106: Ayurvedic Herbal Healing with Dr. Virender Sodhi, Youveda Advisory Member

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. I'm stoked to announce that my book, Eat Feel Fresh, a plant based Ayurveda cookbook, is now available for pre order on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Tarte, Walmart, wherever books are sold. This is my book, baby. I went to India to shoot all of the photography. It is alkaline, it is refreshing, it is global. I believe that Ayurveda takes many shapes and forms because it is a living science and it's time for Ayurveda to open its doors to different countries, ways of eating, different ingredients, and of course making it plant based. So many vegans out there who have wanted to practice Ayurveda but have shied away because of the amount of ghee and dairy can now experience Ayurveda. So I'm so excited for Eat Feel Fresh to be out. You can order it, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, wherever books are sold and I will have some pre order bonuses including signed book plates, bookmarks, webinars, all sorts of stuff. So stay tuned for that. All you have to do is show me your receipt and I will be sharing with you all of the bonuses I have in store for you. This episode is brought to you by uvaida. Uvaida is a modernized Ayurvedic supplement company that takes certain issues that we have such as mood, joints, immunity, digestion and creates these custom little packets exactly for us, infusing ancient Ayurvedic herbs with modern vitamins and minerals. I take the mood formula daily. It is great if you work a stressful job, had adrenal fatigue, ever suffer from anxiety or even depression and it really heals you from a fundamental and holistic level. So if you want to try it out, head over to Uvada. Y o u v V-E-D a.com use the code Sahara and you'll receive 35% off your first order. And they now ship to almost every country globally. So check it out. If you live internationally, they may be shipping to your country too. And they just added India. Guys. This episode is also brought to you by four Sigmatic four Sigmatic is an incredible mushroom elixir company. I proudly drink their elixirs every single day. My favorite is their chai mix. It is insanely delicious. I quit chocolate cold turkey and what helped me was drinking this chai mix every day. And best of all they use stevia to sweeten it and there's no sugars like the chai lattes you'll find at Starbucks or wherever else. And the mushrooms are really good for balancing your hormones, helping heal adrenal fatigue, healing your body on an adaptogenic level. So adaptogens really kind of relate to what your body needs. So if you are high stress, it will bring you down. If you need more energy, it will bring you up. And that's what's so amazing about adaptogens. They adapt to your body. And mushrooms, medicinal mushrooms, have a lot of adaptogenic properties. So you can head over to their website 4sigmatic.com F O-U-R S I G M A T-I C.com Sahara I have a little shop up there with my favorite four Sigmatic products so you can try it out. And you can also get 15% off any four sigmatic product using the code Sahara. I am so excited and privileged truly to interview some of the most educated Ayurvedic doctors on the planet for the Highest self podcast. And Dr. Vrinder Sodhi is definitely one of them. He's the father of Guni, the founder of Uveda, my favorite product. And he's the one that actually put together the formula of herbs that helped take his son out of a deep, dark depression after the tragic loss of his other 16 year old son, son Gunni's brother. And together this family formulated Uveda, a company that is changing people's lives on a daily basis, combining Ayurveda and modern science. In this episode we discuss Ayurveda from an herbal perspective, balancing your dual Dosha, Dr. Sodhi's unique perspective, that turmeric should not be heated, and so much more. So if you love Ayurveda, Ayurveda and learning about it, you're going to adore this episode. And I also want to note that I am offering a $1,000 off scholarship for Joyful Belly Ayurveda programs, which are certified Ayurvedic practitioner programs that you can do online. So head over to my website iamsaharose.com you'll see it says Become an Ayurvedic Practitioner. Head over there, you'll find out all the information about it. I've interviewed John Immel, who's another amazing Ayurvedic scholar, on the podcast episode 104, most recently about the tongue, which is a episode two for all my Ayurveda nerds. So if you're interested in making a living out of becoming an Ayurvedic practitioner, I highly recommend joining so I'm so excited to have Dr. Sodhi. We dive deep into Ayurvedic herbs theories. He is also a renowned Ayurvedic oncologist. So if you or you know anyone that suffers from cancer, he has his very own clinic in Seattle, and I highly recommend visiting him. He is also a trained naturopath and a doctor not only in Ayurvedic, but in and naturopathy as well, and really does some incredible healing work. I'm going to bring him on the podcast again specifically to talk about oncology and healing cancer from an Ayurvedic basis. So he is truly one of the most knowledgeable Ayurvedic scholars out there, and it was such a privilege to interview him. Without further ado, let's welcome Dr. Varinder Sodhi, the advisory board member of Uveda over here on the Highest Self podcast. Namaste. Welcome, Dr. Sodhi, to the Highest Self podcast. It's so great to have you here.

Thank you, Sarah. It's always a pleasure to talk to you.

Thank you so much. And the first question that I would love to ask you is, what makes you your highest Self?

That's a very spiritual question by God, I think, you know, living in harmony with the mother nature and value every second and be thankful to the universe. What I got today.

Beautiful. Yes. And always connecting back in with the elements, as that's such a big part of Ayurveda.

That's right. And you know, I think this morning I was just talking to a student. I was telling her that if you live in the past, you're going to be. Get depressed. If you live in the future, you're going to be anxious. Why not be happy and live in the moment?

Yes, absolutely. And I would love to know a little bit more about what brought you to become an Ayurvedic doctor and take this path.

Yeah, it's interesting. You know, my father was an educationist. He was a principal of schools. As a young kid growing, I remember, as young as five years old, he will take me for a walk. We lived in Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, part of India. And so he will take me on a walk in the evening or in the morning or on the weekends. And then he will stop by a plant and says, hey, this is a gotu kola. And you look at the shape of the leaf and it looks like a brain. And it's good for your brain. And so those kind of impressions, you know, just got deeper into me. And then it will stop by your next plant. Look at this. This is a barbaris and barbarous. Look at the yellow flowers. And it's good for the liver. So all those interesting, you know, talk and just like, I could not get enough of it. And I was so absorbed in his conversation. I just loved it. So I was always looking forward to go for a walk with him. And he will stop by every plant and will explain what it is used for. And although he was not a doctor, but he has great knowledge in Ayurvedic medicine. Somehow he has gathered this wealth of knowledge. And so I got really deeply intrigued by that.

That's so beautiful. And you never realize the little things that you tell your kids, what the impression is that it's going to leave them with.

