“Thank you for the post on garlic.

Question…I have heard that garlic is much better to eat if the yellowish/greenish sprig is removed before eating/cooking.

Is there any substance to this notion?

Thank you.

Jeff Cohen”

Dear Jeff: This yellowish greenish sprig has concentrated sulfur content, which has been exposed to the air, and thus becomes even more heating for the physiology, as well as lethal for the friendly bacteria!So yes, it will reduce the undesirable effect somewhat when you remove the sprigs before consuming the garlic. However, sulfur is still present. And again, as I have explained in the past, the beneficial or not consumption of garlic for an individual will depends on how much sulfur that indivdual’s colon can handle; how much garlic that individual consumes with what types of food, which vegetables. For example, if an individual consumes garlic with cooling vegetables, such as loki or summer squash (zucchini), and if they are not a high pitta type, maybe their colon can handle the garlic and sulfur content, and their friendly bacteria will not be harmed.

“Namaste Mishra ji,
I am a 36 year old woman and have two kids. My mom from India told me to give kids sulfur chloride (chuna). She said it’s good for me too. That it helps for bones and calcium. Please let me know the right way to use this or if not than reason behind it. Thank you very much. Om shanty, Ripal D.”

Dear Ripal: this is a popular but crude way of supporting the body’s calcium. I do not recommend it, because it can be heating. Heating for the circulatory micro and macro channels. With long term use, it can also be irritating for the liver. For calcium support, I rather recommend good quality coral calcium in addition to dietary intake of calcium. You may want to use my SVA Soma Cal Herbal-Memory Nectar drops; or the SVA Soma Cal capsules. You can add ¼ capsule of Soma Cal to a glass of milk or a meal. Or add 3 drops of Soma Cal to 16 oz of water and calcium rich food such as: cooked baby spinach, toasted and ground sesame seeds, good (organic non-homogenized) milk, home-made yogurt, etc.

“Hello
My child is 6 years old son. Grinding teeth at night. Can u plz tell me cure and cause for this problem.”

Hello: this is a typical vata aggravation. It is an indication that he may need richer nourishment – you are probably feeding him well but he needs more. Keep him away from anything not made in your kitchen, and give him only unctuous vata pacifying meals. Before bed, apply my transdermal cream called Mastishk Shamana. Also, give him full body massage preferably 2-3 times a week – blend 20% SVA Vata oil with Magnesium and Vit D and 80% almond oil. Massage his whole body going length wise on his limbs, and clockwise circular on his joints. Let him relax for 10-15 minutes in a warm room after massage, and then shower the oil off. Otherwise, make sure you feed him, on time, 4-5 times a day. Do not use a microwave to warm or cook his food. Avoid using a microwave at home completely, as it is not good for any one of you. And keep him away from electromagnetic devices, minimize or avoid his use of computers and computer games. Get a copy of my EMF booklet and try to follow the tips that I lay out in there. Electromagnetic radiation and overload of frequency can impact a child’s physiology dramatically, throwing off Vata dosha completely. Don’t keep any electromagnetic machines such as cell phone chargers, TV, computers, etc, near his bed. Try these things and and let us know how he improves.

Dear Vaidya: can you give textual reference to “abhishandhi” effect of bananas please. Thank you, Martin G.”

As previously discussed in my blog (and newsletter dated October 17, #42 Volume 3), the small and aromatic bananas are great to consume, because they do not carry channel-blocking property. However, in general, small aromatic bananas, particularly in the United States, are very rarely available. Larger bananas are readily found across the world and that is what people tend to consume. As far as the reference is concerned, here is a verse from Bhav Mishra’s Bhav Prakash Nighantu, – which is considered to be the best “nighantu,” the best commentary for Ayurveda’s materia medica:
As you can read in the verse above, large bananas are “bisthambi:” very heavy to digest and channel blocking through the creation of ama; they also increase kapha dosha on a cellular level, and are heavy (guru). Carrying these 3 properties,: bhishtambi prabhava, increasing kapha dosha, and having guru (heavy) and sheet or cold guna (property), they slow down or dampen agni or the metabolic fire in the stomach. This is the root cause of disease, as a reduced digestive fire will result in toxins or ama, and there can be no disease without ama. Specifically: anything cool or cold in property shrinks the circulatory channels. A banana is bhishtambhi in more ways than one as you can see. Due to its cold and heavy properties, that shrinks channels and creates ama on the cellular level. Large bananas increase shleshak kapha which restricts movement. This is why my ancestors capped it as an abhishandi fruit. Favor small bananas anytime, whenever available.

