Product Description

Ayurveda, the ancient healing art of India, teaches that food plays an essential part in one's health and sense of well-being. Here is an authentic guide of the Ayurvedic approach to food and tasty vegetarian cooking. The recipes are formulated using herbs and spices to help balance the constitution of each person. The effects of the foods on individual constitution is included with every recipe together with the medicinal properties of many of the foods.

This is a cookbook and much more. Included in this book are chapters on: the principles of Ayurveda and individual constitution; maintaining one's health, digestion and constitutional balance; the importance of proper food combining for optimal well-being; setting up an Ayurvedic kitchen and planning menus inclusive of every member of your family and more than 100 recipes of delicious Ayurvedic cuisine.

These important sections include even more benefits from Ayurveda: nearly 300 simple remedies for everything from the common cold and skin problems to stabilizing blood sugar in diabetics, all using familiar household herbs, fruits and vegetables! A chart for determining your individual constitution. Comprehensive food guidelines for basic constitutional types. A listing of the qualities of foods and their affects on the doshas.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48559 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 254 pages

Review
...a tasty, loving rendition of favorite Indian foods. The food guidelines and explanations of food's healing properties are indispensable. --Rebecca Withers, Yoga International, Sept. 1998

...a tasty, loving rendition of favorite Indian foods. The food guidelines and explanations of food’s healing properties are indispensable. -- Rebecca Withers, Yoga International, Sept. 1998

From the Author
During and after my internship, I worked as a house physician in the departments of medicine, surgery, gynecology and pediatrics at the Ayurvedic Hospital in Pune. At that time I observed repeatedly how correct diet, combined with proper herbal medicine and lifestyle, can play a vital role in healing. I became increasingly aware that illness provides an "invitation" to change one’s habitual patterns.

As my awareness grew about the role of food as medicine, I observed that many health problems seemed intertwined with the stresses of daily life. These include worries about one’s job or money, tension and even the stress created by eating the wrong kinds of food and improper food combining. In the last twenty years I have seen many problems, sometimes culminating in serious illness, that were the result of poor food choices and ignorance of the art of proper cooking for oneself and for the family.

In this book you will find simple, practical approaches to food and specific recipes from the Ayurvedic art of cooking to help restore the body’s healthful balance. Though there is much helpful information within these covers, this book is not proposed as a treatment plan for any disease. This, of course, you must obtain from your own doctor.

I met my wife Usha at the Ayurvedic Hospital in Pune where she was a student of Ayurvedic nursing. After we were married, Usha began using her knowledge and love of Ayurveda as her guiding light in preparing our meals. She always brings great love and respect to every stage of food preparation, and she cooks each meal with all of her heart.

My wish is that you will discover in these pages a creative program for better health for yourself and your family. These recipes and healing ways are meant to enter your life as a natural method of healing without any side effects or reactions. Enjoy your Ayurvedic cooking for health, happiness and the healing of family and friends.

God bless you with love and light.

Dr. Vasant Lad

About the Author
Dr. Lad brings a wealth of classroom and practical experience to the United States. He received the degree of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery from the University of Pune, in Pune, India in 1968 and a Master of Ayurvedic Science from Tilak Ayurved Mahavidyalaya in Pune, India in 1980. For 3 years he served as Medical Director of the Ayurveda Hospital in Pune, India. He also held the position of Professor of Clinical Medicine for seven years at the Pune University College of Ayurvedic Medicine, where he was an instructor for many years. Dr. Lad's academic and practical training includes the study of allopathic medicine (Western Medicine) and surgery as well as traditional Ayurveda. In 1979, he began traveling throughout the United States sharing his knowledge of Ayurveda, and in 1981, he returned to New Mexico to teach Ayurveda. In 1984, he founded and began as Director of The Ayurvedic Institute.

Dr. Lad is the author of numerous articles and several books; Ayurveda, The Science of Self Healing, co-author of The Yoga of Herbs and Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing. His book, Secrets of the Pulse, The Ancient Art of Ayurvedic Pulse Diagnosis, presents this fascinating subject for the first time. His work from Harmony Books, The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies, is a compendium of classic Ayurvedic treatments for common and chronic ailments. His most recent book, The Textbook of Ayurveda: Fundamental Principles, is the first of a four-volume set of textbooks covering the topics he teaches in his eight-month Ayurvedic Studies Program. Dr. Lad presently is the Director of The Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico and teaches the Ayurvedic Studies Program and, for more advanced study, the Gurukula Program as well as a program in India each year. Dr. Lad also travels throughout the world, consulting privately and giving seminars on Ayurveda; its history, theory, principles and practical applications.

Customer Reviews

The best!
This Ayurvedic cookbook is well suited for the beginner as well as an experienced cook. There is an introduction to Ayurveda and dosha specific eating presented in the beginning of the book. This will help you receive full benefit of the receipies and suggestions given. However if you do not care about Ayurveda the book still provides you with some of the most interesting and tasy Indian receipies (of course all vegetarian) I have had. Mrs. Lad's easy to follow instructions and down to earth approach to Indian cooking makes for an easy and succesful outcome of the cooking adventure. Great book, definitely a must in any Indian-food lover's collection.

Good, basic book
This is a good, very basic intro to Ayurvedic cooking, but if you're looking for a book that gives a clear and precise program for tackling real health problems through Ayurvedic principles of nutrition, I would strongly recommend the cookbook put out by Ayurvedic educator, Maya Tiwari's center in Asheville, NC, instead.

Wonderful ayurveda book but just average cookbook.
I was excited to get this book. Read it attentively and tried two of the recipies. Kitchari for Vata and Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice. The explaination by Vasant Lad was good and detail. I like it very much. As for the recipies, they smells superb but are tasteless. I still recomend this book for those who like to learn to cook a ayurvedic balanced food. But if you are looking into cooking a delicious mouth watering meal. This is not the book. Still an excellent ayurvedic book.