March 12, 2025 • 33 mins
In this solo episode of Everyday Ayurveda, Kate unpacks one of the most frequently asked questions: How much protein do I actually need? But instead of following mainstream nutrition trends, she offers an Ayurvedic approach — one that moves beyond counting grams to understanding the role of protein as a grounding, nourishing force in the body.
She discusses how dietary needs shift with age, why protein consumption isn’t a one-size-fits-all equation, and how the imbalance between sugar and protein in modern diets has led to confusion about what our bodies truly need. Whether you’re vegetarian, a lifelong meat eater, or somewhere in between, Kate shares insights on choosing the right sources of protein, optimizing digestion, and using food as a way to create balance, not stress.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• The Ayurvedic perspective on protein and why it’s about more than numbers
• How sugar has shaped modern protein consumption (and why it matters)
• The role of elements in food and why balance is key
• Best sources of protein for midlife and beyond
• Why digestion matters more than the amount of protein
• Kate’s personal story of discovering protein’s impact on her body
• Practical tips for integrating more grounding foods into your diet
Resources & Links:
• Grab Kate’s books: The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook
• Follow Kate on Instagram: @kateodonnell.ayurveda
• Check out Kate’s favorite grass-fed whey protein: LifeSpa Whey Protein
Ready for a Spring Cleanse? Learn more here.
🔗 More on Panchakarma & Cleansing
🔗Best practices for a gentle seasonal cleanse (Podcast ep. 11)
Love the show? Leave a review! And if you’re curious about deepening your Ayurvedic practice, subscribe and stay tuned for more solo episodes and expert interviews.
Health Disclaimer:
The information shared on Everyday Ayurveda with Kate is for educational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, supplements, or wellness routine.
Connect with Kate: https://www.healwithkate.org
Summer Self Care Workshop: https://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/courses/summer-self-care-workshop
Summer Bundle: https://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/bundles/SummerBundle
Thanks to our Sponsors:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome, welcome, my pod pal today inthis solo cast, I'm answering one of
your questions, which is about protein,how much protein is the right amount.
And I feel like culturally we'vebeen talking about hearing about
protein for a really long time.
So what I'd like to do is.
Let's talk about this questionthrough the Ayurvedic lens.
(00:20):
So we'll be using a differentlanguage that maybe will
simplify and help you understand.
And also, I think a lot of uspotentially here are maybe in
our thirties, forties and beyond.
And the question of what kindsof foods to use nourish the
body as we get older changes.
So that's a part of ourconversation as well.
(00:41):
How to manage sort of changing.
Needs of the body as we age and inrelation to our exercise and very
important question, whether aperson is currently healthy or is
currently working with an imbalance.
And that's a really big.
Difference in how we're goingto approach this question.
(01:02):
So stay with me today to talk aboutprotein from the Ayurvedic perspective.
(02:23):
All right, so as with anything foodrelated in Ayurveda, we don't make
these sweeping generalizations.
Like, you know, everyone shouldhave this amount of protein.
It's the utility of food depends onso many factors, such as the time
of day that you're eating the food,how much of the food you are having,
(02:44):
the current state of your diet.
Digestion will govern what kindsof food digest well and what kind
ultimately turn into toxins in your body.
Also your time of life.
So are you young?
Are you middle aged?
Are you older?
And how much activity are you doing?
What are your stress levels like?
So we're gonna look at all this and.
(03:07):
What I like about using theayurvedic lens for this conversation
is that I'm so sick of everyonetalking about protein consumption.
I feel like my entire life.
I have heard this conversation andin part, I think it has to do with
an imbalance that's been created inmany bodies due to the added sugars
(03:29):
and carbs in everything, right?
I mean, I've been on planes a lotrecently, so I'm around, uh, soda.
You know, I don't even seesoda usually in my life.
But I'm looking at the, or even likeI order a cranberry juice, right?
And they give me this minute madecan has, what is it like 50 grams of
sugar or something, and that's crazy.
(03:51):
The amount of sugar that humans consumein a day is 50 times what it was.
50 years ago.
So we've kind of createdthis like super sweet, right?
But with the refinement of sugarcane products and also we refine
sugar from beets, from coconuts.
(04:13):
I mean, there's sugar from everywhere.
thing, right?
That, that we different kinds ofsugar that we can see in our products.
Corn syrup is the big one.
That's what's in all the sodas.
And, you know, sugar cane productsin Ayurveda are actually beloved.
sugar has a lot of minerals in it.
For example, back in the day,some of you might remember your
parents making you take a spoonfulof molasses periodically, right?
(04:36):
Black strap molasses for the iron content.
And a lot of women stillfind that really helpful.
for especially those who arein the bleeding time of life.
So the problem is whatwe've done to sugar, right?
And that's what that refined sugarthat doesn't really have any opposing
fiber or minerals present that justkind of goes directly into the Rasa
(04:59):
or directly into the bloodstream andthe nutritive factor in the body.
And then imagine that these excessamounts of highly refined sugar is
washing through your tissues, right?
That's going to cause.
pain.
One thing I notice, is excess amountsof refined sugars cause pain in
(05:21):
my body the next day, whether it'scoming from alcohol or cake, right?
And, you know, alcohol is definitelyone of those, those simple sugars.
That we take too much of so it's kindof, you know, even the other thing is
like Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, again,the amount of sugar in one drink can
(05:42):
be like 60 grams, like your pumpkinspice latte, 60 grams of sugar.
I mean, that's like threedays worth of sugar that you.
suck down through a straw and it'sgone in like 15 minutes, right?
So obviously, you know, I think ourquestion about how much protein also begs
the question of how much sugar, right?
(06:03):
And so the way we look at food substancesand Ayurvedas is due to their tastes
and the elements that compose the foods.
And the idea is that we want to bring.
A balanced plate of elements intothe body, and there's five different
elements now on any given plate.
We want more earth and water elementsand smaller amounts of things that are
(06:30):
fiery, salty things that are bitterthings that are astringent, and that's
going to bring in , the air elementand the space element, and those are
the lighter elements, which we wantto balance heavy foods with smaller
amounts of light things, right?
So proteins are primarily earth element.
Especially like flesh foods.
(06:51):
Meats are primarily earth element.
You're basically eating the earthelement from the creature, and
that's a direct line to feedthe earth element in your body.
And that's your muscle tissue.
Also, any solid structure in your body.
So, right, uh, anything you can grabahold of and squeeze in your body
(07:12):
has a, an earth element component.
And as you've probably heard me sayby now, if you go down to the beach to
build a sand castle and you have sandwithout water, it won't hold together.
So there's a certain amount ofwater element necessary in The
(07:34):
tissue building process in the body.
