Vegan nutrition gets along entirely without animal food. But does that also work in Ayurveda, where ghee and honey play such an important role? And is vegetable nutrition healthy or nevertheless connected with too many disadvantages? Whether Veganer has really the most beneficial food and much more you experience here.
What is Vegan Nutrition?
Who nourishes itself Vegan, entirely does without animal products. Many Veganer justifies this decision with not wanting to be to blame for the fact that animals suffer. This train of thought is also taken up in Ayurveda, namely the Ahimsa principle. Ahimsa means nothing other than non-violence.
At first sight, Ayurveda and Vegan seem to fit this very well together. Because the Ayurvedic diet plans to do without animal food to a large extent since meat, fish, and dairy products are more difficult to digest. And finally, the Ayurveda teachings know: humans are what they can digest!
However, in the Ayurvedic way of life, certain animal products take a more critical role: Honey, yogurt, and ghee are components of many Ayurveda recipes and body treatments. So is it impossible to live and eat Ayurvedic and vegan food at the same time? No, on the contrary!
Ayurveda Vegan Recipes and Tips for Beginners
If you want to eat a vegan diet and still not do without the beneficial effects of an Ayurvedic diet, you need one thing above all: the joy of experimenting! Because a balanced and healthy vegan diet depends on variations in the choice of food.
The Best Products for a Ayurveda Vegan Diet
The favorite of many vegans? Quite clearly pulses, nuts, and seeds, because they supply the body with essential nutrients and make wonderfully full. The best thing to do here is to vary between different varieties: lentils, beans, almonds, linseed – find out what you like best.
Just as valuable for Ayurveda vegan cuisine are pseudo-grains like amaranth and quinoa. For example, from these two varieties, you can prepare both a sweet breakfast and a hearty meal. Especially suitable for savory dishes are also whole grains like bulgur, spelled rice or couscous.
Also, high-quality fats belong in every well sorted Ayurvedic kitchen because with a small amount of fat, for example, fat-soluble vitamins from your food can be better absorbed. It is best to choose coconut, walnut, sesame, pumpkin seed, or linseed oil.
However, this is also very important because not all vegan foods are equally suitable for every type of constitution. Ayurveda does not have a vegan diet for all three doshas. As an example, here are some recommendations on which foods go well with which dosha:
- Vata: sweet fruits, almonds, carrots, root vegetables, potatoes, sesame oil
- Pitta: rice milk, bitter substances in herbal teas and green vegetables, dried fruit, pulses
- Kapha: hot spices, cabbage, mung beans, barley
If you are not sure how to create your Ayurvedic diet as a vegan, you are best trying different products. You will quickly and intuitively find out what gives your body the most energy and mind the most satisfaction.
Recipes: How can I eat a vegan diet?
The good thing about vegan Ayurvedic cuisine: You will never be bored, if only because of the many spices and different fruits and vegetables that form the basis of your diet. Here are just a few examples of delicious and easily digestible vegan meals!
Vegan Breakfast: Cereal Porridge
You can refine the cereal porridge in many different ways.
You only need four tablespoons of the cereal of your choice or quinoa, which you soaked overnight. Green spelled also works wonderfully.
Boil your porridge base in some water until it has the desired consistency. Whether preferably liquid or solid – everyone has his preferences here! You can also sweeten the porridge with maple syrup or agave syrup.
Warm fruits go very well with it. Apple pieces, for example, can be braised with cinnamon and a vanilla pod, giving you a breakfast that is perfect for any time of year, especially on cold autumn and winter days.
The Vegan Main Course: Mung-Dal stew
Mung Dal is another classic for Ayurveda dishes.
You should only know that you should soak the next dish’s pulses for at least 4-5 hours.
In this case, you need about three tablespoons of it, plus these ingredients:
- Half a diced carrot
- One handful of soup vegetables
- One small cut zucchini
- One little, chopped ginger slice
- ½ each TL cumin seed, coriander, and turmeric
- Salt
- One pinch asafoetida
- 200 ml coconut milk (or only half if you are a Kapha type)
- 200 ml water (or 300 ml, see above)
- Two tablespoons oil of your choice
- Juice of a lime (to taste)
Roast all spices except the salt briefly in the oil. The cumin seeds burst open. Then add the ginger and the vegetable cubes, then the liquids and the mung dal. Let the mixture simmer on low heat for about 25 minutes or until the dal is soft. Salt it, drizzle the lime juice over it – done!
The Vegan Main Course: Vegetable Soup
As with the morning cereal porridge, soups offer you almost unlimited possibilities in their preparation. We suggest the following combination:
- A handful of vegetables of your choice, e.g., carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, or tomato
- One large slice of ginger
- One small onion, diced
- Spices of your choice, e.g., cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, star anise, salt, pepper
- One tablespoon sesame or coconut oil
- 500 ml of water
Steam the onion and chopped ginger in the oil, and then add the vegetables. Allow the mixture to brown slightly and then deglaze with water. Let the soup simmer for about 15 minutes and puree it. Now you can season and enjoy it as you like.
Ghee: Is Ayurvedic butter vegan?
You may have wondered where the ghee is hidden in these recipes. After all, it’s an indispensable part of so many Ayurvedic recipes. The fact that you won’t find ghee in recipes without animal products is simply because ghee is not vegan.
It is a fat that is extracted from pasture butter. So for classic Ayurvedic butter with its golden yellow color, an animal basis is necessary. However, vegan ghee is already available in health food stores today, and you can even make a variation of it yourself at home. You need for the homemade vegan ghee:
- 150 ml of rape oil
- 50 g coconut oil (or coconut oil if you want to taste the coconut flavor)
- Two tablespoons unsweetened vegetable milk substitute
- 1 pinch each of salt and turmeric
The turmeric gives the ghee the classic yellow color, but you can, of course, leave it out.
To make ghee, melt the coconut oil and stir in all the other ingredients. Now put the jar in the fridge for one hour and stir the mixture again before you decant the ghee into a boiled container and store it refrigerated.
Is a Ayurveda vegan diet good for health?
Opinions differ on this question: Not everyone is convinced that vegan nutrition can be healthy. But as in so many areas of life, balance is the be-all and end-all.
Fact is: If you know what nutrients your body needs and vary your vegan diet, it’s good for your health. According to convinced vegans, high blood pressure can be reduced; even diseases like diabetes and tumors should be prevented.
It is also a fact that plant-based food in freshly prepared meals with natural products contains much less unsaturated fatty acids or fat in general. Therefore overweight is also a characteristic, which is to be found with not too many Vegan.
Does a vegan diet also have disadvantages?
As you have read above, it can be useful for your health to eat vegan food. But it is just as possible to get a nutrient deficiency – if you always eat the same foods. However, this fact also applies to any other diet.
If you start on veganism, you should check your iron and vitamin B12 levels regularly with your doctor to be on the safe side. This way, you will quickly notice if you need to “catch up” in a particular area.
Whether it is ahimsa or some other reason: The vegan diet is a way of life that more people are opting for. Even with Ayurvedic cuisine, the renunciation of animal food can be combined well if you are willing to try something new. However, as you already know from Ayurveda teaching, every person has different needs and prerequisites – so there is only one thing that helps: Try it out!
Satvik Living 