Ayurveda Expert, Kate O'Donnell

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought withBilly and Jenny, brought to you by
the Box Center. For more thanfifteen years, this dining duo has been
eating their way through New England,mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurantsand giving you the inside scoop on where
to wine, dine and spend yourtime. So get ready, it's Food
for Thought giving you something to chewon. Hey, everybody, welcome into

(00:23):
Food for Thought. Billy Costa here. I hope everybody's having a wonderful holiday
season and looking forward to a newyear. This conversation on the show this
week is going to be very cool. It's going to be very informative.
I think you're going to learn alot and I think when the show is
over you may experience a lot,try a lot of different things when it

(00:45):
comes to your diet, your foodintake or whatever. And that's because Kate
O'Donnell is in the studio with me. First of all, welcome to Food
for Thought. Kate, thanks forhaving me very impressive credentials to get things
started. So three time best,that's right. Well, a fourth book
on the way, Yes in April. Wow, so you must be crazy

(01:07):
busy. I have always admired writersbecause it seems like it requires so much
patience. It does it? Does? I write in like heats, you
know. So I'll just take likethree months off from everything else and I'll
go somewhere and write. And that'show I do it. Do you have
like a tiny room somewhere, likean attic? I always picture writers like
way up in the attic in asmall room looking out the window. Or

(01:30):
maybe that was just like a ChevyChase movie I saw her. Yeah,
well that's how I pictured myself too, Billy. But you know, I
got myself in a tiny room andit was I didn't like it at all.
So I'll take over a whole house, and I need to be able
to like leave the tiny room andgo into the kitchen, I make some
tea, I eat an apple,and then I go back in. Like
if I'm in this tiny space,it's not good for me. And a

(01:53):
lot of people right now listening areprobably saying, well, what does Kate
write about? Well, let mestart by saying, holistic health expert,
also expert, seasoned yogi and aneducator in Ireveda. That's a lot.
How do you divide yoga, holisticand iraveda in one day? Well,

(02:15):
they're actually all the same. Theyactually all come from the same philosophical route.
The ideas Iraveda and yoga both havelike a body mind philosophy behind them.
So you know, you go toa yoga class, expectation is you're
not just going to be doing exercise, right that there's also something going on
with your mind or you're destressing.You feel calmer after, So there's this

(02:38):
flow going between what's going on inyour body and what's going on in your
mind. And that's the same withIreveda. So how do you break it
down, Like, let's say,in the course of a day, the
average day for cat O'Donnell, Howdoes that start? How does it finish?
So I start out with some breathingpractices. I do some in Ireveda.
We have daily cleansing practices, whichI can tell our listeners a little

(03:00):
bit about that. Can we dosome breathing during the show? Absolutely?
Absolutely? Yeah, Okay. SoI usually start out like being still and
quiet, because, as you mentioned, we're all pretty busy and I need
to just kind of sit. SoI actually sit still and I do some
breathing. That's first thing in themorning. You get up and you sit

(03:21):
still, and okay, let's pretendit's morning. Aj our producer is in
the studio with us, teach ushow to breathe. Is a breathing thing
something you should do first thing inthe morning. I think it's better first
thing in the morning. You canalso do it right before bed. Okay,
yeah, yeah, So this onewe'll do is it's just an equal
breathing, even breathing. So whatI'm going to do is we'll just do

(03:44):
three rounds. You'll be surprised whatjust three rounds can do. Okay,
if you're listening, I expect youto be in position. Should they be
standing, sitting, lying down,sitting? Okay? Yeah, referred.
I'm picturing a lot of you driving. If you and you really feel the
need to breathe, pull over,you know, like a resttop or truck

(04:04):
stop something. Okay, So howdo we start? We sit straight I'm
guessing right. You try to straightenthe spine without being too tense, you
know, but you win your bellyto be free so you can allow the
breath to move in the How doI get my belly free. Well,
you just kind of straighten it up. I think we time to slump over
a lot. Oh yeah, yeah, take slump Yeah. Is that the

(04:24):
core they always talk about? Yes, exactly. You ready as I'm ready?
Okay? Does your belly feel free? Yeah? I think I think
I'm straight up. I think I'mgood to go. You look good kid?
Thanks? All right? So howdo we start? Kate? All
right? So I'm going to countinhale a four count, exhale a four
count. Okay, okay, andwe'll do that three times. Okay,
ready, ready, So let's takean exhale together, just easy out the

(04:46):
nose and then we'll inhale through thenose for one two three four exhale one
two three four. Keep it throughthe nose one two three for exhale one

(05:11):
two three four. Last time inhaleone two three for exhale one two three
four. I feel better already.You know what? It just hit me
when we started the breathing. Mywife Michelle has us do that right before