Yeah, this is funny. It may sound a little strange, but I remember a lot of, I think almost everything, the conversations I had with him from my childhood. And a lot of that involved regarding the universe and plants and the water and how precious the water is. He was. I think now we are talking about the conservation and the societies which should be depending on each other. And basically this is Ayurvedic concept, you know, like yatha pinde, tatha, Brahmande. What is true in the body is true in the universe. So we are part and parcel of everything. The water I am drinking is also shared by the fish and frog and animals and butterflies and bacteria and whatnot. So it's really, we need to understand that concept. I think somehow I got that as a young kid and my father was instrumental in putting those seeds into me.

That's so beautiful. And yes, and in English they say what is in the microcosm is in the macrocosm. Which is exactly that sentence that you so beautifully said in Sanskrit.

That's right.

So I'd love to know more about just sort of Ayurvedic philosophy, because it's something that people don't really talk about. What are the Ayurvedic worldviews, the Ayurvedic medicine?

If you go at the history of Ayurvedic medicine, it says that the universe was in perfect balance. And we use terminology like a Sattva, the truth, the Rajas, the movement and the Tamas, the destructive forces, were in balance. So when that balance got broken, the humanity started to suffer. And the Creator looked at it and said, God, you know, these people are messing up. You know, as a human, we have tendency to mess up the things around us and we are nicely doing it even today. So what that caused. That caused the disease and looking at that disease process, the Creator gave us the knowledge of Ayurveda and the knowledge was simple. Just looking at the Mother Nature, what Mother Nature has evolved and has done for millions of years, just following that laws of Mother Nature in its simplicity will create healthiness.

That's so beautiful. And how do you see now Ayurveda in India? What role is it playing now?

So you know, it's interesting, when I went to Medical School in 1975, the Ayurveda was at the bottom of it because people who went to regular medical school were considered like a high paid guys and doctors and people who went to Ayurvedic school were considered like a substandard. So that tendency was going on for many, many years now since the Ayurveda has come to the foreign countries, including America and Canada and almost all over the world and has bounced back to India. Now the Indians are saying, oh my God, you know, we had amazing, wonderful healing system which we have ignored. So it's looking at the reappearance of the Ayurvedic medicine in its full bloom. And so I think we're seeing a lot of interest in the government. Governments are trying to put more funds to it. There is a new renewed interest in public again, the people who are more intelligent, who are more Internet savvy, who are more educated people, these are the people who are coming back to Ayurvedic medicine because they see what they're getting in standard care today is not helping them actually it's creating more disease process. And it's so sad that it's the third leading cause of death. The pharmaceutical drugs and the hospital errors are the third leading cause of the death. The number one is heart disease, second is cancer. And the third leading cause of death is the pharmaceutical drugs and hospital errors. So you can see that we are doing something very wrong. And we have to come to a place where the healing is natural in our body and how we can achieve that, that's what Ayurvedic medicine has taught us.

So true. And we don't realize, you know, these pharmaceutical drugs can cause a lot of death and there's a lot of counteractions and they're overly prescribed and they're only addressing the surface issue and not getting to the root of the problem.

Yeah, it's very sad if you look at it, that how much antibiotics are prescribed? One of my grandson, actually my distant relative grandson, is given antibiotic and he's only nine months and he's been on antibiotic for the last six months. And he has a UTI condition. But we have treated so many thousands of patients with the UTI without giving any antibiotic. Actually, I don't remember the last time I've given antibiotic for uti.

Wow. So what would you treat with?

So the natural herbs, you know, we have different, different preparations like the ayurvedic preparations. Like there is a pashaan bhed, which is amazing preparation for the kidneys. It helps the. Then the tribularis, these combinations, you know, probiotics, you know, because basically when people get recurrent UTIs, they have their gastric flora. The flora in your intestine has been disturbed. There is a normal flora which actually protect you. And the abnormal flora make more toxic, which is very hard on the part of the body to get rid of it. And your kidneys, the root of excretory products like your urine, your feces and your sweat will be loaded with it. And then you go on attracting the different kind of bugs and you go on having those infections. So if you don't treat the gut, which is the basic of every disease according to ayurvedic medicine and in current system, we are just realizing that, my God, you know, this is the root of every disease.

So true. And I love how then you were active and created ayush herbs which sells different herbs. So a lot of people listening are probably like, where do I find that from? And you made the option available for people here in the U.S. yeah, that's right.

And I also helped Guni to all the products of Uveda has been used.

Exactly.

And you know, with my other resident doctor, Dr. Kalyan, who worked for me. And so we put a lot of scientific and the clinical experiences. And I've been practicing for 38 years and I've been in the medicine for 45 years. And I'm an avid reader. I read a lot, I write a lot. Almost every week I'm writing something on and my subjects are natural medicine, ayurvedic medicine, yoga. I just finished a chapter for a Harvard Press book which is going to be published in June. So really my goal is to teach people. Hey guys, we are a full pharmacy. Our body is a full pharmacy. I used to have a program radio program. The title was your body is your natural pharmacy. So we have a full pharmacy. We don't have to run to get the drug, the drug body makes, but we have to provide the environment for that to heal.

So well said. And I love that so much. Looking within the body and using what Our body naturally has. Instead of looking for something outside of ourselves.

Yeah, we just have to aid in. And those are usually through your nutrition, through your emotions, because emotion is a powerful medicine and a disease at the same time. And as we go forward, we will talk about vata, pitta and kapha and there is different traits to them. So if we balance it out in simple things like drinking water, getting to good times, sleep and sleeping at night, not in the daytime, all those simple natural things promotes healing in us.

So that's exactly what I'd love to talk to you about. The different issues with vata, pitta, kapha, we can talk about the mental ones first. So anxiety for vata, maybe irritation and anger for Pitta, depression for Kapha, and how you would treat this from a holistic perspective.