So we're generally looking at ourbuilding foods as a combination of
earth and water elements, right?
So something like dairyis a great example.
It's a liquid like milk.
It's a liquid, but it's also unctuous,uh, When you look at it, it's like
fatty, collagen is another example.
(07:55):
And.
You're going to find that that combinationof moisture along with the earth element.
that's how you build the tissues.
And we want our tissues to have theright amount of moisture in them.
So when we talk about protein,we're talking about earth and water.
Elements and the building tastes, thebuilding tastes in the body that bring
(08:17):
us tissue as opposed to taste thatcleanse and reduce the body, like things
that are astringent, like the skinsof fruits and vegetables, things that
are bitter, like all of your greens.
So we have smaller amounts of thoseto balance our basically grains.
And proteins right so whole grains aretotally different than refined grains
(08:41):
as you're probably aware of by now youwant to take in all your food with it's
naturally occurring fiber and that's.
Awesome, right?
You can make, puree it into a soup.
A lot of my recipes in my booksare soups, I'm sure you've noticed.
And that makes it easier tobreak down that fiber, right?
(09:03):
So it goes in in a smooth way.
So soups are just a greatway to get building taste.
And if you're eatingmeats, soup is the way.
The Ayurvedic way totake meat is in a soup.
So instead of like a big slab of aflesh, it's a smaller amount, like
(09:24):
say four ounces or something getsin like a bowl with vegetables,
potentially with some grain or awhole grain noodle and a broth, right?
That's the ideal way to improve thedigestibility proteins, of meats.
And we do the same with legumes.
We have them in these water Waterbased, you know, preparations, whether
(09:46):
it's like a black bean soup or alentil doll, those kind of things.
Those are great protein sources andspices are absolutely essential when
you come to eating the earthy foods.
You do want to make sure that there'ssome warming spices in there, which will
(10:06):
improve your body's ability to breakdown these heavier items and render them
into that liquid nutritive juice that wecall ahara rasa, the juice of the food.
And that's what then washesthrough the tissues and As it's
washing through or irrigating yourtissues that nutritive juice, which
(10:28):
is the result of your food is.
in a state of balance because you'vebalanced the tastes in your food.
So that's moving throughin a state of balance.
Then your tissues are allgoing to get what they need.
All the different tissues.
Some of them like more earth.
Some of them need a little more fire.
Some of them need lots of water, right?
So all the elements from your platewith the help of your digestive
(10:52):
spices, they sort of break that down.
Get that into that nutritive precursorthat washes through your body.
And it's just like, just visualizethat, you know, your food's
washing through your body.
This is a totally different conversationfriend than eating X number of grams
of protein in a day and just likeshoving it in your face no matter what,
(11:13):
because it's a certain number, right?
We don't do that here.
We don't do that here.
Everything is a result of the sensations,the stories that your body's telling you,
the messages that it's giving to you.
So, I think a lot of people, womenespecially as we're aging, are
(11:33):
noticing some feelings that Lead usto the question of how much protein.
I think that's why you are asking Howmuch protein should I have you because
you don't feel good right because youfeel exhausted tired Your resiliency
distress is down you're maybe feelingconstipated you're bloated or hanging
(11:57):
on to water or hanging on to fattissue and You're wondering where's
the imbalance coming from, right?
And, um, I think the conversationin the space right now keeps going
towards protein protein, especially forwomen and perimenopause and menopause.
So let me just break that down throughthe Ayurvedic lens for you, uh, why that
(12:21):
might, you know, why that might be and howthat makes sense according to Ayurveda.
When do you transition intoperimenopause menopause, uh, this
period of time in your life wheremaybe you're in your forties, fifties.
It's a transition from the Pitta timeof life into the Bhatta time of life.
(12:41):
So the Pitta time is thattime that's really governed
by fire element and activity.
.Getting stuff done, having responsibilities, , being most active,
you know, so you're running a business,you're having a family, raising that
family, providing for them, you know,trying to pay off your mortgage, like
all these things are happening duringthat time of life, and your metabolism
(13:03):
likely is going to have an easier timeof it when there's more activity and
more fire present, um, In the body,you know, as well as in the life.
But as we move into the Vata time of life,which menopause is that transition for
women and men, it's happening as well,but maybe on less of a tight curve, right?
More of a slow, gentle, movementin this direction of aging and
(13:26):
into the vata time of life.
And vata is that combinationof space and air elements.
It is characterized by cold, dry,light, hard, rough qualities.
So imagine coldness,Lightness, hardness, right?
That sounds like pain to me.
(13:47):
That sounds a little bitlike some joint pain.
it sounds like the coldness inthe digestion is going to give
you the gas and the bloating.
Maybe some sluggishness of the stool.
Your lightness, that it's when, so yourbody, you feel less grounded in your body
as the body is like transitioning intolighter elements and that can make you
(14:08):
feel more prone to the effects of stress.
It can make you feel, less groundedemotionally and mood wise, like you might
feel there's more swinging happening.
And this is because, thinkabout air, the nature of air.
It is a mover, right?
It's going, woohoo, it's expanding,it's moving and shaking, you
(14:29):
know, think about the weather.
Like, I'm on a, kind of an island rightnow, so it's like, oh, the weather is just
like, it's doing this, it's doing that.
And you might feel like yourenergy levels, your moods, your
emotions, your ability to copewith life is doing that, right?
Is moving like a, likea maelstrom in the sky.
And the great news for you,my friend, is that that.
(14:52):
Makes sense, doesn't mean you're crazyor that you're doing something wrong.
It is the increase of Vata.
So how do we balance that is to takein more earth and water elements.
So here we arrive at the protein story.
So Ayurveda would say, as wetransition into more Vata,
(15:16):
we need more grounding foods.
So the amount of flesh food, if you takeit, or dairy or root vegetables, sweet
potatoes, tubers of any kind, those are agreat way to really ground the body down.
You might enjoy more seeds.
Nuts.
(15:36):
If you digest them well and not butters.
I'm a huge fan of seeds.
I'm always toasting themand adding them to things.
I grind them into butters andslather them on sourdough bread.
If you could get good quality sourdough.
Heirloom wheat bread, which I knowsome of you can and some of you can't.
If you can get that, there'sactually a decent amount of
(15:59):
protein in that, in wheat.
It's a building food.
It's a stabilizing food.
It really sticks there andholds energy in your body.
Builds the tissues in your body.
So it gets harder to be avegetarian, I'll tell you that.
That is true.
It gets harder.
I will, divulge that I am an addictof grass fed whey protein powder.
(16:25):
I think, and everyone'slike, what kind, right?