(05:32):
we eat time. Hey, that'sso great because I'll usually start digging in
I'm very impolite, and she said, what are you doing? Wait?
Wait, wait, and then wehave to join hands and we do that
exact process, right, It kindof just brings you into the present moment.
And so I think what happens alot when we eat is we don't
realize we're eating, and that makesit harder to have portion control, right,

(05:59):
Like you don't even know what's goingin your body, isn't registering the
fact that you're becoming full. Okay, so if you slow it down,
actually just pay attention to the factthat you're eating, you know, and
you feel the flavors, you smellthe food, you see the colors of
it. It's like it's coming intoyour body through all your senses, and
I think you'll find that you actuallydon't eat as much food. Well okay,

(06:24):
see, God, I'm gonna feelso guilty at the end of this
show because I know I don't chewenough and I know I don't give it
enough thought, which isn't very complimentaryto the chef, who in some cases
is my wife, Michelle, andshe's probably looking at me saying, I
don't think you're really getting the essenceof this meal. So you're saying eat
slowly and concentrate on every bite andevery jew so that you, yeah,

(06:48):
you know to the best of yourability. I think we're also like we
want to connect with the people we'reeating with as well. So there's I
think if we do like an eightytwenty rule, you're like eighty percent paying
attention, twenty percent also just enjoying. Okay, all the other things.
We're going to take a quick break, but if you're listening, I'm telling
you you want to keep it rightwhere you have it. On Food for

(07:09):
Thought on WBZ News Radio ten thirty, Cato O'Donnell is the guest. I
mean, she knows what she's talkingabout. She's a three time bestseller,
and she's got a fourth book onthe way, and she's an iravadic specialist.
And my first question after the breakis what is irevedk and what can
I do with it? That's upnext stand by it. You're listening to

(07:30):
Food for Thought, brought to youby the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel
in sweets. Hey, guys,welcome back to Food for Thought. And
again I caution you, you're goingto learn a lot with this show.
Why don't we just did some breathing. How are you feeling? Aj?
Okay, I feel nice and relaxed, do you feel you don't take enough
time to really enjoy the essence ofright? Well, yes, absolutely,
especially when it comes to eating.Like you said, I feel like I

(07:53):
just dig right in. Yes,yeah, but I'm going to change.
I'm really going to change. Andwe mentioned at the top of the show,
Kat o'donald's in studio. She's gota fourth book on the way.
And I've got to ask you becauseyou are are you iervedic yourself? Absolutely?
Okay? Will you say that?Like? How can you not be?

(08:13):
It's true? How long have youbeen? Iavedic? I landed in
India when I was nineteen, sothis has been a part of my world
for more than twenty five years.Wait a minute, you landed in India?
Yes, so yeah, well Ialways wanted to go there for who
knows why. I mean now weknow why. But since I was a
little girl, I always wanted togo to India. Everybody I talked to

(08:37):
who has been, they say it'sabsolutely beautiful. It is. In fact,
my wife Michelle has been talking topeople about going to India. We'll
see. But yeah, okay,ire Vedic, what did I say it?
Right? You did? Okay?You did? What is it exactly.

(09:00):
So Ireveda is India's ancient health science. So it's thousands of years old.
I like to describe it as thousandsof years of human trial and error.
So it's like we've had arivedaic doctorsin India for thousands of years observing
what works and what doesn't work forbodies. So we take into account food,

(09:20):
herbal medicines, also activities so likeyou know, whether you get enough
exercise, what you do for work, but also energies, so like the
energy you surround yourself with whether yougo to say like a bar, or
you go to the orchestra. Right, not that one is good or bad,
but they affect your system differently,right, you know, So we

(09:43):
look at all those things like food, activities and energies. So the way
that Areveda looks at the body similarto Chinese medicine, and that there's an
elemental makeup to the body. Sothe body is made up of nature.
Right, So we have basically threekind of types of bodies and that's how
we get this individual medicine. Sowhen I sit down with you, for

(10:07):
example, we want to figure outsort of how do we understand your body
and what's going on with your body. We'll look at are you a windy
type, right? Is there alot of wind air element in your body
or is there a lot of fire? So wind windy or airy type is
going to be lighter, like theirbone structure is finer. They tend towards

(10:30):
dryness, so they'll have dry skin. I'm very dry, are you?
Yeah? Well day, yes,right, yeah? Oh god, if
you can get your hands on me, I'm telling you, I've got so
many issues. But that's not aboutme, aj it's not about me.
Well, what would you say tosomebody who does have dry skin? The

(10:52):
dry well? You know, it'sfunny, Billy that you mentioned the hot
shower drying out your skin, becauseone of Ireveta's favorite longevity routine is to
oil the skin before the shower,before the shop, before the shower,
so it actually protects you from thedrying effect of the hot water. So
most people a right, they takethe shower and then they put lotion on.