So, you know, I think before we go that route, we need to understand that we are dominantly born with certain kind of characteristics in us. And we have divided that into ayurvedically, into vata, pitta and kapha. The vata is a basically combination of ether and air. So this based on the five element theory, ether, air, fire, water and earth. So when you have that, you are very quick to do things. And the mental part of it is that you are prone to anxiety and fear. So when you have anxiety and fear, you are going into a zone where you are going to be not sleeping well. So the first thing which will get disturbed is your mind. When your mind is disturbed, you're not going to sleep and your mind will be rushing at the millions of miles per hour and which is not going to be balanced out until you really quiet it down. So a lot of times you see that vata people, they love to run or love to jog or they like speedy things. They like things which has fast speeds in it, but that is not really good for them. So they need to slow down, they need to calm down. The things which they can do, go to bed at a proper time, have a good quality sleep, use oils. Oils are very nice and nourishing for vata people. Oil has a very soothing properties. They calm you down. You can do the massage of your head, massage of the whole body. You can also use essential oils. Also you can eat food which is oil rich, like nuts and seeds. You can make smoothies, you know, like milks of different nuts. Warm food using spices like ginger, a little bit of black pepper, not too much, but small quantity of black pepper. These will help you to calm down. The vata people will get more calmer, more balanced and you know, we all go into anxiety and fearful mode. This is a part of daily life. So when you are in that mode, you are in vata mode at that time. So a lot of time people have the question, oh, my body type is vata or pitta, but I am going into that anxiety mode. Should I use pitta or vata? But you are in vata mode at that time. You need to calm down your vata at that time. So the now the pitta, which is anger and frustration. So these people are kind of a go getter, over achiever. They have a flag in their hand and they are ready to change the whole world. So when you are that personality, naturally you bring a lot of anger and frustration to you. So what you need to do is calm down. And there are cooling breath exercises. Like you are a yoga teacher. There is one pranayama called Sheetali pranayama or cooling breath. And you can do that. You want to have food which is cooling in nature, the heating food will bother you. So like alcohol will be absolutely no caffeine will put you through the roof. But if you take food which has a cooling properties, like you drink coconut water, it's a simple thing. Or even a cold water on a hot day will be very helpful for you. Or using essential oils like sandalwood or rose will calm you down. So these are simple things which you can do with the yoga, with the food. Adding lots of vegetables, green leafy vegetables will cool you down. But if you eat a lot of red meat, it will fire you up. So that will not be really good for you. It will add on to your anger. So similarly with the Kapha people, they get into depression and sluggish and slow and they have a tendency to be like a couch potato. They don't want to move out. So they need to come out of that phase and move. Do some exercise, some activity, and maybe take some warm spices like ginger, black pepper, even cayenne pepper. They can handle caffeine, they can handle a little bit of coffee too. So these are the simple things which you need to do to come out of those. The all the vices we have and we all have anger, frustration, irritability and feeling low in our life. So when you're going into that phase, you need to recognize that I'm in that phase and how I can come out of it. So that's how we can use simple ayurvedic principle. So stay on top of your health.

Beautiful and so well said. So a lot of people who are listening and A lot of people have messaged me that they're confused because they feel like they have two of the issues going on or even all three. So how do you recommend handling dual dosha and imbalances in multiple.

So you know, this is again, we are born with a prakriti or a particular body type. So that depends upon your parents and where you're born. For example, I'm born in mountains of the Himachal Pradesh in India. So I grew up at a high altitude and I can climb mountains like a mountain goat. This is natural to me and I don't have to be, you know, trained for it. Like the Nepalese Sherpas, they can climb Mount Everest without carrying an oxygen cylinder because they have a specific genetic change in them. So people, they are born with particular constitution. But then we write a software on it and the software is written through your nutrition, through your environment, through your parenting, through your schooling, the kind of people you seek, what kind of friends you have, what kind of environment you are going through. So that writes a software like, you know, the lifestyle in India versus in USA is different. But Indian person coming from India to US there is a different adaptation to it. So you have to adapt to that climate there. So basically you have to look at it, what is my abnormality, what is my vikriti, what is my dosha imbalance right now? And you balance that out. So forget about, you know, what constitution you have because when you are in balance, you're going to be in doesn't matter if you're vata, pitta and kapha, if you're vata, when you're in balance, you will be very intuitive, you will be wonderful, you can see and get things done. You'll be very musical, you can write things, you can be very poetic, you can be creative of movies, you can be a wonderful scriptwriter. But when you're out of balance, there'll be tons of ideas, but you cannot achieve anything. So similarly, when you're pitta dominantly pitta and you're in balance, you'll be wonderfully achieving things. You will achieve the goals very, very nicely. You will not have any digestive issues, you will not have an inflammation, you will be just calm and quiet. But you have a wonderful intelligence to get the things done. And similarly, when you kapha, you can be strong and you're loving and you're caring. Basically you need to understand what is my imbalance and those imbalances you can look at what are the leading things, which is it vata dominant? Like if you are a vata dosha imbalance. You can have dry skin, you'll be prone to constipation, you can have insomnia, you'll be feeling aches and pains, you have intolerance to cold, you are worrier or you anxietyful. And you can be like hyperactive, you have a lot of energy, but that comes in spurts and then it's gone. But if you are in pitta, you can get rashes on your face, on your whole skin. You can have inflammation in different parts of the body. You can have diarrhea, you can have stomach issues. You can be like, your wordings can be like a piercing, like you are. You say a word but it's like a hit other body, like you throwing an arrow at him. Your eyes can be red, you can have visual issues, you can have a hostility, irritability. And you can have very much competitive, very jealous, like, oh my God, that friend of mine, he got a Porsche and I want to get a Bentley now or he got a Bentley, I'm going to get Rolls Royce. So you will be very competitive and that is not going to lead you to anything. You're going to create more frustration in you. And if you have a kapha imbalance, your digestion will be very slow. You will have sinus conditions, you can have allergies, you can be prone to asthma, weight gain, you can be possessive. Like you accumulate things in your garage and it's never empty. There's a full of everything you have purchased so far. And so you can be prone to depression. You will have a hard time keeping your focus. So you can understand now that what is my imbalance? Is it a kapha, is it a pitta or is it a vata? And whatever is going on, you're trying to balance it out. So whenever there is a different season, season changes, the doshas changes. Like for example, now we are in spring, which is going to be hot in summer, so that the doshas will change in the heat, the pitta will be more aggravated. So the pitta dominant person will have the effects noticed before than any other people. And so now you have to calm down the pitta too. Because if you're especially pitta dosha dominant, then you want to calm that down. So you want to have a pitta balancing tips. And if you are going into a like a spring weather which is a more kapha dominant, so you want to balance your kapha like you see more allergies, more sinus conditions in the spring and because your body is trying to drain all the accumulation of the different doshas in the winter weather and now with the heat start to melt out and you start to drain. So similarly, in the fall and the winter, the vata takes over. So you have to balance it out depending upon what conditions you are going through, what health symptoms you have, and you balance according to that.

That's really good advice. I always tell people, look at the vikruti, not the prakriti. Look at what is going on right now. And that's what you need to balance out. Because a lot of people, they're like, well, the shape of my face is a kapha, so should I be following a kapha pacifying diet? But, you know, it just depends on the imbalances you're experiencing today.

