How to Make Sweet Potato with Kale & Ginger

SERVINGS: 2

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 25 MINUTES

SKILL LEVEL: EASY

MEAL: LUNCH-DINNER

STYLE: WESTERN

PREPARATION: BOILED

EAT IN: SPRING, AUTUMN-WINTER

FOR OCCASION: ON-THE-MEND, THANKSGIVING, BACKYARD-PICNIC-BBQ, CLEANSE, DINNER-PARTY

How Does This Ayurvedic Recipe Improve Wellness?

CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW

Orange like the rising sun, wrapped in bitter green crispness, sweet potatoes with kale make you feel brightly alive. Sweet potatoes give this meal substance, while kale's lightness bring this dish into a perfect balance. Ginger adds its pungent sweetness to spark your digestion and strengthen your fire! Altogether Sweet Potatoes with Kale and Ginger creates the perfect healthy recipe for balance year round.

Light yet Sustaining

This Ayurvedic recipe highlights sweet potatoes which are rich in complex carbohydrates, meaning these roots can satisfy the appetite for long stretches of time. Unlike white potatoes, sweet potatoes are light on your stomach, and recommended for weight loss while still being nourishing. Sweet potatoes won't make you feel tired like white potatoes either. The addition of healthy fats in the form of sunflower oil adds strength and vigor to this dish.

Easy to Digest

Sweet potato is unique among comfort foods because it is extremely easy to digest. This tuber is a helpful Ayurvedic remedy for those with heavy digestive symptoms. Despite the name "sweet," it may be a beneficial food for diabetics as preliminary studies revealed it helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. Sweet potatoes contain ample fiber to encourage good elimination. Ginger increases your ability to digest food with comfort by stimulating the release of digestive juices in your stomach. Cooling kale adds roughage, further supporting easy, regular bowel movements. This Ayurvedic sweet potato recipe is the perfect healthy recipe to include in your menu this week.

Gentle Cleansing

As spring warms up, your body enters a natural detox cycle. As your body starts to cleanse, you'll crave crunchy, refreshing foods like kale, celery, and raw fennel bulb. These bright, bitter greens cleanse your liver and blood. They work by purging bile from your liver and gall bladder, cooling down the heat of Pitta and lightening up the heaviness of Kapha. The dark green color of kale is also a sign of kale's rich nutrient profile. After a winter of sleepy comfort foods, fresh greens energize and revitalize you.

As a staple in the Ayurvedic diet, ginger's pungent sweetness enlivens your digestion and strengthens your fire. Fresh ginger is unique as both a pungent and a natural anti-inflammatory. It cleanses by burning toxins that have been lodged in your body. Thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties, it relieves symptoms of inflammation in the gut. Due to the sweet potato base, this Ayurvedic meal is gentle enough for cleansing even a delicate Vata constitution.

Spring Congestion

On warm days in Spring, your heart feels heavy and your respiratory tract congested. This is natural as your body is metabolizing stored winter fats to prepare for summer. As they are released, these fats congest your blood. Ginger is the perfect Ayurvedic food to give your circulatory and respiratory system a kick, restoring your pep. It reduces heaviness in the heart, brightens your mood, and makes you feel light on your feet.

AYURVEDA'S GUIDE TO VITALITY & WHOLESOME NOURISHMENT

Your Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body and your specific imbalances. With an Ayurvedic diet you feel joy and satisfaction because what you are eating truly nourishes and balances you. Disease results from diets and lifestyles that are incompatible with your nature. By eating a personalized diet matched to your body, you experience optimal health. See How it Works.

See a complete list of all biocharacteristics.