(11:13):
So the oil is great because itdoesn't have chemicals in it, right,
which most lotions do. Okay,so we're gonna use we could use
a coconut oil. If you runhot, if you run cold, we
might use a sesame oil. That'sthe best one for really dry skin.
And so you can use like ayou could buy a fancy one like an
iravetic oil, you know that smellsgood and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah, And so you apply itto the body, you oil down,

(11:37):
you do like a self massage.Takes just a couple of minutes, and
then you get in the shower,okay, And so the hot water kind
of opens the pores, kind ofsoftens the skin, and then you can
soap. If it's really oily,you can soap off. But if you're
dry, like you say, you'llprobably just soak it up right, and
then you get out of the shower. You tell out of the shower,

(11:58):
you won't need so when you getout of the shower, your skin's gonna
be like soft in a way.That yes, exactly, and that soft
and suppleness over time, if youdo oil massage regularly, you're gonna notice
it, like in your joints andyour muscles and your tissues. You're gonna
just be more limber and have lesspain. It's also a great management for

(12:18):
pain. Ay, J did Itell you you were going to learn a
lot on the show this week?Are you ready to learn the beginning?
Yeah, and so, But whatif you're likely and you take two sometimes
three showers a day you oil foreveryone, I would probably recommend that you
do it the first one of theday, mm hmm. And then it's
gonna get old. Right, You'renot gonna want to do it three times
a day, but if you atleast get it happening, let's say twenty

(12:39):
every twenty four hours, okay,kind of like flossing, you know,
then you've like I described the oiledscan as like a force field around you.
Like it for it is, it'sour biggest organ. That's fantastic.
Yeah, really good, billy.It's like it's right and health one right,

(13:00):
and it's covered with nerve endings.Like the largest organ of your body
exposed to the air all the time, and it's covered with nerve endings.
So when we oil the skin,not only does it moisterize your body and
make you limber, it also protectsyour nervous system. It makes you feel
like a little more resilient and alittle less kind of like freaked out.

(13:20):
Okay, so so far we've coveredbreathing in the morning, and it's okay
to breathe right before your meals.Right, it's fantasy. Do it again
before ben, I do, tryto do it before bed. It's down.
Yeah you notice that? Yeah?Yeah, for sure. It helps
me get to sleep faster because weget up real early in the morning.
Right, Okay, And the showerswill want to oil down first, yes,

(13:43):
and then lotion after, or youmay not have to. You will
not need lotion anymore. You cankind of just get rid of the lotions.
Wow, yeah, and just usethe oil. Do you always feel
great? That is a great question, Philly. So I always feel great.
I would say that. You know. I got into Ireveda because I
was sick. I wasn't great,and it was a slow process of getting

(14:09):
healthy again. Right. So whenI went to India at nineteen, I
got really sick. I got allthe parasites. Oh, I know,
because I was enjoying. I backpackedeverywhere I stayed for six months. You
know, I ate street food.Six months. Six months. Were you
on a sabbatical or something or Imean I was nineteen. I can't get
away for two weeks? Yeah?Six At that time, I actually I

(14:33):
wasn't in college, so I tooka semester off Oh good, and I
just kind of just traped around overthere. Have you been back since?
I go every year since then?So when you go over to India every
time, are you looking to learnmore every time you go? Yes?
Exactly. Yeah. So sometimes I'mstudying yoga, sometimes I'm studying Araveda,

(14:54):
sometimes both. Yeah, there's doctorsthat I study with there. You should
like get an apartment there or soI'm actually building a retirement home there next
year, retirement. I know it'searly, right, I'm planning ahead.
Wow. Really so that's where youwant to settle in India? Yes?
Yeah, what's so fabulous about it? You know? I feel there is

(15:20):
a spiritual sense to everything that happensthere. You know, you go into
a shop and there's like an altarnext to the cash register. Is that
sort of a thing? You know? I feel like like the gods are
present a lot of the time andthere it's like people are food is sacred
there, you know, and ina daily flow, it's it would be

(15:46):
unusual for a person not to doa pooja, which is just like a
like a gratitude five minute gratitude ceremonyfor what does that involve? So it
might involve burning inside, its ringinga bell. You might have like a
picture or an image of a godor goddess that represents you know, like
it could be wealth or removal ofobstacles or education. I tend to keep

