Flax Seeds, Banana, and Leafy Greens in My Smoothie: Any Relation to Sciatic Pain?

“Good Morning,

I attended the cooking class yesterday and bought some products. One of the samples was Vaidya’s Cup. I drank half a cup (with added flax milk) then made breakfast and drank the rest with breakfast. It gave me a stomach ache. Should this be consumed by itself before food?

Vaidya responds: Avoid any/all things made from flax. because we follow the Charak Samhita, and the Samhita says that it can heat up the spleen. I have seen in my practice a lot of flax seed users. After sometime, their ranjak pitta in the liver goes extremely high and it is quite difficult to cool it off again. So stay away from flax seed – that would be my recommendation to you. As far as Vaidya’s Cup goes, it is tridoshic, and if you want you may add almond milk to it, or even cow’s or goat’s milk to it, instead of having it black. You may add a sweetener as well.

Also, another question: previously I was blending together in the morning, flax seed, lemon, a frozen banana and whatever fresh greens I had on-hand. This was my morning drink. Could this be the cause of inflammation and/or sciatica problems? I’m aware you had mentioned that big bananas are bad, but it I remove the banana, is it still not good? I thought fresh greens were good? Your answer is greatly appreciated. Thank you,

Best,

J. Argentin”

Vaidya responds: 

Dear Jeannette: This is a 100% good way to provoke your pitta and vata doshas. And in Ayurveda, we know that sciatica is a vata dosha predominant disease. It is called “gridhashi.” It shows up in your body if your vata dosha is vitiated. Your morning smoothie recipe is actually a great formula to imbalance vata and pitta dosha. So I would not be surprised that you have been experiencing inflammation and sciatica. But there are also a lot of other things wrong with your recipes, in particular, the combination of banana with raw leafy greens. Not to mention the addition of flax seeds. All these combined, according to ayurvedic precepts, create a toxic cocktail. It is a great heavy formula ideal for creating ama and amavisha in your body! Here is what I would suggest. Try to make a smoothie with overnight soaked and blanched almonds, soaked sunflower seeds, a few dates (2-3). Blend into a smoothie texture. Add some water, maybe half the juice of lime, and perhaps ½ tsp of Mum’s Masala. This will be a great healthy way to start your day. As for fresh leafy greens, these are best cooked and eaten. If you want to reverse your sciatic pain, you should not consume any raw vegetables, specially not raw leafy greens. Never juice greens. Fresh leafy greens contain a lot of marut, or air energy, and in the long run are never good to consume raw.