All about fruit | When to cook and combine

When you are in our programs or trainings you will hear me talk about cause and effect. It’s a cornerstone within the teachings of Ayurveda and Yoga. It’s a palpable, tangible, experiential way to notice connection.  And it’s key to understanding your relationship with the world around you as well as the unique nature of your inner world.

You may experience it most dramatically in what and how you eat.  For example, do you ever feel gassy or bloated after eating fruit? Are you eating it alone or with other foods? 

Try eating fruit on its own. Combining fruit with other types of food can affect the quality of digestion. It doesn’t work very well because fruit digests quickly whereas other food takes longer. This holds up the fruit in the digestive process.

The result – fermentation, gas production, and general agni disturbance. This is important for everyone as it causes imbalances to our natural state of health, but especially for kids, as agni is still developing. There is an exception to that, which is dates, fresh or dried. These can be combined quite nicely in cooking or with a meal.

We live in the tropics. So we have tropical fruit almost daily for breakfast. We don’t typically have apples or pears. There is something called a tropical apple that I will prepare occasionally, but always cooked. 

Apples and pears, even tropical fruits such as mango or banana, are best cooked or warmed. Having tropical fruits when it is cold outside or if you are in the middle of winter is really confusing for your body and agni. Not a good idea.

Eating local fruit and in the appropriate season, meaning fruit that is ripe and harvested during distinct periods, will be more aligned with the rhythms of nature and the body's natural digestive process. 

For example, when I lived in the United States there was a time and season for fruits. Strawberries in June. Blueberries, raspberries, cherries, plums, and peaches in July and August. All the melons would come in late summer, August and September. Apples and pears would arrive in September to be enjoyed in the colder months. I encourage you to find fruits that are in season and local for you. Fresh farmers markets are a great place for this. 

We realize that even with tropical fruit that it’s a good idea to warm it up, just a little bit. You can do this at the lowest temperature in your oven for a few minutes. Not only does it make it easier to digest but it also makes it really delicious. 

You can do this in the oven or on the stove top. I like to use the oven. In this way I can prepare one large tray, arranging a few fruits at a time. It’s best to have no more than 3 fruits in one sitting. Otherwise it will be confusing for your agni. Today, for example, I prepared a tray of orange citrus, mango, banana, and lychee for the Hale Pule team to share. Try it, you’ll see.