I always just look for the one thatdoesn't have any other ingredients,
but grass fed whey, and It'll be kindof yellow in the same way that your
butter or your ghee when it's grass fedwill have that like deeper color to it.
, Lifespa.
com I think is one of the most trustedsources that I recommend for finding.
(16:45):
, Dr. Dilliard has really done a tonof work to source that protein, but
my story around that is that thishappened to me early on in my thirties.
I've been an athlete.
I've been super athletic my entirelife basically, since I was like 15.
So I've been a vegetarianalso that whole time.
What I started to notice is, andthis was actually something that Dr.
(17:05):
DuYard, I think he had a blog orsomething about like the dangers
of low protein, you know, and I washaving joint pain and exhaustion.
And I mean, I was having difficultykeeping up with my, I had a
job that was a manual labor.
And I was having a hard time keepingup and so he had suggested at that
time to try to have this grass fed wheyprotein like three days a week, right?
(17:28):
And I'm like, oh no, Ayurveda doesn'tlike protein powders, you know, but
here I am a vegetarian just kind ofeating legumes like they're going out of
style and still, struggling, you know?
So I did that.
I had it, uh, three days a weekfor two weeks and my nails changed.
My nails changed.
They went from brittle to strongand, , like they look juicier.
(17:53):
Right.
And I thought, oh my goodness, thisis something big because in Ayurveda,
your, your nails are an upadhatu.
They're an auxiliary tissue of your bones.
So your nails give you informationabout the health of your bones.
And I thought, wow, I mean, I am tooyoung to be worrying about my bones here.
So that was a big aha for me.
(18:15):
And to this day, was it 10 years later?
I still notice that if I'm not using thewhey protein that I don't have to use it,
you know, regularly, but if I come offit, I just like don't use it for a month
or something, I'll notice a differencein the nails and then I get back on it.
I have it just a couple times aweek, two or three times a week,
(18:36):
and My nails get strong again.
So that says something to me, right?
That is undeniable.
So, , I know that my body digests it.
I think the question with protein powdersin Ayurveda is are we digesting them?
They're light and dry, right?
You've sort of powdered thisthing that was milk, right?
For me, if I were to just drink the grassfed milk and eat the ghee, unfortunately,
(19:00):
it It does sit a bit heavy in mydigestion, so I can't, I don't notice
the same thing with the nails, uh, whenI increase my ghee or, uh, drink, I do
notice it when I drink more milk, I willtell you that, I do notice it when I
drink more milk, like I'll make hot milk,turmeric milk on the regular, so I'll,
I'll cycle in of sort of doing that,especially in colder weather, I'll just
(19:24):
do that with, good quality milk, and thenI can be fine without the whey protein.
In the summer is when I move into itmore, I'll say because I start to feel
like hot milk doesn't sound as greatand I kind of want a smoothie, right?
I love smoothies.
They're like my guilty pleasurebecause again, smoothies
(19:45):
are really hard to digest.
They're like kind of cold and damp.
So what I've learned to do isnot put bananas in smoothies.
So if you are using a protein powderand you're putting a banana in there,
that's a very hard to digest thing.
So if you have a super highmetabolism and your stomach runs
hot, maybe it's working for you.
(20:08):
For me, I can't, uh, I can't do that.
I'll just burp bananas allday long for like six hours.
So I don't put bananas in there anymore.
I'll use, water.
I used to put like almond milk or peanutbutter, all sorts of crazy stuff in there.
Now I just use a cup of water, a scoopof the whey protein, and some spices.
I'll use cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon.
(20:29):
My sweet spice mix from the EverydayAyurveda Cookbook, which many of
you are probably familiar with.
That sprinkles right in there.
And that's it.
I don't put ice in it, you know.
Oh, yes.
The other thing I put in is chia seed.
So I'll put in two tablespoonsof soaked chia seed.
I just soak them in water for a coupleminutes and then I throw them in there.
And the chia seeds, they have fat in them.
(20:51):
So I'm getting a little bit of the goodfats there and it also makes it thicker.
So I get more of like ashake kind of a thing.
So I'm not like throwing a bunchof fruit in there along with.
the other digestibles.
I really just want the cleanest kindof protein experience that I can get.
And if I start buying one of thefancy sort of vegan ones, I mean, I've
(21:14):
experiment spent a long time since Ihave, but I have experimented with some
of those fancy ones that have the reallylong list of ingredients and all the
thises and the that's, and I just, Idon't notice the same thing in my nails.
When I'm using like a pea protein, youknow, a lot of those vegan ones are pea.
I did used to use NutriBiotic brandrice protein and Again, I can't say
(21:38):
it did the same thing for my nails.
I do think the dairy base has acertain, has some certain amino acids
that are making a difference for me.
Uh, and I think putting it withthe chia seed, mixing it with
fat also is, it's good for me.
And there's fiber in there.
So I have that, um, sort ofshake, you know, a couple
days a week as my breakfast.
(22:00):
And instead of having, say, oatmealor in warmer weather, I might get
into, like, the Refresherama recipe,which is going up on social media.
Month at Kate O'Donnell dot IR beta.
Don't miss that one.
It's like a grapefruit basething I do in the springtime.
So there's other breakfast, buttwice a week three times a week.
I'm doing this protein thingFor the love of my bones.
(22:24):
I do it and I'm trying to trying toeat meat I still don't digest beef.
I just, I don't know.
I think I'm 80 percent Hindu atthis point after spending so much
time in India in the last 25 years.
So I just don't, I don't digest the reds.
, I'll try to make a chicken soup likeonce a month, you know, where you boil
(22:44):
the whole chicken and the whole thing.
And it's still not easy for me.
but I also am looking atlongevity of this body, health
of this body, and I do get pain.
I do get pain, as I know a lot ofyou also do in the, joints and in
the tissues at large, and I reallyam keeping an eye on that, but know
(23:05):
my friend that you can watch the hairand nails to get a lot of information
about how your deep tissues are doing.
And they're, they're right there inyour face, you know, so like the luster
of , the hair and the nails, and themoisture that's present there is, is
going to give you , a lot of info.
So if you're doing like a, chickensoup and you're making a bone broth.
(23:27):
With the bones, you know, I'll, I'll sortof use that as a base for all sorts of
suits and dolls and things like that.
And I know I have friends who have gottento the point where they're doing that
once a week instead of once a month.
And, these are womenin their late forties.
They're feeling great from,from doing that for sure.
Fish.
(23:48):
I do less of because I don't lovewhat's happening to our oceans.
I don't love the industries of fishing.
Uh, I feel that poultryis less problematic.
If I can get my hands on wild game,I feel like that's actually the
best thing and the way to go.