Yeah. You know, as I said earlier, that our body is a full natural pharmacy. When you eat your food, you don't tell your body, okay, digest my carbohydrate or digest my protein or digest my fat. It does it automatically and then is processed automatically and is supplied automatically wherever it needs to be supplied. So basically, you don't have to worry about the itsy bitsy of it. You just do simple daily routines, which is we know and we talk about. If you're vata dominant, you do massage your whole body daily. If you're pitta dominant, you do more cooling kind of stuff. If you kapha dominant, you do more exercise. So simple tips can keep you in balance all the time. But if you have those imbalances, then you try to figure those out. And those are simple. It's nothing very difficult. It's not like a rocket science here. And you can understand that. What is my. If I have a more sinus condition going on, this is a kapha condition. So you need to cut down your dairy product, you need to stop your sugars, you want to stop your wheat product, you don't want to drink milk. So you know, simple. Follow the simple rules of Ayurvedic medicine and you're gonna see, oh, my God, big difference in me already.

Yes, exactly. So what would you say if you are relating to one dosha more in the body and another one in the mind?

So the thing is, again, your mind leads to your body. Your mind is a more powerful identity than your body because what you feel is what your mind thinks. So in Ayurvedic medicine, in Vedic religion, the mind has given the higher authority. And because the mind leads the body into disease or into health. So the thought process, when you think either you can make it or you can break it. So mind is very, very powerful and it is under control of vata. So whenever your vata is in out of balance, your pitta and kapha go out of balance automatically. So ayurvedically, whenever we talk to any patient, we said you need to harness your vata. When you harness your vata, the pitta and kapha automatically harness. So in this Sanskrit there is a shloka which says that the vata is the movement factor. And pitta and kapha are lame, they can't move. So vata balancing is very important. So again, I think a lot of things which we're doing in our today's society, like these all cell phones and PDAs and laptops and television and the speedy cars, they all are vata aggravating aeroplane rides. So our vata is disturbed. And we look at how much time we get bombarded with the ads and how much time we get bombarded with different kind of stuff. Buy this, buy that, all those are going to disturb your vata. Vata is out of balance. So I think one of the most important thing for all of us is to balance your vata vikruti, because that is the powerful tool. When you balance your vata, you are going to balance almost everything because vata is the moving factor.

Yes, so true. And I always tell people vata falls out of balance very easily. And then after pitta and kapha is the last to fall out of balance, but also the hardest to bring in down. So vata is out of balance imbalance very quickly, pitta a little bit harder, kapha takes the longest both ways.

Yeah, that's true. Because you know, again, you know, there is the interplay of vata, pitta and kapha. They are constantly moving, they're being changing every second. So there's no fixed like even if you're pitta, but your pitta is variable according to the day of the time. Like in the morning will be less, in the noon will be higher, at night will be again come down. And similarly weather wise too, in summer it increases, but in the winter it decreases. So I think we people need to understand it's a constant flux of these energies going inside us. So there is no fixed vata, pitta, kapha in our body too. Although if we dominate the particular type, we may exhibit those kind of traits more often than others.

Yes, this is very important for people to understand because I think a lot of people, they hear about Ayurveda, they hear about the doshas and they over emphasize Them and they think oh I'm only vata so I can only eat these vata foods, I'm only Pitta, it's etc. And we're all three, they're changing the times of day, seasons, lifetimes, etc.

So activity, what kind of activity you do? Right, well you know, you're watching television. That's a cough up period for you.

Exactly. So don't eat the ice cream when you're doing that.

Exactly. So you know, it's like what kind of mindset you're in. Like you are anxietyful, you're in vata mode. If you're angry, you're really upset at your mother, father, your fiance, your boyfriend, girlfriend, that's a pitta phase. So you know, all those things you have to take into consideration. So it's a combination of permutation of different things which make what you are.

Exactly. And that's why I think, you know, try doshik recipes like I made my next book, I'll try doshik recipes because if you just avoid the things that will imbalance one of the doshas then everyone can eat the same food. And I'm sure you can attest to this in India not everyone is getting their own specific meals like oh, this kid gets the vata meal. This everyone just eats together.

That's right. You know, but again the typical Indian meal, I will say not now but previously was kind of made, you're right, tridosha. Because they were using different spices. It was a very different way of cooking. Like I grew up in the mountains and we were husk the rice around one hour before we cooked it.

Wow.

So the rice has the life force in it when it was cooked. And the wheat berries were grinded around half an hour to one hour before, before it was made into dough and made into roti. So that wheat berry has a life force in it. So we were eating very pranic food which has a lot of energy in it. Now what we're eating is a dead food. So dead food is not going to give us the same kind of energy. So if you look at it, why people are getting obese and fat. I think one of the reason is because we're eating dead food.

Absolutely right. And I'd love to know what is your perspective on, you know, a lot of people now are not eating legumes like beans and lentils because they say that it's hard for a lot of people to digest and then also that it has a lot of carbohydrates. In it. So what's your opinion on that?