(16:11):
the Goddess of education around because I'ma teacher primarily, and so you know,
I might decorate her space, liketake flowers from outside and place them
around. Sometimes you give her alittle little milk or something to drink.
Wow. And I have done somethinglike that for many many years, something

(16:32):
I learned in India and it's partof my life now and I feel like
it it keeps me from forgetting thatthere's more to my day than just like
the craziness that's about to come atme. Well, because do you counsel
people on everything that you do?Yes, what is the main purpose?
Like they're coming to you for whatI mean, it could be all sorts

(16:55):
of things. A lot of thetime it's digestion. People have, you
know, gas, floating, hyperacidity, things like that. So what
we'll do is we'll sort of lookat what their body type is, We'll
look at their diet, you know, and a lot of the time I
look at food I mean, allmy books are about food and cooking,
and food is how a lot ofus can heal and also how a lot

(17:18):
of us get into trouble. Okay, well hold that thought, because we
do have to take a break.But when we come back, I want
to talk more about the books andwhy you chose one book for us versus
the next book. Second, andI also want to dive deeper into iavetic
because I have a question if you'rearavedic, like if you talk to people
in recovery or people in strict diets, they have what they call a cheat

(17:41):
day, and I want to knowif there's such a thing as a cheat
day among the Iovedic world. Sowe'll take a break. It's Food for
Thought. I'm Billy Costa, andwe'll be right back. You're listening to
Food for Thought, brought to youby the Box Center and Sale in Waterfront
Hotel in swees Hey. Folks.Welcome back to Food for Thought again,
he asked, is Cato O'Donnell?And she's pretty much done it all and

(18:03):
by the way she can improve yourlife. Do you accept new customers not
patients? What's the correct word clients? Clients? Oh? Yeah, yeah,
are you always accepting clients or areyou book solid? I am book
solid at the moment, wow thespring. Yeah yeah, because you know,

(18:23):
you tend to not see someone justonce. I'll tend to see people
a few times a year or monthly, you know, so it keeps me
pretty busy. Well, I wantto ask you that because I've run into
that a lot. It seems likemore and more people, I mean obviously
with diet, but also with medicalseem to be shifting more toward Eastern medicine

(18:47):
and away from Western medicine. It'salmost like, and I could be crazy,
it's almost like Western medicine has lostthe ability to give you one answer
or you know what I mean,and there you shift over to Eastern medicine
and they not only have the answer, but they have the treatment and it's

(19:07):
usually not invasive, right right,right, So that must be why you,
as well as many others are bookssolid. Yeah. Yeah, So
do you feel that shift going onout there? I do, you know,
I feel that people are They're frustratedwith their Western care and I think
a lot of the time what peopleare getting from an initial consultation with me

(19:30):
is the amount of time that wespend yeah, and the questions that I
ask, you know, so we'llspend an hour and twenty thirty minutes in
an initial consultation because I'm trying toget the information about you know, is
this person dry? Is this personis there a lot of heat in their
body? And I can tell youlike Jenny Johnson, who you know well,

(19:51):
I'm my TV partner, and mywife Michelle both had lime disease and
they couldn't get an answer from Westernmedicine doctors. And finally, I think
Jenny reached out to a place inGermany or something, and then Germany connected
Jenny to people here like Janelle upin New Hampshire and cured the lime and

(20:14):
she no longer has it. Andsame with my wife who went to the
same people and yet two years sufferingwith lime, couldn't get an answer or
a fix it so to speak.Right right, Okay, we got to
take another break, but we've gotplenty more time to talk and we're going
to learn so much more from kato'donald. I want to talk more about
the books when we come back,and why you chose this book as the

(20:37):
first versus this one as the second, and again Kato O'Donnell, three time
bestseller and soon to be a fourtime bestseller, is in studio and will
continue the conversation right after the break. You're listening to Food for Thought,
brought to you by the Box Centerand Salem Waterfront Hotel in sweets. Hey,
folks, welcome back to Food forThought again. Our guest this week

(20:59):
is said Kato O'Donnell. She isa three time bestseller soon a fourth book
on the way. What's the fourthbook going to be about? The fourth
book is women's health, strictly women'shealth, when anything in particular or it
we cover everything. It's actually afairly big book, so fertility, healthy,
menstruation, post natal as well asaging. And when's the book coming

(21:25):
out? End of April? Apriltwenty third is the release date. Now,
how can you know that? Isit all done? It's you're just
waiting for it to be yeah,oh yeah. There's a year long wait
for the time that my work onthe book is done to the time that
it gets printed and and is theway it's based on the publishing company,
or it's the amount of time theproduction takes. It's gotten a little longer