And I do live in a part of thecountry where there's more hunting.
There's more of thatkind of thing available.
(24:10):
But I know a lot of, Women in later lifeare looking at this, at this question
and the thing about this movementinto the Vata time of life, this
perimenopause and menopause time is thateverything is going to hit you harder.
Everything is going to showup in your face more and it
won't be like that forever.
So it's like, we're inthis time of change.
(24:32):
So the way that you are eatingbegins to just not work for you.
And that's not fun.
You know, you want to think, Hey, I'vegot this figured out, but you'll never
have it figured out because your bodyand your environment are always changing.
Right, so there are things thatworked that won't work anymore, or you
just start to realize, Oh, I need tomake sure I get more grounding food.
(24:54):
I would say in this protein question,the way I think about it, I don't think
protein protein, I think grounding foods.
I think, did I havestabilizing foods today?
twice, right?
Two times.
And the whey protein is somethingthat it's a crutch for me, right?
Like I have to really lean on thatbecause I don't eat meat very often.
(25:18):
And if I am eating meat for whateverreason, more like say I'm staying
with somebody who cooks it, then Idon't do the whey protein, you know,
I just, I feel like I don't need it.
So I am always toasting pumpkin seeds.
I love tahini, uh, sesame tahini.
It's got high mineral content.
It's really easy to work with.
It tastes good with sweet stuff.
(25:39):
It tastes good with savory stuff.
So that's always, I'm makinga sauce with lemon and tahini.
I'm putting it on things.
I just eat it straight.
I mix it with a little maple syrupand just eat it with a spoon.
So I put some cinnamon.
So it's like it's my, it's my sweet treat.
It's also like a spreadand it's also a sauce.
(25:59):
So there is always tahini inthe fridge and that is a really.
Great food to keep aroundbetter than say peanut butter.
Peanuts are very heating, so especiallyif you're in perimenopause where you've
got a lot of heat ranging around, Iwould lay off the peanut butter and
go more for almond butter or tahini,you know, sunflower butter is fun,
(26:24):
but you got to watch the ingredients.
Sometimes there's weird oils addedto it, and I mean, I like to make
nut butters, but man, is it messy?
Right?
So I do, but it's like a whole productionto clean the, uh, the food processor
after I'm not always in the mood.
So I would say I go back and forth betweenmaking and buying like every other batch.
(26:44):
Right?
So I think the thing about proteinsis you, you want to find what the
things are, you know, what are thegrounding foods that feel like they
digest well for you and make sure youhave them, make sure you have them.
I know that greek yogurt is one thata lot of people lean on because if you
look at the label it's like an absurdamount of protein in this tiny little
(27:07):
cup that you can like eat in your carwhile you wait for your kids, right?
I totally get that.
The thing about the greek yogurt is itis heavy, sticky, slimy, hard to digest.
So don't mix it with abunch of other stuff.
I treat the Greek yogurt the sameway that I treat my whey protein.
(27:27):
If I'm going to have it, I'mhaving it because I need that
heavy dense earth water hit.
Right.
And I, it's something, especially whenI travel, I'll buy a couple of those
little yogurts because if I get caught,you know, in a pinch or whatever,
I know it's something I can have.
it can go in my bag and I can eatit because One thing I noticed that
(27:49):
I'm sure you notice now too, ifyou're older, is you can't not eat.
If you don't eat, I think the bodygoes into a catabolic mode, and it's
harder when you're in a BATA stageof life, it's harder to get out.
It's like you get an imbalance of BATAby moving into that very light space
where there's not enough calorie in yourbody, or not enough dense, dense calorie.
(28:12):
In your body, like if youjust eat sugary stuff, right?
There's no density to it.
It's like fluff,marshmallow fluff, you know?
So if I get enough density in myfood and Greek yogurt's a great
example of something very dense,you know, if I get enough of that,
I don't move into that imbalance.
And this is what is differentabout now that wasn't there
(28:34):
five years ago, 10 years ago.
Right.
For me and for any of us who aregetting older is that our need for
density in our food is greater andit needs to happen with a regularity.
You can't like skip it for a dayor two because your body will go
literally into a stress response.
It'll start tweaking out, right?
(28:55):
It'll feel uncomfortable, ungrounded,and then your body does all sorts
of weird things to try to balancethat feeling of ungroundedness.
So while baby greek yogurt is reallyhard to digest, if we have it without
a bunch of granola and a bunch ofsprinkles on it and a bunch of fruit,
right, if we just eat the yogurt, thenit's going to digest better and I'll put
(29:19):
cinnamon on it or my little spice mix.
I always put ginger powder orcinnamon In the yogurt, right?
And that makes it easier to digest.
So I'll often buy just a wholemilk plain when I'm traveling.
And that's like the thing thatI will eat when I'm in a pinch.
(29:39):
And it's definitely a lifesaver, right?
So if it's something you dependon, I would just consider how many
things are we mixing that with?
And then look at howdoes it feel in your gut?
Are you having likeburps, you know, Right.
For a long time after you eat it, thatkind of a thing is telling you that
it's, creating byproducts in your belly.
(30:00):
Right.
We want everything to justbe as smooth as, as possible.
So I'm a fan of the food thermos.
You know, I put my, my dolls in there.
I put my soups in there.
I bring those with me andhonestly, it's just as easy, to
eat that as it is to eat a yogurt.
And.
Preparation being prepared right becomesreally becomes really of the of the
(30:22):
moment here knowing what the dense.
grounding foods are that support your bodythat digest well and always adding some
warming spices cumin, ginger, turmeric.
again, the cinnamon, if it'sa sweet tasting thing, that
is always going to help.
Yes.
Always going to help you break it down.
Even just black pepperand a garnish with lemon.
(30:44):
Lemon's another one thatreally aids the digestion.
So keeping the spicing around andknowing what nourishes you, and maybe
you're in this process right now tryingto figure that out, so I hope some of
these ideas are things you can try,and you want to move into it like an
experiment, where you're like, okay,Kate talked about, you know, boiling
(31:06):
the chicken and making the broth andthen using that as a Base for doll.
Let me do that.
You know, let me do that for aweek or two and see how I feel.
Or let me try the whey protein and seeif it does the thing to my hair and
my nails like, like Kate talked about.
And you, you got full permission herefriend to do the experiment, right?
I think a lot of the way theconversation about food goes for us is.
(31:30):
This is right and this is wrong,you know, and if you feel like crap,
it's because you're doing it wrong.
And here's the I'vegot the answer for you.
I will never tell you thatI have the answer for you.
I'll give you some options and I'llinvite you to experiment and sort of
make suggestions of what are the signs of
good health and what are the signsof deteriorating health, right?