“Hi.
I wonder why you don’t recommend Winter Squash? I’ve seen on other places that Winter squash is actually recommended in Ayurveda. So how come you say it’s not healthy?
Olle W.”

Dear Olle: this opinion comes from my familial lineage. My ancestors observed, centuries ago, that the winter squash is channel clogging. In my SVA lineage, we put a lot of attention on channels – physical and vibrational – much more so than any other aspect of the physiology. This is why you will also see that we recommend not to consume larger beans (kidney, lima, garbanzo, etc); no winter squashes; to avoid big bananas; etc. All these things were found to be channel clogging and having an adverse effect on health. True, they may be very nourishing and very high in nutrient content, but their channel clogging “prabhava” or post-digestive and post-absorption effect disturbs the flow of these same nutrients in the large physical or macro as well as the small and subtle micro channels. They also block the macro and micro detox pathways. In our SVA practice, I, alongside my practitioners, have noticed concrete visible differences when clients stop consuming these channel-clogging foods.

“I just listened to your MP3 audio on Tofu and you mentioned that Ayurveda avoids large beans. Would that include garbanzo beans – which are also called chick peas?
Christine C.”

Dear Christine: white garbanzo or chickpeas are not a desirable food item according to the SVA lineage, as they are considered clogging or channel blocking. However, another member of the chickpea family is a good substitute, this is called: “kala chana” or “black” chana. Kala chana carries more “agneya” or metabolic properties, so that is it not clogging but actually supports digestion while it carries all the nutritional benefits of the chickpea – protein, fiber, etc. One recommendation before you use the kala chana bean (available from any Indian grocery store) or the kala chana besan or flour which is highly flavorful as well, be sure to cook them well, you can also soak your kala chana overnight to ensure more thorough cooking, or dry toast your besan before adding to your cooking meals. Stay tuned to our SVA Health YouTube channels where will be featuring many kala chana recipes in the future.

“Dear Vaidyaji,
Thank you for your illuminating newsletter and for your detailed replies to questions. I am recommending your blog and websites to everyone to comes to our Bhagavat Life cooking classes and events (www.bvtlife.com).
I would like to ask you two questions about oils:
1) Do you recommend cooking with olive oil? For example, in making Green Protein, adding it to a soup or dal in the beginning of the cooking. There are many opinions that olive oil (and most vegetable oils) have lower burning point and they oxidize and become toxic. On the other hand, I’ve heard that mixing it with water (as in soup) or with ghee protects it from burning. I am confused and beg for your expert opinion.
2) Is Pumpkin Seed Oil recommended to use, especially for men suffering from prostate disorder?
Thank you so much. I’ve been listening to recordings from the inaugural SVA conference in  August-very educational.
Yours in service,
Divya Alter
Bhagavat Life, New York City
www.bvtlife.com

Dear Divya: It is true that olive oil has a lower smoke point. This means it cannot handle high cooking heat, and that is why I always say that when you want to sauté something in olive oil, it is best to mix it in with some ghee (made from yogurt butter) or Mum’s Ghee. Otherwise, always add olive oil to your meal after having cooked it. If you want to cook with olive oil, then I always recommend that you add water as well along with the olive oil. I would personally recommend that you first cook your protein and vegetables in water, however, and then add the olive oil at the very last phase. This will ensure that the the fatty chains of olive oil are not broken, plus you will fully retain all the flavor of the oil.

As to what concerns the pumpkin seed oil, within the SVA tradition, it is known that the “prabhava” or post-digestive and post-absorption effect of the pumpkin is clogging. Although the pumpkin carries very many nutritients, it unfortunately is very heavy. And we know, through the SVA tradition, that we do not want, under any circumstance, to clog the physical or vibrational channels – they are our lifelines, connecting different parts of our physiology to each other, as well as our physiology to the universe we live in. This is why Ii personally will not recommend that oil for any one. Plus, in Ayurveda, we have so many other options for prostate health, such as: Kanchenar, Gokhru (Tribulus terrestris), Yasad or Zinc. These, when combined with a good SVA diet, will go much further than pumpkin seed oil ever would. For more specific guidelines may I also suggest you contact Dr Marianne Teitelbaum, who practices out of New Jersey, and will be able to help you.