(21:48):
since COVID yeah, it used tobe more like eight months. Is there
an editing process to the book?Yes, the edit process takes about six
months. Also, so you havean editor, yes, that you believe
in. Yes? Has that editorworked all all of your books? She
actually she worked on the first bookand then she had a couple babies,
so she didn't work for a coupleof years. So I published two books

(22:10):
during that time and then the fourthbook. Yes, she was my editor
again. And do you do youhave the right to overrule the editor?
Yes, absolutely, yes, righthere, and I know it's going to
be in there, it's my book. Oh absolutely, yeah. Okay,
so your first book, what wasthat? The first book is the Everyday
Iervade a cookbook and that is simplewhat I wanted to read it in front

(22:34):
of me, right, well,this is calm, clear mind. So
this is the second book that Iwrote. So you know how I was
talking about mind body? Yeah,right, So we sort of have like
a language that we use to describethe body, which we talk about fire
and air and earth and earthiness isgoing to make like mucus and weight gain
and heaviness, whereas we talked aboutair making sort of dryness and how do

(22:57):
you know when you have earthiness.Earthiness it's the you know, the people
who kind of like look at amuffin and gain weight. That's like,
that's like an earth constitution. Youknow, it's very easy to gain weight
and hard to lose it. Tendto have a really strong body frame,
and they tend to have like abigger bone structure and be very hearty.

(23:19):
You can really withstand. It's interestingyou say that because there are a lot
of people who can eat anything andit frustrates all of their friends, right,
and then there are people who areafraid to eat anything. Is oh,
if I have that muffin, I'llgain ten pounds, right exactly exactly.
So the way we look at thatin Iraveda is because of your personal
constitution. So what do you dothen for them? For our earthy types,

(23:41):
the heavier types, so we wouldinvite them to eat foods that are
less heavy, so there's there's nota lot of wheat or dairy or meat
going. So they make great vegans. You know, people are like,
what does Iraveta say about the vegandiet? I say, well, it's
not for everyone. Oh right,So there's a big difference between vegan and
the Irevedic. Yes, So whenaraveda, all food is considered medicine if

(24:07):
you use it properly. So itcould be meat, it could be dairy,
it can be vegetables, fruits,all the things are considered medicine.
So it's not like we don't eatthis and we don't eat that. We
just want to have the food that'sproper for that person's body. But if
somebody wants to be totally iravedic,is it a lot of work? I

(24:29):
mean, you've got to prepare allof your own meals, right pretty much,
not necessarily, Billy I would saythat. So let's say we're talking
to an earthy type, okay,right, And so they're like, oh,
geez, I'm gaining weight looking atthis restaurant food. You know,
what do I do? And soI would say, well, let's look
at how do we find foods onthe menu that are the ones that are
ideal for your body type. SoI'd be like, let's look for some

(24:51):
cooked vegetables. Let's look at thesauces. You know, do they have
like extra virgin olive oil, theyhave fresh lemon, so you could be
having like beta stables with lemon.Do they have any clear soups? You
know, something like a tom Youngsoup at a Thai restaurant is a fantastic
food for an earthy body type,whereas for a fiery type, maybe not

(25:12):
so much so. The fiery type, that's where there's there's a lot of
heat in the digestive tract, alot of heat in the body. So
these are people who tend to havea really strong appetite and they'll burn through
most foods. But if they eatthings that are like fermented, like too
often, things like alcohol, kombucha, kim chi, sour kraut, like,

(25:37):
too much of that is going tocause hyper acidity. Can you tell
by looking at someone with body typethere? Yes? What do you see
looking at me? I? Imean I've had cold, so I have
to apologize a very rare head cold. Yeah, I feel so guilty.
I swear I'm usually healthy, youknow, I swear. Everybody tells me,
oh, you're so healthy. Sowhat do you see? I see

(26:00):
pitta for you, which is fire. We call it pitta. It means
that which transforms or digests. Yeah, partial pita. Yeah, yep,
yep, you got kind of likea rosy glow to the skin. That's
because my sinuses are on fire rightnow. I'm telling you it was the
scented candles. I know your body'strying to kick it out. Way too

(26:22):
many scented candles in the house.I'm just saying, Wow, this is
so cool. Now I have toask you, so we did earthiness,
we did fire or it's the thirdoption, that's the airiness. So that's
where it's dry, light like,there's not a lot of fire or grounding
quality there. So these folks needlike spices, they need their food to

(26:45):
be warm. And these are thetype of people who maybe you have some
friends like this, like they can'tkeep weight on. Yeah right, they
feel like like, oh if Iwent vegan or vegetarian, I would disappear
because they obsessed too much with theirWait. You know, they're either working
out twenty out of twenty four hoursa day obsessed overdoing it. Yeah,

(27:06):
all right, we got to takea break. When we come back,
I have to ask the question I'vebeen dying to ask. Do you get
a cheat day? Okay, don'tanswer yet. Okay, we'll get the
yes or no with an explanation rightafter the break. It's food for Thought.
I'm Billy Costa and we'll be rightback. You're listening to Food for
Thought, brought to you by theBox Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in Swedes.