So we talked about sort of thehair and the nails, even the skin,
(31:53):
seeing a dryness in the skin orallergic reactions in the skin.
Not always, but sometimesthat's coming from digestion.
Also, the joint pain, thestress, the exhaustion, right?
All of these things can be signsthat we're not getting enough
of those dense grounding foods.
So rather than look at the number ofgrams, we want to look at the signs.
(32:20):
In the body, and usually that's goingto take a week or two for you to see
a difference in your digestion oryour skin or your nails, for example.
So a great thing to do is to justjot down, jot it down, especially
if you're busy, jot down, you know,week one, this is what I'm doing.
This is how I feel starting out andthen come back to it two weeks later.
And just how are those symptoms?
(32:41):
Have you noticed any changes?
And let the experiments continue,my friend, and I hope to You find
this helpful and then it givesyou a larger context in which to
explore your grounding food story.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
Everyday Ayurveda with Kate.
(33:02):
I'll be here again with you next week.
Welcome, welcome, my pod pal today inthis solo cast, I'm answering one of
your questions, which is about protein,how much protein is the right amount.
And I feel like culturally we'vebeen talking about hearing about
protein for a really long time.
So what I'd like to do is.
Let's talk about this questionthrough the Ayurvedic lens.
(00:20):
So we'll be using a differentlanguage that maybe will
simplify and help you understand.
And also, I think a lot of uspotentially here are maybe in
our thirties, forties and beyond.
And the question of what kindsof foods to use nourish the
body as we get older changes.
So that's a part of ourconversation as well.
(00:41):
How to manage sort of changing.
Needs of the body as we age and inrelation to our exercise and very
important question, whether aperson is currently healthy or is
currently working with an imbalance.
And that's a really big.
Difference in how we're goingto approach this question.
(01:02):
So stay with me today to talk aboutprotein from the Ayurvedic perspective.
(02:23):
All right, so as with anything foodrelated in Ayurveda, we don't make
these sweeping generalizations.
Like, you know, everyone shouldhave this amount of protein.
It's the utility of food depends onso many factors, such as the time
of day that you're eating the food,how much of the food you are having,
(02:44):
the current state of your diet.
Digestion will govern what kindsof food digest well and what kind
ultimately turn into toxins in your body.
Also your time of life.
So are you young?
Are you middle aged?
Are you older?
And how much activity are you doing?
What are your stress levels like?
So we're gonna look at all this and.
(03:07):
What I like about using theayurvedic lens for this conversation
is that I'm so sick of everyonetalking about protein consumption.
I feel like my entire life.
I have heard this conversation andin part, I think it has to do with
an imbalance that's been created inmany bodies due to the added sugars
(03:29):
and carbs in everything, right?
I mean, I've been on planes a lotrecently, so I'm around, uh, soda.
You know, I don't even seesoda usually in my life.
But I'm looking at the, or even likeI order a cranberry juice, right?
And they give me this minute madecan has, what is it like 50 grams of
sugar or something, and that's crazy.
(03:51):
The amount of sugar that humans consumein a day is 50 times what it was.
50 years ago.
So we've kind of createdthis like super sweet, right?
But with the refinement of sugarcane products and also we refine
sugar from beets, from coconuts.
(04:13):
I mean, there's sugar from everywhere.
thing, right?
That, that we different kinds ofsugar that we can see in our products.
Corn syrup is the big one.
That's what's in all the sodas.
And, you know, sugar cane productsin Ayurveda are actually beloved.
sugar has a lot of minerals in it.
For example, back in the day,some of you might remember your
parents making you take a spoonfulof molasses periodically, right?
(04:36):
Black strap molasses for the iron content.
And a lot of women stillfind that really helpful.
for especially those who arein the bleeding time of life.
So the problem is whatwe've done to sugar, right?
And that's what that refined sugarthat doesn't really have any opposing
fiber or minerals present that justkind of goes directly into the Rasa
(04:59):
or directly into the bloodstream andthe nutritive factor in the body.
And then imagine that these excessamounts of highly refined sugar is
washing through your tissues, right?
That's going to cause.
pain.
One thing I notice, is excess amountsof refined sugars cause pain in
(05:21):
my body the next day, whether it'scoming from alcohol or cake, right?
And, you know, alcohol is definitelyone of those, those simple sugars.
That we take too much of so it's kindof, you know, even the other thing is
like Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, again,the amount of sugar in one drink can
(05:42):
be like 60 grams, like your pumpkinspice latte, 60 grams of sugar.
I mean, that's like threedays worth of sugar that you.
suck down through a straw and it'sgone in like 15 minutes, right?
So obviously, you know, I think ourquestion about how much protein also begs
the question of how much sugar, right?
(06:03):
And so the way we look at food substancesand Ayurvedas is due to their tastes
and the elements that compose the foods.
And the idea is that we want to bring.
A balanced plate of elements intothe body, and there's five different
elements now on any given plate.
We want more earth and water elementsand smaller amounts of things that are
(06:30):
fiery, salty things that are bitterthings that are astringent, and that's
going to bring in , the air elementand the space element, and those are
the lighter elements, which we wantto balance heavy foods with smaller
amounts of light things, right?
So proteins are primarily earth element.
Especially like flesh foods.
(06:51):
Meats are primarily earth element.
You're basically eating the earthelement from the creature, and
that's a direct line to feedthe earth element in your body.
And that's your muscle tissue.
Also, any solid structure in your body.
So, right, uh, anything you can grabahold of and squeeze in your body
(07:12):
has a, an earth element component.
And as you've probably heard me sayby now, if you go down to the beach to
build a sand castle and you have sandwithout water, it won't hold together.
So there's a certain amount ofwater element necessary in The
(07:34):
tissue building process in the body.
So we're generally looking at ourbuilding foods as a combination of
earth and water elements, right?
So something like dairyis a great example.
It's a liquid like milk.
It's a liquid, but it's also unctuous,uh, When you look at it, it's like
fatty, collagen is another example.
(07:55):
And.
You're going to find that that combinationof moisture along with the earth element.
that's how you build the tissues.
And we want our tissues to have theright amount of moisture in them.
So when we talk about protein,we're talking about earth and water.
Elements and the building tastes, thebuilding tastes in the body that bring
(08:17):
us tissue as opposed to taste thatcleanse and reduce the body, like things
that are astringent, like the skinsof fruits and vegetables, things that
are bitter, like all of your greens.
So we have smaller amounts of thoseto balance our basically grains.
And proteins right so whole grains aretotally different than refined grains
(08:41):
as you're probably aware of by now youwant to take in all your food with it's
naturally occurring fiber and that's.
Awesome, right?
