Pre & Probiotics: Inside & Out; Yogurt & Honey 365 24/7! Plus: Become an Herbalist; Also: Is It DIY SVA Detox Time?! – your SV Ayurveda Newsletter March 10, 2022 – #7, Vol 12

Did you know that friendly bacteria are not just great for total health, but also necessary for our skin? Facial and overall body skin health.
Vaidya Mishra’s SVA approach for aging skin was integral and beyond nutrition and dosha specification. This pre- and pro- biotic approach was practiced in SVA Ayurveda  long before science came to recognize it as “synbiotic antiaging therapy” – this just means a therapy that incorporates the use and awareness of pre- and pro-biotics. Prebiotics provide food for the friendly bacteria, allowing them to flourish in a healthy environment. 
The synbiotic approach ensures that the friendly bacteria in our physiology are well nourished in order to be able to do their job in the harsh environment of the facial and body skin – harsh because it is exposed not only to environmental hot and cold temperatures, but also nowadays chemicals from clothing, detergents, personal care products, etc.
 Ayurvedically speaking, prebiotics and probiotics enhance the pranic coordination between the skin and the environment. Their dual presence facilitates the reception of Soma from the prebiotics and the environment, thus producing more ojas to support the barrier function of the skin which helps to protect the body from infection and the hazardous effects of xenobiotic (household chemicals ), and vibrational toxins (EMFS). Made with a unique blend of ayurvedic herbs, the SVA probiotic synergy contains Turmeric(curcuma longa), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Manjistha(Rubia cordifolia), Indian sarsaparilla (smilax regeli), Guduchi (Tinosphora cordifolia), Aloe vera (aloe barbadensis), Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata), Jasmine (Jasminum sambac); Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Sweet orange in a base of coconut and vegetable glycerin pranically preserved. This cream reverses aging, creates more ojas, more glow, enhances barrier function and refines wrinkles.

Probiotics:
How To
Make Your Own!
Dr Marianne Teitelbaum

Modern medicine has recently confirmed the benefits of a healthy gut microbiome through the use probiotics and yogurt cultures. Now more than ever, we need to address the health of our gut because so much of what we eat and consume, including pharmaceuticals – can destroy a large part of our beneficial bacteria in the gut. Medicines such as: antibiotics; birth control pills; immunizations; steroids; acid reflux medicines; even over the counter “pain-killers.” Thus it becomes critical that we learn how to replenish the healthy bacteria, specially because they can help prevent irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, food allergies and even autoimmune diseases. While this is a relatively new field of study that is evolving, did you know that the ancient healers of Vedic India already offered in-depth understanding and great remedies for the health of the friendly bacteria in our gut?
The sourcebook of Ayurveda, the Charak Samhita, famous for detailing ayurvedic internal medicine, discusses the relationship between bacteria and sunlight – modern science h as now confirmed that UV light inhibits the growth of bad bacteria. But even beyond that, the Atharva Veda contains discusses both friendly and unfriendly micro-organisms, and offers many remedies. We categorize these micro-organisms as visible and invisible. In general, the term “krimi” is used to refer to bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, helminthes, and algae. The friendly bacteria are also categorized roughly under this same category. But Vaidya Rampant Mishra, my ayurvedic mentor and colleague from the Shaka Vansya lineage of Ayurveda (SVA), used the term “yogini-s” coined by his father, Kameshwar Mishra, when referring to the friendly bacteria. Why? Because these friendly are responsible for processing and making available the prana or life energy from the food we eat. They act as the bridge between the external world represented by food and our internal body ecosystem. They conjugate the food into energy and prana (life force) in our bodies.
“Yogini-s” – as Vaidya Mishra called them, connect our inner body with the universal body and act like little goddesses that give and support life from both a mental and physical perspective. Vaidya also used to teach that “the brain of the brain lies in the gut.” Strange as this statement might have seemed 25 years ago, we now know it is well documented how the friendly bacteria in the gut make 90% of the neurotransmitters in the brain, which dictates our mental state. In addition, they are also responsible for the breakdown and absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream, keeping our physical bodies strong into old age. They also stabilize the immune system preventing it from attacking food or worse, your own body, which could result in both food allergies and autoimmune diseases. It’s no wonder they were considered little goddesses which protect our physical and mental health!