(27:26):
Hey, folks, welcome back toFood for Thought. I apologize if
you can pick up on it,but yes, I do have some sort
of a head cold. But CatoO'Donnell is our guest, and I feel
so guilty in your presence because youknow, I feel like I have to
be doing everything right, eating everythingright, because you're here. Well,
you're a three time bestseller and soyou're a yogi expert as well as ier

(27:48):
vedic, and this is what youdo. You counsel people, You have
clients, and this is what youdo for a living. You've been to
India several times and highly iro vedic. Okay, so I need to ask
if you're iravedic, can you havea cheat day? Like can you go
out today and get yourself a hotfudge Sunday? Or can you go to

(28:11):
Wendy's and get a double burger withbacon? Is that ever allowed? Yeah?
You know, Billy, I thinkmore than to say it's allowed,
it's actually important that we do that. Oh, yeah, so just you
know me. I've been living thislifestyle for twenty five years, and I
would say for the first decade Iwas, as you say, kind of
like a perfectionist about it. Yeah, and you know I didn't need this

(28:33):
and I didn't eat that. AndI will tell you that is a stressful
way to be and the stress ofthat itself causes imbalances. So what would
be the average treat day for you, the average cheat day from it?
Well, I'll tell you one ofmy favorite foods is nachos. I love
nachos'. That's like, that's whatI go for, like on a Friday
typically, what's on the nachos?Like, oh, well, we have

(28:56):
to have refried beans, okay,preferably not with lard, though not mung
beans. Not mung beans. Now, if we're gonna do it, rights,
I am, Yeah, I am. Mung Beans are iravedas like favorite
food for all body types. Okay, yeah, so nachos. Okay,
that's that's a start on a cheatday. Okay, what would be the

(29:18):
next uh cato O'donald's favorite cheat meal? Well, I do love margarita's.
Okay, there's a margarito with thenotch that's a good question. Is alcohol
okay? In moderation it it's acidic, right, and so if there's someone
who has hyper acidity or inflammation inthe body, alcohol is going to make
that worse. So, like,personally, the great thing about aravada Billy

(29:42):
is that because I'm healthy, sooften I can get away with all kinds
of rough because your body because I'mhealthy. Yeah, right, so it
protects itself exactly, natur It's theart of indulgence. Yeah, are you
married. We're we've been together elevenyears. We're not technically married. Yeah.

(30:03):
Is your partner also are vedic orif not, that's going to be
difficult. Yeah, I would say. I mean he's also a longtime meditator,
yoga practitioner. We definitely have thatin common. We both love nachos,
you know, so I would saywe, yes, were kind of
on the same tip. But youwere saying earlier, how you know curry
has been overdone so you don't reallylove it? Kay? Yeah, anybody,

(30:26):
like anybody who knows me knows thatI've got this curry thing. Yes,
but so does he. Oh,I'll make food and he'll be like,
Kate, does that have spices?So, okay, do you sneak
them in without telling him? Ido because that's my thing. Okay,
since you brought it up, Iswear there was. If my wife or

(30:49):
Jenny are listening, they know I'mcrazy. There was a period that lasted
several years where it seemed like thewhole culinary community, restaurants and such,
we're just curry crazy. And Ithink they were overdoing it with the curry,
and it turned me against curry.And then every conversation you'd have with
someone that say, oh my god, I love the curry this, and

(31:11):
the curry that, it's like whenTito's vodka came out right and everybody's oh,
I love a Tito's and soda.Tito's is a marketing scam. Okay,
it's not healthier vodka, and yetit was the cool vodka. And
I think curry just became cool.But in small doses, I've found that

(31:32):
it's delicious, right, And Ithink that's the thing. So that's one
of the things my husband has taughtme is not to overdo the spices.
There you go, right, Andso I think when we first got together,
I was overdoing it because this isthe thing about so many Americans.
Is we think that more is better. Yeah, And so you know,
Irveda says spices are great for yourdigestion. So there I go, trying

(31:53):
to overdo it. Yeah, youknow, and it's actually just the right
amount of a spice opens up thedish aids in the digestion, makes it
taste delicious and that's enough. Nowaj is sitting here and you poured her
a glass of chai. Now thatis in lieu of tea or or is