So again, you know, this is after practicing for 38 years and I have seen all the fats go in and out, you know, oh my God. You know, you should have protein, protein only. You should have very high fat diet. You should have a lot of vegetables in your diet. You know, we need everything. We cannot have one kind of stuff, you know, there and. But you know, like right now Dr. Gundry has put a lot of concept out there and he's all over the social media if you look at it. And almost every channel is talking about the lectin diet, you know, and every food has lectins. This is. The lectins are made. Actually the lectins are very medicinal by the way. Like you know, the lectins are made in the plants because of the assault on them from the viruses, from the bacteria, from the fungus as a protection. So that's why these herbs, these food give us all the things which they give. But problem is that our digestive system has been sick. We have been eating dead food. There is basically no bacteria in, in our food. The food which we buy, like for example from your, you know, even the Indian food right now there are ready made parathas available, readymade dals available, but those are all dead food and they are sitting in the shelf for six months. So there is a lack of bacteria. Because if you put bacteria in there that's going to ferment and it's going to spoil the whole food. The natural food which we ate, we had a lot of bacteria. Like I have my own garden, I grow my herbs and my vegetables in my garden all the time. So when I pick my vegetables from that garden, within three days that vegetable gets spoiled. But if I buy even organic from the store, that will last eight to 10 days. If I buy non organic, that will last around three to four weeks without getting spoiled. So what we have done, we have done a bigger problem to ourselves. Not eating the fresh food, fresh fruits and vegetables. And that also includes your legumes. Because most of the legumes which we are eating is a canned. All the beans are canned. But that is not. That's why our body is not able to resist. Because the bacteria in our gut is not proper. We have imbalance of these bacteria. Like we have 100 trillion cells in the body and we have 1000 trillion bacteria in our body. So for one cell we have 10 bacteria. So these bacterias are not our enemies. Like you know, when the cow is grazing the grass, she's not filtering out. Okay, you know, don't give me bacteria grass, I want the clean glass. There is no clean grass. The grass has everything. It has a bacteria, virus, fungus and something else which we don't know yet. But our system has adapted over millions of years and that has created some genetic properties. So the way we're eating right now, our genes are not understanding that. What's going on with me? So people are having problem with the legumes or beans because they don't have enough bacteria in their gut. So these lectins in them are a problem because they can't digest it. But if you have a natural flavor yogurt, you'll be able to digest it. And beets are really good food by the way. The food which we have right now lack a lot of bacteria which is originally present in every food virtually from grains to vegetables to fruit. And that has created a big havoc on our digestive system. So I think when people talk about don't eat the beans because they are heavy on you or you can't digest it because they are not digesting it, there's a lack of good bacteria in them and also lack of bacteria in the beans also because beans have been heavily sprayed with the chemicals to make their shelf life more longer. So the bugs don't get it. And I have a phrase there, if the bugs doesn't want to eat it, I don't want to eat it either. So I like to have a bug laded food rather than non bug loaded food because bugs were never our enemies in the history of mankind.

Yes, exactly. And yeah, if it doesn't go bad, then something is totally wrong with it. So do you think that then if people made their own legumes at home, they soaked them, then over time they would be able to digest them again?

Yes, exactly. But they can also do some simple things like ginger soaking is first good practice. You know, like it was a tradition in India that you soak all the legumes before you cook it. And what it does, it activates the enzymes because every legume is a seed basically. And when you soak it, the enzymes get activated in it. And also some of the lactic compounds in them, they get diluted by the soaking. So you're going to get less problem with that. And once you cook it, you can add ginger. Ginger is amazing. So but another thing which we have been doing, which is again wrong, which is not very Ayurvedic, we are cooking with the spices, that is not the way Ayurvedic Medicine has asked us to do. The spices were added in the end, so they were called prakship, meant to throw the Sanskrit word praksh, meant to throw spices on top of the cooked food, not cooking with the spices. So when you cook it, the heat of the oil, which is 500 degree plus Fahrenheit, destroys the active principles in it and you're not gonna get the benefits of it. So these were kind of the knowledge which we had. We have gone more gourmet cooking and destroy the digestive system too. So a lot of these things we can add like a fennel, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, ginger. But throw in the end on the food, that will help you digest it too.

That's so interesting because, you know, when I, I went to Ayurvedic, the nutrition and culinary school, and it was all about how you need to make the dadka and you need to activate the mustard seeds and then you kind of like fry the spices. And they said that that made it more bioavailable. So it's interesting that you're saying the opposite.

No, no, no. So just think about it like I think you may have heard it like when somebody got hurt, they were asked to take haldi turmeric and they were not asked to eat the turmeric, which is roasted in ghee. They said, okay, take a warm milk, hot milk, put turmeric in hot milk, dissolve it and drink it. Because of the same reason, because the bioflavonoids, which is the yellow component in it, is going to get destroyed when you cook with. So a lot of these spices we have done, right? I know a lot of these spices have essential oils, fixed oils, biflavinoids in them. And when you cook those, they get destroyed. And the temperature of the oil is 500° or 500 to 600° Fahrenheit. The temperature of the water is maximum 212. So you can reduce the temperature by just cooking in water, less water. But you know, that has become a gourmet cooking. And it's like we have done that. My grandma didn't cook the way we are cooking right now. So that will tell you the difference in our cooking right now.

Okay, interesting. So even mustard seeds, you would not first toast them until you hear the popping sound. You would even just sprinkle them in at the end.

You know, actually I have asked one of my student to bring a. She said she had found some paper that what difference it make when you cook the food and when you don't cook the food. Sorry, the spices, you know, and what difference you have in that, nutritional values. So it'll be interesting. I have not found that paper yet, but it would be interesting to see if this concept is true. And I believe it is true. Because when you are cooking at that high temperature. Yes. It will give you aroma. Okay. No doubt about it. Like, you know, there is an essential oil. There is a fixed oil, essential oils. And the fixed oil will give some kind of a different kind of aroma to it, you know, but also will destroy a lot of other properties in it, too.

So I've heard that turmeric is heat activated, that it requires heat oil and black pepper. So do you think that just some heat and not totally cooking, or would you go room temperature?

Yeah, room temperature. So the thing is, like, basically, oil and haldi are turmeric. It makes it bioavailable. Sure. Because the curcuminoid with the yellow pigment in it is very lipophilic. What that means is the fat make it more soluble in your system, but when you are frying in it. This is actually, Sarah, this is a really good. You know, what you're saying is a good discussion, because look at our population right now. I'm talking about. Right now. I'm talking about Indian, Asian population. 50% of them are diabetic. They use all these spices. They use garlic, ginger, onion, turmeric, mustard seed, all those spices we talk about. And if you read about these spices, they almost prevent all those diseases. The heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, even the inflammation, then why they're not getting the benefit? So my hypothesis is because the way they are cooking right now is destroying the properties, so they're not absorbing it the way they should be and creating a problem. Mm.

Okay. But you wouldn't say it's just because of the amount of, like, sugar that they're eating that those spices are not enough to kind of counterbalance that.

You have a point. Yes. The sugar was very limited use in Indian population because it was expensive and it was not abundantly available. Actually, as a matter of fact, it was not abundantly available to anybody. Only rich and famous could afford it. And I think that became the fashion from the white sugar, that the white people used white sugar, and then everybody wants to use that. And then the Britishers found a way to cultivate it heavily and make the prices of sugar so down that everybody started using heavy sugar. But I think this is one part of it, but there's other part of it too, which is they are. I believe they are cooking your food Too much. And like, for example, you know, you have cooked broccoli at home, haven't you? The broccoli at home?

Yes.

Okay. When you take broccoli and you put in a boiling water, the first broccoli become dark green. Have you noticed that?

Yes.