Krimi-s & Yogini-s
with Vaidya Mishra

Making your own home-made yogurt is one of the best ways to nourish your body with these little yoginies; however, since yoghurt is a “cold and heavy” food in ayurveda, or more speficially known to be “abhishandi” – it can form ama, or partially digested food, which is clogging to the body’s physical and vibrational channels. We have to be careful as then when and how we consume it. 
This also applies to all dairy products obtained from the cow: milk, cream, yoghurt. This is why we always want to boil dairy or add hot pungent spices to counterbalance its cold, clogging nature. In these instances we are adding agni – or fire – to burn the heaviness of the soma contained in these dairy products, rendering them less capable of forming ama, as Vaidya Mishra explained.
But you should never boil yogurt! Otherwise it will turn sour and become pitta aggravating as well as kill the friendly bacteria contained within it. This is why we find many recipes and methods of using yoghurt: to counteract its clogging effect and mucus forming propensity and yet retain its live bacterial cultures that are so necessary for out health. 

So let’s start at the very beginning. First, it’s best to start out with a good yogurt starter culture. We recommend the Natren Yogurt Starter from a company known as Natren. Natasha Natren is the creator of the brand, and she brought the friendly micro-organisms with her from Russia to America! The strains contained in their powders and capsules are not only unique but they are still alive yet dormant. They get activated with the proper temperature in the proper medium. Don’t forget, these strains of bacteria are very delicate and can die during the processing of both the probiotics and yogurt strains, which happens all too often with most of the probiotic companies on the market.
Vaidya Mishra and I tried several yogurt starters and several yogurts available on the supermarket shelves, and none had the alkalinity he was looking for. The ancient texts or shastras remind us that yogurt should not taste (too) sour, because the friendly bacteria do not thrive in the acidic medium. This is another reason why sour yoghurt can be pitta aggravating. This is why non-sour (alkaline) yogurt is easier on the colon – unlike kefir which carries high yeast and may overwhelm both the immune system and the colon. If an individual has a sensitive immune system they may experience complications or additional symptoms when ingesting kefir. In addition, did you know that unlike kefir, yogurt is not contraindicated for pregnant women? It is great for them to have. According to the ayurvedic shastras, a yogurt starter is better for you than kefir as it has a more satvic nature. Satvic foods are those that are fresh, pure, nutritious and balanced in alkalinity, giving physical strength and mental clarity.
The Natren bottle of the yogurt starter has an expiration date, which is usually around a year, so it can be kept in your refrigerator to keep the cultures live – but if you make yoghurt regularly it won’t last you that long anyways! 

If You’ve Never Made Yoghurt Before
Not to worry, the instructions are on the table of the jar. Basically, you heat 6-8 cups of whole non-homogenized ideally raw milk over a low flame to at least 180 degrees F (82 degrees C) — do not boil. Maintain this temperature for at least 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the milk to cool to 108-112 degrees F (42-44 degrees C). Then place 1-2 level teaspoons of Yogurt Starter into 2 tablespoons of the cooled down milk and whisk gently to make a smooth paste. Continue to add more milk a small amount at a time, blending thoroughly after each addition until all the milk is used. You can then pour it into a yogurt maker or put it in a large bowl covered with a towel in an oven that’s kept warm with a pilot light. Leave it overnight and wake up the next morning to your first batch of beautiful home-made healthy and delicious yogurt.
It might take a few tries, but you want to aim towards getting a yogurt that isn’t too sour. The longer it stays in the yogurt maker or oven the more sour it will become, so it is best to keep it in for no longer than 6-8 hours or so. 
For your next and future batches of yogurt use one cup of yogurt from the previous batch to whisk into the cooled down boiled milk. And you can continue to do this for two months. Each time you make a new batch there will be a little less live bacteria in the new batch, so it is good to start over with the yogurt starter powder every two months to guarantee ample amount of beneficial cultures.
Once you have made your yogurt you’ll be so excited to try it and receive its numerous health benefits – besides the fact that it taste incredibly good! Now you should know that we also do not know how to consume yogurt properly here in the West. We should NEVER have yoghurt with fruit! And never have yogurt for breakfast in the morning. These practices aggravate the heavy and cold property of yogurt and can give us serious chronic congestion and other digestive issues. But Vaidya Mishra taught us that there are several things you can do to counter the channel clogging properties of yogurt. 
First, best way to consume yogurt daily is to make make a medicinal lassi blending one-fourth cup of plain yogurt with three-fourths cup of room temperature spring water with a pinch of ground cumin and three sprigs of cilantro leaves. Blend for a minute, skim off the fat that rises to the top and discard it, then repeat this process again. Add salt to taste. Take sips of this lassi in between bites of food at lunchtime only, when the digestive fire is strongest.
Or you could try wrapping the yogurt in cheesecloth and letting it drip into a bowl overnight in the refrigerator. You can drink the yellowish liquid from the dripping again at lunchtime in between bites of food. The solid yoghurt is home-made pure delicious cream cheese. It’s a little lighter even if still clogging, because it has lost some of its water content. You can add dry mint leaves, some olive oil, and some salt and make herbed cream cheese! 