(32:15):
it chai tea? It's irveticized tea. Yeah, so it's a milk tea.
So it's black tea with milk.And then we had spices because milk
is, while it's very nutritious,it's actually a little heavy to digest,
right, So we put ginger inthere, which is going to sort of
help break down the milk. Yourginger is a little spicy. It also
cuts the congestion. Some people mightget a little congested from milk. And

(32:38):
there, I don't remember the lasttime I had a glass of milk.
Yeah, I mean, the onlytime I drink milk is like this,
okay in chi and this drink that. So she's got ginger in there.
You've also got cardamoan, So cardonmancuts the acidity from the tea. Ah.
Yeah, and there's a little bitof clove in there as well.

(32:58):
Do you taste it? Taste it? Well, give it a shot and
take a couple of milks there.How's that Okay? So I told her
up front, I'm not a teadrinker, but I don't mind this.
It tastes nice. Yeah. Andis it served hot or always? Always
hot? Milk? Is always servedhot because otherwise it's going to congest cold

(33:23):
milk. Imagine like when you tryto you like cook a turkey, and
you're going to clean up after youwould not clean something oily. You're saying
the glass of milk should be servedhot. Yes, really with spices.
Oh, that's used to watching theold sitcoms have a nice warm glass of
milk. It's never done that exactly. And usually we put nutmeg in it

(33:43):
to help with sleep, and sonutmeg is also a digestive spice that's going
to cut that mucus in the middle. What are your thoughts on skim milk?
Oh, yeah, I know,I made the face. See I
used to have There was a twothree year period that every night, going
to bed, I would have abowl of cereal with skim milk, and
you're telling me I was killing myself. Well, it's not the It's not

(34:04):
the ideal thing to have at atnight. Okay. So in ira Veda,
one of the things about food isthe more natural it is, the
more closer it is to its naturalstate, the better it will digest and
nourish a body. Yeah. Ithink it's part of the problem a lot
of us are are having with There'sa lot of health problems because bodies are
rejecting the food right because it's notnatural. Okay, I've got to ask

(34:29):
you about kitchery because my wife Michelleonce was I guess, would you call
it a kitchery cleanse? Yes?Yeah, you was? So was it
five or six days that that's allyou eat? It's like a soup,
right, right, right. It'sa soup that's made of buzzmodi, rice
and mung beans and then we addthese digestive spices to mauric, cumin,
coriander, and fenom. Yeah.I had it like yeah, five days,

(34:52):
Yeah, and didn't bother the curry. Didn't bother you, no,
because I think the crery was slight. It wasn't overwhelming, right, So
what does it do that cleanses yourbody? This kitchery, I would say,
what it does is it it doesn'tget in the way of your body's
natural cleansing process. So if youstep out of your normal routine and just

(35:14):
eat a really simple diet for anumber of days, yeah, your body
will start to get rid of thingsthat it doesn't want. Okay, right,
So that's that's the idea when youdo a kitchery cleanse, is you
what's great about it is we're stillsitting down and eating hot meals. We're
eating this nice sort of stew andyou can put vegetables in it. The
spices are there. There's a littleclarified butter, and don't forget eat it

(35:35):
slowly and enjoy it and experience theflavors. And see what I mean.
I'm learning, aj, I'm learning. Yes, that's so great. So
just to anyone listening right now,you would recommend, you know, just
try a kitchery cleanse and see howit is, I would say, I
mean, I would say, yes, in the back of all of my
books, I teach how to doa three day kitchery cleanse at home.

(36:00):
Yeah. Yeah, And so somethinglike three days is a good place to
start. I think if we're goingto do something longer, it might be
good to have guidance. I teacha seven day pitchery cleanse for the New
Year. It's called the New Year'sDetox. So that's coming up. It's
coming up in January. It's abit of a choose your own adventure program.
There's such a thing as too muchcleansing. Oh absolutely, Oh okay,

(36:22):
yes, yes, yeah, youcan definitely do too much cleansing.
I've got to ask you before wego to a break are there I mean,
you know, Jenny and I dofood for thought on Nessen and we
do restaurants and we do food.Are there places in the Boston Greater Boston
area that you would recommend for foodsof this type? There is no favorite

(36:44):
places of Cato o'donald's. Oh yeah, well, there's not an are Vada
restaurant, But there is a SouthIndian restaurant in Lowell, Okay. It's
like it's kind of world famous forhaving South Indian food, which is my
that's my favorite kind of How doesit differ from North Indian food? Well,
North Indian food's heavier, like theclimate of India. The north is
it's colder, yeah, you know, and then in the south it's very

