The ultimate in eating the rainbow.
Jump to RecipeSpring is ALMOST here. The snow and ice are thawing, the sun is shifting, the birds are coming out, singing their songs, the farm is beginning to burst with color again…all visible signs that things are making a shift.
There are invisible things happening too. Incredible activities under the surface of the ground, but in our bodies as well. All winter, all life – including our incredible bodies – have been regenerating, working hard to restructure, rebuild. Drawing as much dense nutrition from rest and stored nutrients as possible. That rest period is almost over, and it’s almost time for the fruits of labor to bud, flower, and spring. And our digestive systems are making a shift to prepare for the big bloom of spring.
All winter, our digestive systems have been hard at work breaking down the naturally more dense foods that our bodies require in winter; carrots, pumpkins, beets, big bowls of pasta, hearty dishes of meat and those little nibbles of cheese (or big hunks, depending.) Eating this way through winter is the best thing we can do to aid our bodies in their innate processes. Or, to speak more honestly, the best thing we can do to aid our bodies in their innate processes is foster healthy environments for the 39 TRILLION microbes (bacteria, fungi, viruses) that inhabit our bodies, to whom we’ve delegated our most critical physical processes: The Microbiome.
That’s right – only 25% of the genes in your body belong to YOU. The rest are your microbiome. And, they’re responsible for governing our circulation, digestion, respiration, and mental functioning (literally, the brain-gut connection.) Whatever is happening in the brain impacts the gut because of this incredible ecosystem within us. If this whole world of beings within our being isn’t balanced, nothing else is balanced in our bodies. Our bodies won’t perform at our peak…and you can toss that PR out the window, btw.
As winter thaws into spring, the microbiome makes a critical shift, letting it’s star players who have been working all winter long digesting the tough stuff take a rest and bringing up spring’s pinch hitters; these microbes are better suited to breaking down and assimilating the lighter, leafy greens of spring. And we can help them with this task.
Oh you take a probiotic? And a prebiotic too? That’s great. There’s a 99% chance that’s not even close to being enough to build a healthy microbiome. But eating supportive foods and meals, like these Beet Falafel w/Cumin-Lime Yogurt, is a pretty great step towards really doing this incredible system within our system justice (AND optimizing our bodies, lives and beings in the process.)
I’m not anti-probiotic. Nor is Ayurveda. In fact, the reason that I’m so confident in my approach to sharing a gorgeous, decadent chocolate cake with you one week, and beet falafel to boost your microbiome (and your general amounts of joy + deliciousness) the next is that Ayurveda believes that ALL things are therapy. Just like chocolate cake, probiotics and prebiotics can be incredibly beneficial for supporting our overall health and wellbeing. None of these items on their own matter much. It’s the AND that counts.
There are some 30,000 species of bacteria in the gut, but even the most productive, fancy probiotic, only contains something like 10 – 12,000 LIVE bacteria. This means that taking probiotic alone leaves a lot to be desired. The microbiome is flourishing when there is a diversity of bacteria on board, not just having “good guys” and “bad guys.” So the more diverse we can keep things down there, the better….which means that ignoring lifestyle and diet, and only taking a pill just won’t cut it. The lifestyle and diet is the AND.
If the conversation around how you support your microbiome starts and finishes with: take probiotic, CHECK. Then there is no AND. But to really support our gut health, and to boost our overall wellbeing and performance we need to do more. Good thing! Doing more is pretty easy. Changing the conversation to: “I take a probiotic AND eat foods that promote bile movement, AND lymph movement AND eat seasonally” is really a conversation. And you can leave the probiotic out of that statement and you still have lots and lots of ANDS that support the microbiome.
Ayurvedic philosophy suggests that 85% of diseases start with an underlying digestive imbalance. And health surveys suggest that 74% of Americans are living with digestive symptoms like diarrhea, gas, bloating, and abdominal pain. Many ignore these symptoms assuming that they’re normal byproducts of eating, digesting or assimilating. They’re not. They’re indications that something is not sitting well, digesting well, assimilating well, or serving your digestion well.
These symptoms are not necessarily the sign of a food intolerance either.
But they are indicators that the digestion needs a reset and a little bit of support. The regularity of our bowels, and the more quietly they go about their work of breaking down, assimilating and sending our food to the departments of the body where they’re needed, the more we know we have a healthy gut-brain connection (ie: a healthy microbiome.) Gurgling, gas, bloating, and irregular or non-existent bowels are all signs that something is up in the digestive system. They’re signs that the microbiome may not be optimized, and that this low functioning can be negatively impacting other digestive factors such as bile production, enzyme delivery and stomach acid management. This sounds complicated, and it can be, but for most of us, it’s not. If we focus on eating – and living – in ways that support the microbiome, the ecosystem of the body will ensure that these digestive processes are running in tip-top shape.
So…how do we support the microbiome? It’s pretty easy.:
It’s very possible that these Roasted Beet Falafel and their Cumin-Yogurt Sauce are the ultimate meal for your microbiome:
So let’s get you making a batch, mmmk?
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