few small adjustments to how we bring ourselves to the world, can reduce stress.
Till Wednesday, warmest wishes,
Lucy x
This is a very interesting read. I have definitely come to the conclusion that my vata constitution needs animal proteins, though I tend to limit this to chicken, fish and eggs. I'm curious that you specify red meat and wonder what difference this would make? I have steered clear of red meat for many years as I find it rather heavy to digest...
This confirms my experience in so many ways. I've always loved and craved meat - my mother said asking for more meat was the first thing I said as a baby. As a young adult, not cooking much or looking after myself very well, I would sometimes get a visceral craving for steak. As soon as I ate some, the craving went and I felt stronger, better. The same thing has been happening over the past couple of years, but this time with lamb. After a good lamb curry, I feel completely different - stronger and calmer. It's as if my system's had a reset!
A while ago I did an online course on Animism. The second main topic, introduced by the teacher as a difficult one for some, was meat-eating and vegetarianism. He told us not to kid ourselves that by being vegetarian we would be avoiding the consumption of other beings. From an animist perspective, plants are beings too. There's no problem with eating - it's what humans and other animals have to do in order to live. The important thing is your attitude to your food, which should be one of appreciation and gratitude.