Nutrition and lifestyle choices to support the body’s natural release of toxins “Detoxification” can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Kripalu’s Healthy Living programs teach people how to support the body’s natural detoxification process. Detox is conducted primarily by the liver, which removes toxins from the body by converting them from a fat-soluble state [...]
Tag Archives: vegetables
Posted on May 3rd, 2013 by Thrive in Kripalu Kitchen
Kripalu Recipes: Vegan Carrot-Cashew Spread
Most of us have heard that eating carrots will improve our night vision, but what’s the real story on carrots? Besides their sweet taste, carrots contain large amounts of beta-carotene, which provides the distinctive orange color and helps the body create vitamin A. Vitamin A helps maintain healthy vision, especially night vision, and boosts the [...]
Posted on April 26th, 2013 by Thrive in Kripalu Kitchen
Spring Greens
Spring, glorious spring, with its air of fresh possibilities, is the perfect time to do some cleaning and cleansing. Gather up everything green you see in the grocery store and make yourself a big pot of Spring Greens Gumbo. You’ll have so much energy that the spring housecleaning will feel like a summer breeze. Spring [...]
Posted on March 29th, 2013 by Deb Morgan in Kripalu Kitchen
Change of Season
Spring has arrived, and although the weather might not currently reflect it, change is in the air. Just as the winter must eventually surrender to the spring that will birth the summer sun, so too must we lighten our bodies and spirits in order to prepare for the emergence of new growth. When it comes [...]
Posted on February 15th, 2013 by Deb Morgan in Kripalu Kitchen
Warming Winter Soups
With real winter weather settling in, I decided that a hearty stew dinner was in order last weekend for a gathering with family and friends. As I get many requests for our Harvest Stew and Creamy White Bean and Roasted Fennel Soup recipes, I decided to make both! Not only did the soups turn out [...]
Making Change and Breaking Old Habits
Whether you’re cutting out food, television, or something else entirely, breaking old habits is easier than you might think. Veganism always sounded too rigid for my tastes, so to speak, and not particularly fun. While I believe that eating is meant to sustain us, I also associate eating with great pleasure. Living by the ocean [...]
Detox to the Rescue: A Post-Holiday Cleanse
So you put on a pound or five over the holidays… Do you feel a like a sausage squeezed into your clothes? Most of us indulge in the delectable offerings of the season, usually laden with saturated fats, dairy, sugar, and white flour. In excess, these foods create congestion or metabolic waste that leaves us feeling sluggish, heavy, bloated, tired, achy, irritable, and/or depressed. Just as our automobile perks up after a tune-up, we can revitalize with a detox.
Whether you call it cleansing, detox, purification, or fasting, eliminating metabolic waste from the body is an ancient practice. All of the major religions include some form of fasting as a vehicle for well-being and spiritual awakening.
Fasting has a profound effect on all levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Increased vitality, mental clarity, and weight loss are typical detox results. Fasters often experience lasting relief from allergies, arthritis, fibromyalgia, headaches, and addictions to sugar, caffeine, and nicotine as well as gaining deeper insight and a sense of joy. Fasting is considered by many to be the single most effective method of healing chronic disease.
Happiness and Fruit
Seems obvious: Who doesn’t get at least a little bit excited by a heaping bowl of fresh-cut fruit (especially if someone else has done the cutting for us)? But now science confirms that happiness and mental health rise with the number of servings of fruits and vegetables we eat each day.
Researchers at the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College studied 80,000 people living in the United Kingdom, and compared their fruit and veggie intake with their life satisfaction, mental well-being, presence of mental disorders, self-reported health, happiness, nervousness, and how often they “feel low,” factoring in such variables as the rest of their diets, alcohol, and many demographic, social, and economic factors. In an overwhelming number of cases, people who ate the World Health Organization-recommended five servings per day were happier than those who didn’t, and those who ate seven per day were happiest.
Posted on November 10th, 2012 by Jonathan Ambar in Nutrition
Find Peace from the Struggle to Maintain a Healthy Weight
Why do so many of us struggle to maintain a healthy weight? One of the top culprits, says integrative nutritionist Annie B. Kay, MS, RD, RYT, in her R&R retreat lecture A Natural Way to Healthy Weight, is the typical American diet, which is loaded with sugar, heavy on processed foods, and doesn’t include much fiber. One of the major factors in finding balance, Annie says, is to examine our choices and explore new options that could be more beneficial to our health—and waistlines—in the long run.
In order to maintain a healthy weight, Annie says, it’s necessary to first look at what’s on our plate. “Whole foods are healers,” Annie says. “They supply us with a sustained energy balance, unlike high-sugar, processed foods, which take our blood sugar on a roller coaster ride.” To help us foster this sustainable energy, Annie suggests shifting from a grain-based to a green-based diet, avoiding white flour and other simple carbs, and stocking our kitchen with foods high in nutrient density—foods packed with more nutrients per calorie, such as fruits and vegetables. Nutrient-dense foods also have the bonus of keeping us full longer.
10 Principles of Nutritional Health
Here, at Kripalu, there are nutritional tenets that substantiate our approach to food. By applying these principles, you can enjoy your food in healthful ways that promote well-being.
- Eat whole, fresh, unprocessed foods—seasonal, organic, and local, whenever possible.
- Eat a diet that is founded on proven nutritional science.
- Eat foods that promote good digestion and support your gut flora.
- Avoid foods you are allergic to or intolerant of.
- Eat foods that taste good, and allow your taste buds time to get used to new foods.
- Eat in rhythm—three meals or five to six mini-meals scheduled at regular intervals throughout the day.
- Eat until you are no more than two-thirds full.
- Eat in a relaxed state.
- Stay happily hydrated.
- Eat foods you cook!
support our mission
The true measure of our mission is the impact we have on the lives of the people who walk through our doors. Find out more.
read our catalog
Follow Us!