EP 01: Ayurvedic Chef Divya Alter – What To Eat For How You Feel

Have you heard of the term Ayurveda and wondered what it’s all about? Or maybe you already know the basics, but would like to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of this system of medicine, which is over five thousand years old. Divya Alter is a chef, entrepreneur, teacher, nutritional coach, and author of the best-selling cookbook, "What To Eat For How You Feel". In the first episode of the Our Nature podcast, Divya shares her incredible journey from growing up in Bulgaria, discovering Ayurveda and healing her autoimmune condition, to eventually finding success in New York City with her cookbook and her restaurant, Divya’s Kitchen. This episode is for anyone who is currently struggling with their health, who wants to feel better and prevent disease, who is interested in Ayurveda, or who is simply curious about alternative ways of healing.

Resources:

What To Eat For How You Feel
Divya’s Kitchen
SV Ayurveda
Vaidya Mishra
Barbara Brennan School of Healing
All about ghee!
Boiled apple pre-breakfast recipe

“The goal of Ayurveda is to help us achieve balance and harmony with nature - with our own nature, with who we are, and also with the nature around us.”

Connect with Divya:

Divya’s Website
Divya’s Instagram

Connect with The Our Nature Podcast:

Follow Our Nature on Instagram

Gratitude List:

This podcast would not be possible without the group of talented individuals below. I offer them my sincerest thanks and love.

Produced by: Kevin Aguirre Buitrago and Will Wells
Graphics by: Tim LaSalle
Music by: Nick Ceglia

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COMPLETE SHOW NOTES:

What life was like growing up in Bulgaria
On discovering Ayurveda in India while she was living and working at an ashram
How nature can heal us
Studying Sanskrit poetry, Ayurvedic cooking, and the Bhagavad Gita while living in India for five years
Attending the Barbara Brennan School of Healing and how it got her through a major healing crisis
What Ayurveda is and the core principles you should know
How Ayurveda teaches us how to determine what is good and bad for us to eat and why Ayurveda always treats the cause of the symptoms
How Ayurveda’s principles can work for us today
Ways you might already be practicing Ayurveda
What are the doshas and the qualities of each one: vata, pitta, kapha
Why it is so important to eat seasonal foods
How Ayurveda can be relevant today even though it’s 5,000 years old
How EMFs cause problems and a few easy, practical ways we can cleanse our bodies from the harmful effects of EMF
The latest health and diet fads and how they correspond to Ayurveda
How everything is medicine in Ayurveda and how to know whether something will be good or bad for you specifically.
What inspired Divya to write her book “What To Eat For How You Feel”
How the book is structured and what it can do for you
The misconception that Ayurvedic food is Indian food
Why eating local is so essential for your health and well being
Ayurveda’s perspective on mushrooms and which mushrooms are the best to eat and why
How stones and other minerals can become medicine
The importance of cooling our livers
Transdermal medicines bypass the liver and how they can help people with weak digestion
What to do if you’re dealing with chronic conditions
The celery juice craze and what Ayurveda believes about its effectiveness
How vegetable juice is really hard to digest
The Ayurvedic approach to vegan diet, raw diet etc.
GHEE - the miracle ingredient in Ayurveda!
The one recipe you can make each day that is simple, quick and incredibly healthy for you
The last 5 questions with Divya

THE LAST 5 QUESTIONS:

What is your favorite place in nature?

The Bulgarian forest because that’s where I grew up, but any forest is what I gravitate to.
What is the animal, mineral or plant that resonates with you the most?

Cows. They’re beautiful animals, very sattvic and also cows teach me patience.
What is one thing we can do right now to connect with the natural world and bring more harmony into our lives?

Breathe deeply and calm your mind and meditate because this helps us center ourselves and be fully present in the world.
What’s the greatest lesson nature has taught you?

Purity. Nature is perfect and nature is pure in its origin and even when it looks imperfect, it’s actually perfect the way it is. So that is what nature inspires me to be.
Nature brings me…

Peace.