Okay. So when you make it dark green, your special compound, which is sulforoforaphane in the broccoli get more enriched, actually almost 30% more. Okay. But when you allow it to cook more, it turns yellow. When you turn yellow, you destroy that. Okay. So you can see and like similarly you can sprout broccoli seeds and you put in around 70 degree temperature, it becomes a little darker and you again, you are concentrating these, the sulforaphane in it around 30 to 40%. But when you make it too hot, it destroys it. So I have some examples there, but I. I'm working on this and actually I think we'll have more logic answer on this concept. And again, going back to the Ayurvedic concept, the spices were called prakshaip, not prakshyapmi. I don't know if you understand Sanskrit. Prakshpamin, to throw is not cook with it. So I think that concept should be clear that it was for throwing on the food, not cooking with the food. And there are certain things which you can cook, of course, which does not have a lot of essential oils or bioflavonoids. But I don't think everything you can cook the way we are cooking right now.

So then I'd love to know what are your opinions on eating some raw foods like salads, etc.

So again, you know, I think the vata people certainly will have issues because they don't have enough digestive juices in them. And raw foods are not awfully bad, but certain food you will have problem. But you know, if you can, like traditionally if you go to Indian house, you know, they will cut a salad, they put a lime on it, they will put some chaat masala on it. And chaat masala is a bunch of different spices and they're not cooking that, by the way, that is the combination of black salt, black pepper, cumin, amul, bathas, and like a mango powder. And these are all raw spices and they throw on it and it becomes digestive. So you are helping your digestive juices to pour more in and you can digest it. So like a ginger can be a wonderful remedy. If you put raw ginger on this fresh salad, you can digest it. But if you're vata, vata dominant and you have vata condition, you don't want to eat it. But the raw vegetables are good, not bad. But if you overcooking it, it also destroys it. So I think we're gonna have to find it in between. Like the broccoli example, when you overcook it, it destroys it. When you're eating it raw, it makes more gas. When you just put it at the right temperature, it actually concentrates. And it's easy on digestion, too. And you can add, like, a ginger powder, or you can put some oil on it to cut down the gassy effects of it, or you put cumin or fennel seed on top of it. Powder. That will take away the digestive issues, which you will have.

Yes. And I love how you recognize the benefits of raw foods, because I feel like a lot of traditional Ayurveda in India is very anti raw foods. And it's just because in India, you can't really eat, like, lettuce and things like that, that because of the bacteria in the soil, you'll get sick. Or a salad in India is like cucumbers and tomatoes. So I think it's important to note that our soil here is very different. And just because you can't eat something in India doesn't mean you can't eat something in another part of the world, you know?

But actually, I don't know where this concept comes, because as a young kid growing up, we were eating radishes, just pulling it out from the ground and just washing it a little bit. Not even green, you know, and carrots. And, you know, I remember eating them by dozens of it. Not even one or two. That's amazing, you know, and, like, not only me, the whole family was eating. So, like, it was common practice in India village, especially in the winter days when it's sunny outside by the middle of the day, people are sitting in the sun under the sun, and these. They have these carrots and they have these radishes because this is a season in those days. And they're cutting them longer and they're sprinkling special kind of spice mix on them, which is a combination of ginger and green pepper and salt and spices. Like holy basil. There is another basil. And they are eating it, you know, So I remember that our folks used to eat a lot of salad. So I don't know. That concept still does not hold in my mind, at least, you know, when I grew up, I saw that.

I think when we think of salads, at least like most Americans, we think of a Leafy green, like spinach, arugula, lettuce. So did you ever eat that growing up in India?

Spinach, yes. Not. But arugula kind of. I don't. I've never seen in India, you know, I came only to USA then I saw that. And I remember lettuce, you know, because lettuce was introduced to India by the Germans. And so in those days, it used to call salad, you know, so they didn't know the name of lettuce. They used I'm growing salad, you know, because that green, leafy. And so we were eating that because that was growing there, but it was not abundantly available. The more common was kind of Indian, like radishes and carrots and tomatoes and cucumbers and those kind of stuff, which we were eating as growing up more. And the mustard, you know, my God, mustard was used, like, in winter. That was almost every day people used the mustard greens. And, you know, the saag is a very favorite Indian dish, as you know. And it was also people eating raw. So they will take and go into the field, and they will take the big stem, which is like a fleshy and has a lot of pulp in it, and they will break it open and eat it raw. And I remember as a young kid, and I've seen a lot of people eating that, you know, just like, not even thinking they're eating something, you know. So that was a kind of common practice by everybody.

Yeah. So I think that, you know, a lot of it is just very modern India, which is very focused on the taste. And they think that, you know, salad is for cows, and that food has to be well cooked and well ghee. And this is a very new Indian taste.

Yeah. And, you know, I think actually it has gone worse because there are so many people are eating out. And in this country, we are trying to go back. And in our country, they are trying to go forward with the food outside, you know, so. Which is reverse. Almost reverse than the Indian concept.

Yes. So. So much so. And they say that it was like, 1% of Indians actually eats out at a restaurant, and that's moved up to, like 2%, which is millions of more people per year. Like, just that 1% shift is, like, made a drastic difference on the. And now so many people are opening up restaurants, whereas before a restaurant was something that you went to, like, on a very special occasion.

Yeah. And, you know, there was an article written many years ago by National Geographic, and as people got socioeconomically more richer, they got more fatter, they got more heart. Disease, they got more cancer, they got more diabetes, they got more arthritis because the food habits changed. And you're right, you know, people added more sugar as one of and more junk food, more cookies and more sweets. I know as a young kid, you know, we had those Indian sweets which are called me Thai. But that was a rare occasion on a special festival like Diwali or the Shara or you know, you had on Navratri's but not everyday thing or on some festivity like marriage or some kind of function but not everyday thing. Now it has become everyday thing.

Totally. Yes. I remember every day we would eat the raskolas after dinner and it was just a normal accepted thing. And it's, you know, raskola for people who don't know. It's like cottage cheese in sugar and rose water basically. So then I'd love to know. So this is like an opinion that I have is for the kapha diet. Traditional Ayurveda says only eat cooked foods because the agni is low. They have low digestive fire and they can't digest the raw foods. But what I see with overweight people is sometimes when they eat all cooked foods, it's just a lot more dense and sweet and heavy that if they ate more raw foods it would really lighten them up and it's more detoxifying and more fiber and helps just eliminate all the toxins in their system. So I'd love to know your opinion on that.

Yeah, you know, the thing is, I think a lot of thing which we have kind of little models have changed. So the kapha, yes, they have a little low agony. But I also believe every food has a agni of its own.