Or you could also try stirring the yogurt into you dahl or vegetables. But the best recipe ever yet is the one Vaidya Mishra gave us: eat the yogurt with a little bit of raw honey and couple pinches of nutmeg. Both the honey and nutmeg counteract the cold and clogging properties of the yogurt, decreasing its mucus forming quality. In fact, you can even try to boil the milk with a cinnamon stick or a few thin slices of fresh ginger in the very first step of making the yogurt, strain them out and then whisk in the yogurt culture once the milk has cooled down to the correct temperature. Both these spices add some heat to the otherwise cold clogging yogurt as well.
If you are very sensitive to the mucus-forming quality of yogurt, always consume it with some black pepper, or a green chili, and some Mom’s Masala. Otherwise, you can consider consuming it only in the summertime, when the sun is closest to the earth warming up your digestive system and countering its clogging mucus forming effect.

Dairy vs Coconut Yogurt?
Now, many of you are allergic to dairy products and are consuming coconut yogurt made with coconut milk. The problem here is that coconut is a rich heavy fruit which also needs a strong metabolic fire to digest it. So, if you make yogurt out of it it becomes even heavier and colder than dairy yogurt, and harder for most people to be able to consume without making some ama out of it. Using the coconut water obtained from a fresh mature coconut is OK in warm weather. You’ll get the health benefits of the coconut without the clogging properties of the coconut milk. But coconut yogurt has different properties. And this is another thing that the Ayurveda teaches us: different manners of consuming a fruit or edible item in different preparations gives different results. It’s something we have yet to discover in western nutritional science…. For example, like I stated above, there is a big difference between consuming cold vs boiled warm milk in terms of the health benefits for the body. 
How to Make Coconut Yoghurt 
Here’s how you get the coconut water out of the coconut — press into one of the three eyes at the top of the coconut. One will be soft so pierce it with a screw driver, turn it over and strain into a glass. Warm up this coconut water to about 98 degrees, which only takes a few seconds in a pan over the cooktop. Keep a thermometer in the coconut water so it doesn’t overheat because too much heat will destroy the friendly bacteria. Whisk in a teaspoon of the yogurt starter and keep it in the yogurt maker or warm oven for about 6 hours or overnight. Refrigerate it in the morning and each day take 1-2 Tbs every day on an empty stomach. This yoghurt does not have a creamy texture like dairy yoghurt. It will be more of a liquid texture. The point of making yogurt is that it carries friendly bacteria and is lively. So don’t worry if your coconut yogurt does not look creamy like store bought coconut yogurt.

Yogurt does not mix well with fish or spinach. Nor does it mix well with other fresh fruit.
You might ask why not fruit, since many of the yogurt companies have it mixed already with fruit and so many people do combine it with fresh fruit on their own. Both yogurt and fruit are considered somagenic, which means they both contain a high amount of cold heavy ingredients that require a fit digestive fire. In modern terms this translates into sugar content, water content, and other ingredients. Since soma is so cooling it takes a strong digestive fire to break it down and if it isn’t digested properly you can make ama, or partially digested channel clogging residue from this cold food. You will end up with body aches, fatigue, sluggish digestion, congestion and/or cold-like symptoms, and eventually may experience chronic achy muscles and other similar symptoms. 
Always remember ama in Ayurveda is considered the root cause of ALL diseases and if you make ama after a meal you will feel heavy and sluggish. And as it clogs your channels you might feel stiffness and inflammation in the joints and muscles.
While some people might be able to seemingly digest fruit and yogurt together, most people don’t have enough metabolic capacity to properly digest it.
I remember Vaidya Mishra literally cringing when I told him people in America eat bananas with yogurt, both of which are heavy and channel-clogging.
But other than these few little complications, freshly made homemade yogurt is extremely beneficial to your health and is quite tasty — and I’m sure you will reap great benefits as you continue to regrow the friendly bacteria in the gut that became depleted over the course of a lifetime. It’s always so exciting to put your yogurt cultures in your oven or yogurt maker at night and wake up to a beautiful freshly made delicious food hailed as one of nature’s greatest gifts to our health.
I hope you enjoyed this article and the video I recorded on it, and you will learn how to make your own yogurt at home. You’ll be amazed at the difference between this freshly made yogurt with live cultures versus the store-bought containers containing additives and sugars found on the supermarket shelves.
Thanks you,
Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum
856-786-3330 

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