(37:07):
tropical and hot, and so thefood is it's lighter and fresher, a
little more veg forward, which Ilove. I love that guessing your retirement
hunts that you're building is going tobe in South India. Yes, it
is. Just took a shot atthat. Yeah, we're going to take
a break. We've got one moresegment with Kato o'donald. I want to
find out where people can get yourbooks when the new book is coming out,

(37:28):
and it's Cat o'donald, who isexpert in yoga, expert in Iravedic
and God so many other things.I feel better just sitting next to you.
I'm being honest. But we'll takea break. It's Food for Thought
and we'll be right back. You'relistening to Food for Thought, brought to
you by the Box Center and Saleand Waterfront Hotel in sweets. Hey,
folks, welcome back. It isFood for Thought. Billy Costa here and

(37:50):
I'm with Cato O'Donnell already has threebest sellers with a fourth on the way.
And you speak to groups too,as well as having your private clients
right right, Like the New Year'sDetox coming up is a great example.
I also have a monthly membership.That's a great way if people really want
to learn about So you get amonthly call with me and a group like

(38:12):
so we're in community where we zoomusyep exactly, and they get a library
of cooking classes, of self careclasses, and of master classes. Wow.
Yeah, And you talk about eatingfor the seasons so to speak,
what does that even mean? Yeah? So remember, Billy, we're talking
about like being airy, fiery orfrothy. Right, So if you imagine
air being cold and dry, Sothe airy time of year is our cold

(38:37):
season, so it's very dry.Yes, cold and dry is like winter.
So what should we do to offsetthat? So we want to eat
foods in the winter that are warmand moist, so things that have like
naturally occurring oils and fats. Soit's the time for more like nut butters,
dairy for those who digest it andkind of use more oils. So
whether it's Gee, coconut oil,extra virgin olive, sesame oil. Oh,

(39:00):
we use gee? You use gee? Yes, Michelle introduced me to
gee. Yeah, it's like lighterlighter fluid for your digestion. Yeah,
yeah, it's fantastic. So I'mdoing little bits here and there kind of
the right things. What about thesummertime, So the summer, as you
can imagine, is the time,the fiery time, and so we'll want
to reduce like fermented food and spicyfood that time of year, So like

(39:25):
less kimchi, less hot sauce onthings. That means I can't have cocktail
sauce with my shrimp cocktail. Wellyou can, but maybe you have it
less often. You know, maybeyou like really lean into cocktail sauce in
colder weather, you know, andyou go for because what's that's horseradish in
there? Is that that makes itspicy? Right? Yeah, so you

(39:46):
know, maybe you have a littleless of that. You can also balance
heat by having something like a fenneltea, Like I'll recommend that people boil
fennel seeds and water and then drinkit at room temperature or even cool.
I know, what does a lotof people, my wife included, have
hot water in the morning. Whatis the benefit there? Right? So

(40:07):
hot water it cleans the cleans thepipes, right, So there there can
be a little mucus that forms inthe body when we're sleeping, especially if
our food from yesterday didn't like fullydigest, and so that mucus is present
on the tongue in the back ofa tongue. Actually, one of the
routines everyone at home can do inthe morning that takes two seconds is tongue

(40:30):
scraping. Oh, I have atongue scrape. You do, You're already
doing it, and that's one ofmy that's one of my favorite take homes.
Okay, there's no time at all. You can buy it in a
drug store now, yeah, right, us. A lot of bacteria and
stuff. It gathers on the tongue, especially while you're sleeping, right exactly
exactly, and so the body wantsto kick that out in the morning,

(40:52):
so you just scrape it off ratherthan drinking it down with your coffee.
Okay, we've got a minute left. I have so many other questions,
but first things first, if Iwant to get a membership, how do
they do that? Yeah, sothey can go to heal with Kate dot
org. They can also find meat catodonald dot Ireveda and there's a discount
code Food for Thought. All capitalletters excuse me, that's the name of

(41:14):
the show. I know, soour listeners can get ten percent of membership.
Yeah, well, how about toget into the group discussion in New
Year's Detox. They can get tenpercent off that too when they use the
code food for Thought all capital letters. Wow, that is so cool?
And when's the fourth book? Comingout? April twenty third? Every day
Ireveda for Women's health and where canpeople go to get all things kato'donald All

(41:37):
things Katodonald on Instagram at Katodonald dotIreveda or at Heal with Kate dot org.
Okay, God, we're out oftime. I could do another hour
so fun, I have so manyso we'll do it again. Let's do
it. We'll do it again onceagain. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
have a wonderful holiday season and awesomeNew Year. Kate, thanks for
joining us, and we'll see youup next sixty minutes