Yes.

Like, you know, so if you're eating a raw fresh vegetables, the agony of that food is entirely different than food which has been sitting in the refrigerator for one week because now you have cooled it down more. You know, it's simple, it's a very simple equation. But if you're eating freshly picked fruit or vegetable, so one thing is the concept that it has a lot more bacteria. So we that is not going to be free of bacteria, but that bacteria is good for us. Then second, if you store it, then put some chemical on top of it, that is to slow down the maturity of that vegetable or fruit. But that is also going to slow down our digestive system too. So we are not talking apples to apples here. Do you understand what I mean? We entirely two different things. So that's why I am for more sustainable local grow to the Local farmer, don't buy from a super chain, don't try to buy exotic fruit. And although I love mangoes, but I'm not going to be eating mangoes day in and day out. I live in Washington state, whatever grow in Washington state. Or maybe I can go as far as California because still we are in the same kind of coast. It would be okay for me. But if I try to eat mango every day out of this summer weather, my digestive system is not going to be happy because all those mango which has flown several thousands of miles have chemicals on them so they don't mature and that also going to affect my digestive system. So people need to understand those concepts. Those are simple, easy. Yes. You know, I'm not saying don't enjoy mango, just eat it. But that should not be staple, but staple. Maybe if you live in Hawaii, maybe you eat your mangoes because there are mangoes available more abundant than your apples. So I think the people need to understand that if they have a kapha constitution, they should try to eat more farm fresh food and that will help to get them the weight they want to get. They will not gain weight. So if you look at even the cultures, like Hawaiian culture now has gone fat. All those Caribbean people have gone fat. And because of the food habits. But if you look at the picture, 70 years ago, whenever I go, this is what I try to do. I go to their community centers and try to look at the picture. They are not fat at all. They are skinny, they are muscular. So what happened? What has changed our food habits has changed drastically. And There was no McDonald's and there was no fast food restaurant. There was no, you know, the fried food was very limited. So we have changed and the palate has changed. Once we start changing the palate, the digestive system is going to have a big problem with it because genetically it's not designed for that.

Totally. Yes. So would you say that then if you know, let's say there's spinach, can they eat a spinach salad versus cooking the spinach?

So the spinach, you know, one thing is yes, they can eat it. But spinach has a calcium oxalate in it. And calcium oxalate will enhance the vata characteristic in it. So. And vata is cold, kapha is cold. So do you understand my concept? So if you have a boiling water and you throw the spinach in boiling water for just one minute, it's all gonna crumble up and it becomes like together and you drain the water, eat it, it's going to be more digestible than the raw spinach.

Okay, so you would never suggest eating like a raw spinach salad, like baby spinach even?

No, you can. No, no, I'm not saying, I will never say, yes, you can do that. But if you have a low digestive fire, you're not able to. Like the simple test is you eat that raw vegetable and you have gas and bloating like, you know, like a hell. That means your digestive system is not very happy. So again, Ayurvedic medicine, as I said earlier, is not fixed. You want to change, so you want to adapt. So you can add this method, you can add ginger powder, which is my remedy for almost everything. So it is simple, easy, very non toxic method. And then you see, then you do a little experimenting and see what it does. And if you have very low hydrochloric acid, you will not be able to digest it because we make hydrochloric acid in our stomach. But 90% folks out there has a very low hydrochloric acid these days and they are popping tums and on top of it and the H2 blockers like Pepcid, AC and Imiprazole and all those drugs which is actually making it more worse and doesn't fix the problem. They all have low hydrochloric acid. In those cases, the ayurvedic medicine has said, okay, you can add spices like ginger, black pepper, long pepper and there are other spices which you can add to help digestive system to get more digestive fire. Like in Ayurvedic medicine we use concept of deepening. You ignite the fire in them. When you ignite the fire, you actually getting more digestive juices. Lime, lemon also does it because it has a acidic taste to it.

Exactly, yes. And it's very common today for people to take HCl hydrochloric acid supplements. And it's something that I've tried in the past, I never really stuck to because I've always wanted to heal myself with food naturally. Would you advise people to take hydrochloric acid supplements?

See the thing is again I went to naturopathic school here and that was one of the things which we were taught. But I never used it heavily. I use sparingly. Why? Anything which body makes, if you supplement from outside body will stop making it. So I don't recommend that we should use it all the time.

Totally, yeah, I'm agreeing with you for sure. And that's why it never felt right to me to take. Because they would say take them until you feel a burning sensation. And that's how you know your dose. And I would take 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. I don't feel anything. I'm like, okay, I either have very low stomach acid or this is gonna kick in later on. And I was like, it doesn't feel right for me to take seven supplements before I eat food.

That's right, yeah. So, you know, this is true because, you know, again, going back to the basics of Ayurvedic medicine, they have concept of deepan and pachan. Deepan mean to ignite your fire. Pachan is to help digest. So there were herbs which were using to do the ignition of the fire and then help digest the food. So these are, you know, simple principles which we can use to help the. Anybody, any. And you're making your own juices so you're not dependent on outside sources. It's like giving steroids to you. Yeah, wonderful medicine. But effects are limited. And after that you become immune to it and you have more side effect than the bad, good effects of it.

Right, exactly. So what would you say about digestive enzymes?

Again? I think you will say, okay, my God, you're so heavy on fresh fruits and vegetables. Every vegetable and fruit has enzymes in it. So if we are eating in the more closest form of it, we are going to get a lot of digestive enzymes from it. So yes, we can use it. And I use enzymes in my practice because a lot of people out there have very low enzymes in the system. And enzymes our body also makes it and we also get from outside. So digestive enzymes are not as bad as the putting a hydrochloric acid in your system.

Mm. Okay. And what would you say about taking probiotics? Should we everyone be taking them or favor probiotic rich foods like the sauerkraut and other fermented foods?

Sarah, there are zillions of probiotics in the mother nature. There's not only few. And these probiotics, you know, from every vegetable has a different probiotic, Every fruit has a different probiotic. So yes, we are very deficient in probiotic because we are. Our food has been heavily sprayed with chemicals, with the pesticide, with insecticide, and we are kind of almost devoid of these probiotics. So the probiotics are very helpful. Yes, because we are not getting it. But also I encourage people to get like a sauerkraut or kimchi or pickled vegetables. In our culture, we use fermented foods a lot. And that can be also a source of probiotic, like the Grandma, this was. I think, I don't know if you know about this or not. Like in Indian culture, yogurt making was very common in every house. So we used to make yogurt every day. So if you don't have culture left. So what the grandma did, she went outside in the garden and picked the cayenne pepper, which is red, from the stalk and she brought it into the home and then warm the milk and break open the stalk from the pepper and throw the pepper into the milk. And in the morning, the yogurt culture, it became a yogurt culture. And the yogurt is ready. So the stalk of that cayenne pepper had the yogurt culture in it. So almost every vegetable and fruit has a different kind of probiotic in it. So if you're eating more fresher, more native kind of food, you are going to get it naturally.