INCREASES Increases These Biocharacteristics (Gunas) Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics (gunas). Aggravating these characteristics weakens your body and causes imbalance. By knowing which characteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct imbalances before you get sick. Every characteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold). You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite characteristic. Learn More	EASY ABOUT EASY BIOCHARACTERISTIC Easy refers to anything easy to digest, or digests quickly. LEARN MORE ABOUT EASY MOBILE ABOUT MOBILE BIOCHARACTERISTIC Mobile refers to anything that stimulates the nervous system, muscles, or activity. LEARN MORE ABOUT MOBILE CLEAR ABOUT CLEAR BIOCHARACTERISTIC Clear refers to anything that cleanses or flushes out wastes, or that digests ama. LEARN MORE ABOUT CLEAR COLD ABOUT COLD BIOCHARACTERISTIC Cold refers to anything that reduces body temperature, metabolism, and blood flow. LEARN MORE ABOUT COLD LIQUEFIED ABOUT LIQUEFIED BIOCHARACTERISTIC Substances that thin fluids (lower viscosity of blood plasma). These may include blood thinners or mucolytic herbs. LEARN MORE ABOUT LIQUEFIED LIGHT ABOUT LIGHT BIOCHARACTERISTIC Lightness is identified by reduced weight. LEARN MORE ABOUT LIGHT
TASTES The 6 Tastes Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food. Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body. Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food. Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods. Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion. Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste. One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below? Learn More	ASTRINGENT ABOUT ASTRINGENT BIOCHARACTERISTIC Astringency is characterized by constriction, drawing together, or drying. LEARN MORE ABOUT ASTRINGENT
DOSHAS The Three Doshas / Body Types According to the biocharacteristic theory of medicine, people tend to get sick, over and over again, due to habitual causes and imbalances that are unique to the person. Your body type summarizes this tendency, showing you the 'type' of conditions and imbalances that frequently challenge your health & wellness. Using body type, you can also identify remedies likely to improve your strength and resiliency. Your body type identifies physical and mental characteristics as well as your personal strengths and weaknesses. The calculation of your body type is based on your medical history. The 3 functional body types (doshas), are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha). Catabolic individuals tend to break down body mass into energy. They are easily stimulated, hyperactive, underweight and dry. Metabolic individuals tend to burn or use energy. They tend to be rosy-cheeked, easily irritated, focused, driven, and easily inflamed. Anabolic individuals tend to store energy as body mass. If they store too much energy, they could gain weight easily and have congestion. Anabolic people tend to be stable and grounded. Learn More	PACIFIES
HAS THE FOLLOWING	Subtaste: Aromatic STRONG AROMATIC Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues. SEE ALL 'AROMATIC' FOODS / HERBS
HERBAL ACTIONS (see all)	Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Sweet Potato with Kale & Ginger Experiences are Personal Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary. The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition. Digestion: Stimulates Peristalsis STIMULATES-PERISTALSIS An herb that promotes involuntary smooth muscle contractions to facilitate the movement of food and waste through the digestive tract. SEE ALL 'STIMULATES-PERISTALSIS' FOODS / HERBS , Appetite Suppressant APPETITE-SUPPRESSANT Suppresses hunger without causing weight gain. SEE ALL 'APPETITE-SUPPRESSANT' FOODS / HERBS , Stomachic STOMACHIC An herb that increases appetite or settles a nauseas or nervous stomach. These generally increase the digestive fire, therefore relieving symptoms of sluggish or difficult digestion. SEE ALL 'STOMACHIC' FOODS / HERBS , Carminative