Craving sweets after a meal?

This is a natural craving! and before the dogmatists scream at heresy, I'll quote my source: what follows is an advice given by Dr. Vasant Lad himself!

In this post I'll share how you can cope with the sweet taste craving after a meal, without indulging in desserts that may compromise your digestive power (agni).

So yes! Although the Ayurveda of most books will stand that you should not end your meal with sweets, real life witness that most women in the world feel guilty about craving the sweet taste after a meal. Let's take the middle path and look closely to this subject for the best compromise.

The go-to solution suggested by Dr. Vasant Lad, aka "The Doctor from India", is ending our meals with a glass of vegetable milk: almond, oats, coconut! Yeah, yeah! It gives that smooth and satisfying feeling to finish on a sweet note, without getting intoxicated with unhealthy sugars or dairy products. Preferably hot and with a little cardamom and/or cinnamon to aid digestion. And what if you want it pink? add some beetroot powder, or rose petals powder.

Pleasure (kama) is an important factor in good digestion and one of the 4 legitimate goals of life. Guilt is a factor of indigestion and unnecessary suffering. Healthy kama is the middle path, the good one. Therefore, if your body is asking for a sweet treat, you may try one of our recipes in this post and learn how to make your vegetable milks at home without undesired ingredients and unnecessary plastic packaging as often found in processed brands.

Making your own Almond Milk

Preparing home made almond milk is quite simple and very cost-effective.

Ingredients and preparation for one serving: 7 almonds soaked overnight in spring water. Once soaked, press the almonds with your fingertips to remove their skin before blending them with 2 cups of spring water in a powerful mixer. Hop! almond milk ready to drink, good for your wellness and the health of our planet. If you like it sweeter, soak one or two Medjol dates together with your almonds and blend them into your "milk".

Attention! Use a powerful mixer for this recipe. I have damaged my old mixer before deciding to invest in a high-quality strong mixer. If you don't have or don't feel ready to invest in a powerful mixer, start by preparing the home made oat milk instead.

To make almond milk in larger quantity for the whole family or to store it for a few days:

Ingredients: 250g almonds, 1 liter of water, a vegetable milk bag to filter (or a clean cheese cloth). Preparation: Soak the almonds in water for 8 to 12 hours. Drain, rinse and then place the almonds in a powerful blender (you can remove the skin from the almonds by gently squeezing each almond).

Add 1 liter of water, and mix at high speed for 2-3 minutes. Filter through the vegetable milk bag squeezing well with your hands to extract the maximum "milk". It's ready! Reserve in the fridge.

Homemade almond milk can be kept for about 4 days in the fridge (if it separates into 2 phases, you just need to stir well to find back its homogeneous texture). You can also freeze it. The pulp that remains in the milk bag can be frozen and used for the preparation of desserts by replacing almond meal (freeze the pulp if you won't use it right away).

More elaborate variations can be made to your taste with the addition of some dates, vanilla, cocoa powder, etc.

Making your own Oat Milk

Ingredients: 1 cup of organic rolled oats, 6 cups of spring water, honey and cinnamon to taste.

Preparation: Steep the oats in the water overnight (or soak for at least about 4 hours). Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend well. Filter the mixture through a cheese cloth and your oat milk is ready to drink. You can store it in the fridge and use it within 3-4 days.

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This post was originally published by Lucie João (Ayurvedic therapist based in France) and complemented with recipes by Carol Jamault (Founder of Hridayam Apothecary). Lucie and Carol met in New Mexico, during a Summer Intensive live course with Dr. Lad. You can follow Lucie on Instagram @ayurveda.paysbasque, or contact through her website (French).

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For high-quality herbs and spices for your recipes, we recommend Mountain Rose Herbs or a visit to our apothecary if you are in Miami area.

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