You can make, puree it into a soup.
A lot of my recipes in my booksare soups, I'm sure you've noticed.
And that makes it easier tobreak down that fiber, right?
(09:03):
So it goes in in a smooth way.
So soups are just a greatway to get building taste.
And if you're eatingmeats, soup is the way.
The Ayurvedic way totake meat is in a soup.
So instead of like a big slab of aflesh, it's a smaller amount, like
(09:24):
say four ounces or something getsin like a bowl with vegetables,
potentially with some grain or awhole grain noodle and a broth, right?
That's the ideal way to improve thedigestibility proteins, of meats.
And we do the same with legumes.
We have them in these water Waterbased, you know, preparations, whether
(09:46):
it's like a black bean soup or alentil doll, those kind of things.
Those are great protein sources andspices are absolutely essential when
you come to eating the earthy foods.
You do want to make sure that there'ssome warming spices in there, which will
(10:06):
improve your body's ability to breakdown these heavier items and render them
into that liquid nutritive juice that wecall ahara rasa, the juice of the food.
And that's what then washesthrough the tissues and As it's
washing through or irrigating yourtissues that nutritive juice, which
(10:28):
is the result of your food is.
in a state of balance because you'vebalanced the tastes in your food.
So that's moving throughin a state of balance.
Then your tissues are allgoing to get what they need.
All the different tissues.
Some of them like more earth.
Some of them need a little more fire.
Some of them need lots of water, right?
So all the elements from your platewith the help of your digestive
(10:52):
spices, they sort of break that down.
Get that into that nutritive precursorthat washes through your body.
And it's just like, just visualizethat, you know, your food's
washing through your body.
This is a totally different conversationfriend than eating X number of grams
of protein in a day and just likeshoving it in your face no matter what,
(11:13):
because it's a certain number, right?
We don't do that here.
We don't do that here.
Everything is a result of the sensations,the stories that your body's telling you,
the messages that it's giving to you.
So, I think a lot of people, womenespecially as we're aging, are
(11:33):
noticing some feelings that Lead usto the question of how much protein.
I think that's why you are asking Howmuch protein should I have you because
you don't feel good right because youfeel exhausted tired Your resiliency
distress is down you're maybe feelingconstipated you're bloated or hanging
(11:57):
on to water or hanging on to fattissue and You're wondering where's
the imbalance coming from, right?
And, um, I think the conversationin the space right now keeps going
towards protein protein, especially forwomen and perimenopause and menopause.
So let me just break that down throughthe Ayurvedic lens for you, uh, why that
(12:21):
might, you know, why that might be and howthat makes sense according to Ayurveda.
When do you transition intoperimenopause menopause, uh, this
period of time in your life wheremaybe you're in your forties, fifties.
It's a transition from the Pitta timeof life into the Bhatta time of life.
(12:41):
So the Pitta time is thattime that's really governed
by fire element and activity.
.Getting stuff done, having responsibilities, , being most active,
you know, so you're running a business,you're having a family, raising that
family, providing for them, you know,trying to pay off your mortgage, like
all these things are happening duringthat time of life, and your metabolism
(13:03):
likely is going to have an easier timeof it when there's more activity and
more fire present, um, In the body,you know, as well as in the life.
But as we move into the Vata time of life,which menopause is that transition for
women and men, it's happening as well,but maybe on less of a tight curve, right?
More of a slow, gentle, movementin this direction of aging and
(13:26):
into the vata time of life.
And vata is that combinationof space and air elements.
It is characterized by cold, dry,light, hard, rough qualities.
So imagine coldness,Lightness, hardness, right?
That sounds like pain to me.
(13:47):
That sounds a little bitlike some joint pain.
it sounds like the coldness inthe digestion is going to give
you the gas and the bloating.
Maybe some sluggishness of the stool.
Your lightness, that it's when, so yourbody, you feel less grounded in your body
as the body is like transitioning intolighter elements and that can make you
(14:08):
feel more prone to the effects of stress.
It can make you feel, less groundedemotionally and mood wise, like you might
feel there's more swinging happening.
And this is because, thinkabout air, the nature of air.
It is a mover, right?
It's going, woohoo, it's expanding,it's moving and shaking, you
(14:29):
know, think about the weather.
Like, I'm on a, kind of an island rightnow, so it's like, oh, the weather is just
like, it's doing this, it's doing that.
And you might feel like yourenergy levels, your moods, your
emotions, your ability to copewith life is doing that, right?
Is moving like a, likea maelstrom in the sky.
And the great news for you,my friend, is that that.
(14:52):
Makes sense, doesn't mean you're crazyor that you're doing something wrong.
It is the increase of Vata.
So how do we balance that is to takein more earth and water elements.
So here we arrive at the protein story.
So Ayurveda would say, as wetransition into more Vata,
(15:16):
we need more grounding foods.
So the amount of flesh food, if you takeit, or dairy or root vegetables, sweet
potatoes, tubers of any kind, those are agreat way to really ground the body down.
You might enjoy more seeds.
Nuts.
(15:36):
If you digest them well and not butters.
I'm a huge fan of seeds.
I'm always toasting themand adding them to things.
I grind them into butters andslather them on sourdough bread.
If you could get good quality sourdough.
Heirloom wheat bread, which I knowsome of you can and some of you can't.
If you can get that, there'sactually a decent amount of
(15:59):
protein in that, in wheat.
It's a building food.
It's a stabilizing food.
It really sticks there andholds energy in your body.
Builds the tissues in your body.
So it gets harder to be avegetarian, I'll tell you that.
That is true.
It gets harder.
I will, divulge that I am an addictof grass fed whey protein powder.
(16:25):
I think, and everyone'slike, what kind, right?
I always just look for the one thatdoesn't have any other ingredients,
but grass fed whey, and It'll be kindof yellow in the same way that your
butter or your ghee when it's grass fedwill have that like deeper color to it.
, Lifespa.
com I think is one of the most trustedsources that I recommend for finding.
(16:45):
, Dr. Dilliard has really done a tonof work to source that protein, but
my story around that is that thishappened to me early on in my thirties.
I've been an athlete.
I've been super athletic my entirelife basically, since I was like 15.
So I've been a vegetarianalso that whole time.
What I started to notice is, andthis was actually something that Dr.
(17:05):
DuYard, I think he had a blog orsomething about like the dangers
of low protein, you know, and I washaving joint pain and exhaustion.
And I mean, I was having difficultykeeping up with my, I had a
job that was a manual labor.
And I was having a hard time keepingup and so he had suggested at that
time to try to have this grass fed wheyprotein like three days a week, right?