CARMINATIVE Stimulates the release of gas. Helpful for bloating or cramping abdominal pain. Propels food downward. Carminatives typically expel gas by relaxing the muscles of the intestines. SEE ALL 'CARMINATIVE' FOODS / HERBS , Digestive DIGESTIVE Herbs that encourage healthy digestion. SEE ALL 'DIGESTIVE' FOODS / HERBS Cleanse & Detox: Burns Toxins BURNS-TOXINS An herb that detoxifies by helping your body metabolize toxins, as opposed to eliminating them. SEE ALL 'BURNS-TOXINS' FOODS / HERBS Mind, Stress & Sleep: Nerve Relaxant Grounding NERVE-RELAXANT-GROUNDING Encourages feelings of stability and heaviness. Makes you feel settled, mentally relaxed. Mildly sedates the nervous system to ease stress. Can bring a spacey or anxious person back to earth. Reduces agitation, irritation, stress and racing thoughts. SEE ALL 'NERVE-RELAXANT-GROUNDING' FOODS / HERBS Energy Vitality: Stimulates Energy STIMULATES-ENERGY This category groups thyroid and adrenal stimulating herbs. SEE ALL 'STIMULATES-ENERGY' FOODS / HERBS , Satisfies Stomach SATISFIES-STOMACH Provides a sense of gratification and fullness in the stomach. SEE ALL 'SATISFIES-STOMACH' FOODS / HERBS , Nutritive NUTRITIVE An herb that is strengthening and nourishing. SEE ALL 'NUTRITIVE' FOODS / HERBS Immune System: Anti Inflammatory ANTI-INFLAMMATORY Reduces inflammation in the body. Different herbs and carriers target different body systems. SEE ALL 'ANTI-INFLAMMATORY' FOODS / HERBS Heart & Circulation: Cardiac Stimulant CARDIAC-STIMULANT Herbs that increase the heart rate. Useful in cardiovascular health, blood stagnation, and subjective feeling of heaviness in the chest area. SEE ALL 'CARDIAC-STIMULANT' FOODS / HERBS , Vasodilator VASODILATOR A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area. SEE ALL 'VASODILATOR' FOODS / HERBS , Alterative ALTERATIVE Restores the proper function of the body by cleansing the blood and balancing blood chemistry. In Ayurveda terms, they pacify Pitta in rakta. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter. SEE ALL 'ALTERATIVE' FOODS / HERBS Liver & Gallbladder: Cholagogue CHOLAGOGUE Cholagogues stimulate the production & release of bile from the liver & gallbladder. This refreshes and cleanses these organs, as well as increases bile in the small intestines. SEE ALL 'CHOLAGOGUE' FOODS / HERBS Reproductive Health: Galactagogue GALACTAGOGUE Increases production of breast milk, often by raising prolactin and diaphoresis. SEE ALL 'GALACTAGOGUE' FOODS / HERBS Constituents: Vitamin A, Potassium, Vitamin C, Nitric Oxide NITRIC-OXIDE Improves circulation by dilating blood vessels. Protects blood vessels from damage. Improves athletic performance, libido, immunity, and brain health. SEE ALL 'NITRIC-OXIDE' FOODS / HERBS , Catechins CATECHINS Antioxidant that reduces cancer and blood clots, dilates blood vessels, and is antimicrobial. SEE ALL 'CATECHINS' FOODS / HERBS , Betaine BETAINE Used to reduce homocysteine in the blood, which supports proper liver function and prevents fatigue and blood clots. Improves muscle stamina and weight loss. SEE ALL 'BETAINE' FOODS / HERBS , Vitamin K, Polyphenols POLYPHENOLS Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants seen in many fruits and vegetables. There are more than 8,000 types. SEE ALL 'POLYPHENOLS' FOODS / HERBS , Vitamin E, Beta Carotene, Aromatase Inhibitor AROMATASE-INHIBITOR Blocks estrogen synthesis by inhibiting conversion of progesterone and testosterone into estrogen. SEE ALL 'AROMATASE-INHIBITOR' FOODS / HERBS , Calcium CALCIUM Calcium nourishes bones and muscles. A muscle cell is activated when calcium enters the cell. It relaxes when the calcium is secreted. SEE ALL 'CALCIUM' FOODS / HERBS , Carbohydrate, Insoluble Fiber, Flavonoids FLAVONOIDS Flavonoids are a colorful type of polyphenol. As all polyphenols, they have a strong antioxidant effect. Many flavonoids have an anti-inflammatory, and/or antiallergen effect. SEE ALL 'FLAVONOIDS' FOODS / HERBS

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Joyful Belly is a recognized school of biocharacteristics medicine.