Wow, that's so interesting. So is it the pepper specifically that has the enzyme needed for a yogurt culture or could we create with anything?

I believe that there are different probiotic stains, microbiology stuff, but no, we just like the pepper plant outside, which has more red color. So we will take with the stock on and then bring it in and open the stalk, not breaking the pepper, just the stalk of the head, break it off and throw in the milk and the yogurt will become. So I believe almost every other vegetable will have that kind of probiotic. I don't have a. But this is. I've done it personally and it's. It came out very nice. You could have become nice yogurt with this cayenne pepper stuff, you know, so. But I think we are lacking that too because we spray heavily chemicals on our food.

Yeah, that's what I was wondering. I was wondering if a pepper today has the level of prana to even do that.

I'm not sure because, you know, I grow my own vegetables and I insist heavily on that. Like right now in my garden, there's a fenugreek growing, there's a coriander growing. I had mustards going. And also have radishes and peas and the squashes and the cucumbers and tomato. That's all nine yard of things growing. And I'm enjoying it every day.

Yes, that's the goal. One day. So you would recommend always getting. And then would you recommend supplements if you have Candida, for example, or would you not?

Yes. You know, again, again, the candida is a normal flora in us. So it's not like a. It's a Foreign flora, it is a normal flora. But what happened is the way we eat this. And one of the concepts which I put forward is a dead food. If you have your bread in, sitting outside in the, in the room, it will catch that yeast, the fungus on it after some time. But if you not have that, it's not sitting in the room temperature, put in the refrigerator, the fungus will not grow. So the environment brings those things in too. So the fungus is growing in the people because they have been exposed to antibiotic, to the hormone, to the sugar, excessive carbohydrate eating. Like you know how many people just love the bread or nachos or chips and they're just loading themselves with all those carbohydrate rich food and they have been given antibiotic almost once a year to sometime more than that. Every female out there has been given birth control pills. So now they are prone to getting more yeast. And in that cases, probiotic is amazingly beneficial. So almost all population, because of the food chain, because of the behavior, needs some kind of probiotic today.

Okay, brilliant. Well, you've taught us so much already in this hour. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with all of us and I'm looking forward to having you again on the podcast. So where can people connect with you, learn from you? Come visit your clinic.

So I'm in Dalvi, Washington state and my clinic is Ayurvedic and Naturopathic medical clinic. If you Google Dr. Sodhi, I think you can find my name. I've written lots of articles. You'll find my articles all over the places. And I sent you a book. Did you get my book, by the way?

I did. I loved it it so much. I'm really learning a lot.

Yeah, it's my around 20 plus years of work. Because when I came to this country, people were saying, where is the evidence? Show me the evidence that Ayurvedic medicine works. So I start collecting the evidence. It took me many years to write this book and now there is a lot of data available. But this was the first thing which I know which I compiled so much research into the traditional Ayurvedic concepts. And so they can call, they can go on Website Ayurvedic Science www.ayurvedic science.com and they can find us from there too. And our Clinic number is 425-453-8022. Again it's 425-453-8022. And we see patients from all over the world and even from internationally and Nationally and very happy to support people in the healing because my concept is I don't want to be giving a pill them to heal. I want to heal them really. And it comes from the modification in their lifestyle, in their nutrition, in their mental attitude, doing simple things like yoga. Breathing. Breathing is amazing healing. Drinking proper amount of water, going to sleep at proper time, and you all healed already.

So beautiful and entirely accurate. And if we just use our body's natural tools and definitely the breath. I met this man who had 10 different kinds of cancer and he just started to really focus on the breath and his body healed all of them.

That's right. The breathing is so powerful. The cancer cells, as you know that I specialize in oncology. I am an integrative oncologist and the cancer cell cannot survive in oxygen rich environment. And so our body has been blessed to have two lungs and there's a purpose for that. And most of us, we breathe only 25 to 30% of our capacities. So we're not even oxygenating our system properly.

So true. And I'm looking forward to interviewing you on the next one about ayurvedic oncology because you know, I think everyone out there knows someone, at least one person close with them who's been affected by cancer.

Yeah, it is sadly becoming the number one killer. In just more than in just 10 years, this will be number one killer. And you know, you can see when I came to this country the cancer was at 25%. Now it is around 40%. So in next 10 years going to be 50%. So you can see that we are doing something wrong with our society. And I have made my purpose of my life that educate people that we can beat these diseases. These are all lifestyle diseases. Your diabetes, your heart disease, your cancer, your arthritis, the most killer, the high blood pressure. These are lifestyle diseases. And we can modify that that by simply following the principles of ayurvedic medicine and yoga.

Well, I'm looking forward to interviewing you on that very important topic. Well, thank you again so much for making the time and for educating all of us. We really appreciate it.

Sarah, thank you very much for having me on your podcast.

Thanks. Wow. How amazing is it to learn about Ayurveda from someone who has been studying it for decades and truly lives it and comes from a legacy from it. We are so blessed to to have him here. So if you want to try Uvada out, head over to Uveda. Y-O-U-V-E-A.com, use the code Sahara and you'll receive 35% off your first order. This is Dr. Verinder Sodhi's son's company and I take the Mood Formula every single day. It has all sorts of Ayurvedic herbs as well as multivitamins to help with your mood. Their digestion formula is also really great. They have joints immunity so many things. Highly recommend checking them out. And if you're interested in becoming an Ayurvedic practitioner, head over to my website iamsaharose.com, look up joyful Belly and click on the link over there. You'll receive $1,000 off scholarship plus a free business coaching webinar with me. And if you want to dive deep into recipes and fun facts and books and bring Ayurveda into your life in a beautiful way, please check out my new book Eat Feel Fresh which is now available for pre order at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon wherever books are sold. It is a stunning book, totally shot in India using my plant based approach to Ayurveda and I am so honored and privileged to share it with you. Namaste.

Dancing like a dungeon Like a dungeon.