(17:28):
And I'm like, oh no, Ayurveda doesn'tlike protein powders, you know, but
here I am a vegetarian just kind ofeating legumes like they're going out of
style and still, struggling, you know?
So I did that.
I had it, uh, three days a weekfor two weeks and my nails changed.
My nails changed.
They went from brittle to strongand, , like they look juicier.
(17:53):
Right.
And I thought, oh my goodness, thisis something big because in Ayurveda,
your, your nails are an upadhatu.
They're an auxiliary tissue of your bones.
So your nails give you informationabout the health of your bones.
And I thought, wow, I mean, I am tooyoung to be worrying about my bones here.
So that was a big aha for me.
(18:15):
And to this day, was it 10 years later?
I still notice that if I'm not using thewhey protein that I don't have to use it,
you know, regularly, but if I come offit, I just like don't use it for a month
or something, I'll notice a differencein the nails and then I get back on it.
I have it just a couple times aweek, two or three times a week,
(18:36):
and My nails get strong again.
So that says something to me, right?
That is undeniable.
So, , I know that my body digests it.
I think the question with protein powdersin Ayurveda is are we digesting them?
They're light and dry, right?
You've sort of powdered thisthing that was milk, right?
For me, if I were to just drink the grassfed milk and eat the ghee, unfortunately,
(19:00):
it It does sit a bit heavy in mydigestion, so I can't, I don't notice
the same thing with the nails, uh, whenI increase my ghee or, uh, drink, I do
notice it when I drink more milk, I willtell you that, I do notice it when I
drink more milk, like I'll make hot milk,turmeric milk on the regular, so I'll,
I'll cycle in of sort of doing that,especially in colder weather, I'll just
(19:24):
do that with, good quality milk, and thenI can be fine without the whey protein.
In the summer is when I move into itmore, I'll say because I start to feel
like hot milk doesn't sound as greatand I kind of want a smoothie, right?
I love smoothies.
They're like my guilty pleasurebecause again, smoothies
(19:45):
are really hard to digest.
They're like kind of cold and damp.
So what I've learned to do isnot put bananas in smoothies.
So if you are using a protein powderand you're putting a banana in there,
that's a very hard to digest thing.
So if you have a super highmetabolism and your stomach runs
hot, maybe it's working for you.
(20:08):
For me, I can't, uh, I can't do that.
I'll just burp bananas allday long for like six hours.
So I don't put bananas in there anymore.
I'll use, water.
I used to put like almond milk or peanutbutter, all sorts of crazy stuff in there.
Now I just use a cup of water, a scoopof the whey protein, and some spices.
I'll use cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon.
(20:29):
My sweet spice mix from the EverydayAyurveda Cookbook, which many of
you are probably familiar with.
That sprinkles right in there.
And that's it.
I don't put ice in it, you know.
Oh, yes.
The other thing I put in is chia seed.
So I'll put in two tablespoonsof soaked chia seed.
I just soak them in water for a coupleminutes and then I throw them in there.
And the chia seeds, they have fat in them.
(20:51):
So I'm getting a little bit of the goodfats there and it also makes it thicker.
So I get more of like ashake kind of a thing.
So I'm not like throwing a bunchof fruit in there along with.
the other digestibles.
I really just want the cleanest kindof protein experience that I can get.
And if I start buying one of thefancy sort of vegan ones, I mean, I've
(21:14):
experiment spent a long time since Ihave, but I have experimented with some
of those fancy ones that have the reallylong list of ingredients and all the
thises and the that's, and I just, Idon't notice the same thing in my nails.
When I'm using like a pea protein, youknow, a lot of those vegan ones are pea.
I did used to use NutriBiotic brandrice protein and Again, I can't say
(21:38):
it did the same thing for my nails.
I do think the dairy base has acertain, has some certain amino acids
that are making a difference for me.
Uh, and I think putting it withthe chia seed, mixing it with
fat also is, it's good for me.
And there's fiber in there.
So I have that, um, sort ofshake, you know, a couple
days a week as my breakfast.
(22:00):
And instead of having, say, oatmealor in warmer weather, I might get
into, like, the Refresherama recipe,which is going up on social media.
Month at Kate O'Donnell dot IR beta.
Don't miss that one.
It's like a grapefruit basething I do in the springtime.
So there's other breakfast, buttwice a week three times a week.
I'm doing this protein thingFor the love of my bones.
(22:24):
I do it and I'm trying to trying toeat meat I still don't digest beef.
I just, I don't know.
I think I'm 80 percent Hindu atthis point after spending so much
time in India in the last 25 years.
So I just don't, I don't digest the reds.
, I'll try to make a chicken soup likeonce a month, you know, where you boil
(22:44):
the whole chicken and the whole thing.
And it's still not easy for me.
but I also am looking atlongevity of this body, health
of this body, and I do get pain.
I do get pain, as I know a lot ofyou also do in the, joints and in
the tissues at large, and I reallyam keeping an eye on that, but know
(23:05):
my friend that you can watch the hairand nails to get a lot of information
about how your deep tissues are doing.
And they're, they're right there inyour face, you know, so like the luster
of , the hair and the nails, and themoisture that's present there is, is
going to give you , a lot of info.
So if you're doing like a, chickensoup and you're making a bone broth.
(23:27):
With the bones, you know, I'll, I'll sortof use that as a base for all sorts of
suits and dolls and things like that.
And I know I have friends who have gottento the point where they're doing that
once a week instead of once a month.
And, these are womenin their late forties.
They're feeling great from,from doing that for sure.
Fish.
(23:48):
I do less of because I don't lovewhat's happening to our oceans.
I don't love the industries of fishing.
Uh, I feel that poultryis less problematic.
If I can get my hands on wild game,I feel like that's actually the
best thing and the way to go.
And I do live in a part of thecountry where there's more hunting.
There's more of thatkind of thing available.
(24:10):
But I know a lot of, Women in later lifeare looking at this, at this question
and the thing about this movementinto the Vata time of life, this
perimenopause and menopause time is thateverything is going to hit you harder.
Everything is going to showup in your face more and it
won't be like that forever.
So it's like, we're inthis time of change.
(24:32):
So the way that you are eatingbegins to just not work for you.
And that's not fun.
You know, you want to think, Hey, I'vegot this figured out, but you'll never
have it figured out because your bodyand your environment are always changing.
Right, so there are things thatworked that won't work anymore, or you
just start to realize, Oh, I need tomake sure I get more grounding food.
(24:54):
I would say in this protein question,the way I think about it, I don't think
protein protein, I think grounding foods.
I think, did I havestabilizing foods today?
twice, right?
Two times.
And the whey protein is somethingthat it's a crutch for me, right?
Like I have to really lean on thatbecause I don't eat meat very often.
(25:18):
And if I am eating meat for whateverreason, more like say I'm staying
with somebody who cooks it, then Idon't do the whey protein, you know,
I just, I feel like I don't need it.
So I am always toasting pumpkin seeds.
I love tahini, uh, sesame tahini.
It's got high mineral content.
It's really easy to work with.
It tastes good with sweet stuff.
(25:39):
It tastes good with savory stuff.
So that's always, I'm makinga sauce with lemon and tahini.
I'm putting it on things.
I just eat it straight.
I mix it with a little maple syrupand just eat it with a spoon.
So I put some cinnamon.
So it's like it's my, it's my sweet treat.
It's also like a spreadand it's also a sauce.
(25:59):
So there is always tahini inthe fridge and that is a really.
Great food to keep aroundbetter than say peanut butter.
Peanuts are very heating, so especiallyif you're in perimenopause where you've
got a lot of heat ranging around, Iwould lay off the peanut butter and
go more for almond butter or tahini,you know, sunflower butter is fun,
(26:24):
but you got to watch the ingredients.
Sometimes there's weird oils addedto it, and I mean, I like to make
nut butters, but man, is it messy?
Right?
So I do, but it's like a whole productionto clean the, uh, the food processor
after I'm not always in the mood.
So I would say I go back and forth betweenmaking and buying like every other batch.
(26:44):
Right?
So I think the thing about proteinsis you, you want to find what the
things are, you know, what are thegrounding foods that feel like they
digest well for you and make sure youhave them, make sure you have them.
I know that greek yogurt is one thata lot of people lean on because if you
look at the label it's like an absurdamount of protein in this tiny little
(27:07):
cup that you can like eat in your carwhile you wait for your kids, right?
I totally get that.
The thing about the greek yogurt is itis heavy, sticky, slimy, hard to digest.
So don't mix it with abunch of other stuff.
I treat the Greek yogurt the sameway that I treat my whey protein.
(27:27):
If I'm going to have it, I'mhaving it because I need that
heavy dense earth water hit.
Right.
And I, it's something, especially whenI travel, I'll buy a couple of those
little yogurts because if I get caught,you know, in a pinch or whatever,
I know it's something I can have.
it can go in my bag and I can eatit because One thing I noticed that
(27:49):
I'm sure you notice now too, ifyou're older, is you can't not eat.
If you don't eat, I think the bodygoes into a catabolic mode, and it's
harder when you're in a BATA stageof life, it's harder to get out.
It's like you get an imbalance of BATAby moving into that very light space
where there's not enough calorie in yourbody, or not enough dense, dense calorie.
(28:12):
In your body, like if youjust eat sugary stuff, right?
There's no density to it.
It's like fluff,marshmallow fluff, you know?
So if I get enough density in myfood and Greek yogurt's a great
example of something very dense,you know, if I get enough of that,
I don't move into that imbalance.
And this is what is differentabout now that wasn't there
(28:34):
five years ago, 10 years ago.
Right.
For me and for any of us who aregetting older is that our need for
density in our food is greater andit needs to happen with a regularity.
You can't like skip it for a dayor two because your body will go
literally into a stress response.
It'll start tweaking out, right?
(28:55):
It'll feel uncomfortable, ungrounded,and then your body does all sorts
of weird things to try to balancethat feeling of ungroundedness.
So while baby greek yogurt is reallyhard to digest, if we have it without
a bunch of granola and a bunch ofsprinkles on it and a bunch of fruit,
right, if we just eat the yogurt, thenit's going to digest better and I'll put
(29:19):
cinnamon on it or my little spice mix.
I always put ginger powder orcinnamon In the yogurt, right?
And that makes it easier to digest.
So I'll often buy just a wholemilk plain when I'm traveling.
And that's like the thing thatI will eat when I'm in a pinch.
(29:39):
And it's definitely a lifesaver, right?
So if it's something you dependon, I would just consider how many
things are we mixing that with?
And then look at howdoes it feel in your gut?
Are you having likeburps, you know, Right.
For a long time after you eat it, thatkind of a thing is telling you that
it's, creating byproducts in your belly.
(30:00):
Right.
We want everything to justbe as smooth as, as possible.
So I'm a fan of the food thermos.
You know, I put my, my dolls in there.
I put my soups in there.
I bring those with me andhonestly, it's just as easy, to
eat that as it is to eat a yogurt.
And.
Preparation being prepared right becomesreally becomes really of the of the
(30:22):
moment here knowing what the dense.
grounding foods are that support your bodythat digest well and always adding some
warming spices cumin, ginger, turmeric.
again, the cinnamon, if it'sa sweet tasting thing, that
is always going to help.
Yes.
Always going to help you break it down.
Even just black pepperand a garnish with lemon.
(30:44):
Lemon's another one thatreally aids the digestion.
So keeping the spicing around andknowing what nourishes you, and maybe
you're in this process right now tryingto figure that out, so I hope some of
these ideas are things you can try,and you want to move into it like an
experiment, where you're like, okay,Kate talked about, you know, boiling
(31:06):
the chicken and making the broth andthen using that as a Base for doll.
Let me do that.
You know, let me do that for aweek or two and see how I feel.
Or let me try the whey protein and seeif it does the thing to my hair and
my nails like, like Kate talked about.
And you, you got full permission herefriend to do the experiment, right?
I think a lot of the way theconversation about food goes for us is.
(31:30):
This is right and this is wrong,you know, and if you feel like crap,
it's because you're doing it wrong.
And here's the I'vegot the answer for you.
I will never tell you thatI have the answer for you.
I'll give you some options and I'llinvite you to experiment and sort of
make suggestions of what are the signs of
good health and what are the signsof deteriorating health, right?
So we talked about sort of thehair and the nails, even the skin,
(31:53):
seeing a dryness in the skin orallergic reactions in the skin.
Not always, but sometimesthat's coming from digestion.
Also, the joint pain, thestress, the exhaustion, right?
All of these things can be signsthat we're not getting enough
of those dense grounding foods.
So rather than look at the number ofgrams, we want to look at the signs.
(32:20):
In the body, and usually that's goingto take a week or two for you to see
a difference in your digestion oryour skin or your nails, for example.
So a great thing to do is to justjot down, jot it down, especially
if you're busy, jot down, you know,week one, this is what I'm doing.
This is how I feel starting out andthen come back to it two weeks later.
And just how are those symptoms?
(32:41):
Have you noticed any changes?
And let the experiments continue,my friend, and I hope to You find
this helpful and then it givesyou a larger context in which to
explore your grounding food story.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
Everyday Ayurveda with Kate.
(33:02):
I'll be here again with you next week.
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