The benefits of eating according to your chakras
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The benefits of eating according to your chakras
Most of us have been told at some point to eat our greens, but growing evidence suggests a more colourful approach could be the key to a healthier, more nourished life. Beth Anderson writes.
According to kinesiologist and naturopath Cassie Mendoza-Jones, author of You Are Enough, rainbow eating has long been used as a healing tool in various modalities of Eastern and alternative medicine, including Ayurveda. Consuming plenty of colour, she says, helps us achieve a varied, balanced and wholesome diet that contains all five tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and pungent. “It also ensures we’re eating foods that are both warming and cooling on our bodies, ensuring an energetically balanced approach to our eating and health.”
From a less physical perspective, chakras – or the metaphysical energy centres within our bodies – can be nurtured by certain foods, improving your mood and sense of overall wellness. “Food is medicine not just in relation to its nutrient content, but also on a subtle energetic level,” Mendoza-Jones says. While not everyone subscribes to energetic healing, it can often be surprisingly telling. And if you’re looking for a cure for ails physical and spiritual, colourful foods are an affordable and healthy place to start. Here’s Mendoza-Jones’ guide to how different coloured foods can help realign the seven main chakras:
Base chakra – red: If you are feeling ungrounded and scattered, or exhausted and flat, eat red foods as well as root vegies – carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, potatoes, parsnips, garlic, ginger and beetroot – to help ground and balance your energy.
Sacral chakra – orange: If you want to feel more creative and fertile – and more connected to both your masculine and feminine energies (to help with balancing them both) – eat orange foods, such as oranges, mangoes, melons, turmeric, mandarins, carrots and yellow/orange capsicum.
Solar plexus chakra – yellow: If you feel you’re lacking self-confidence and willpower, or as if you’re giving all your energy to others, call your energy back to yourself and cleanse your personal power centre by eating yellow foods, such as bananas, curries, corn, lemons, mangoes and yellow/orange capsicum, as well as grains such as quinoa, rice and buckwheat.
Heart chakra – green: If you need to tune in to your heart space and infuse more love, acceptance and forgiveness into your life, eat green vegetables such as kale, broccoli, lettuce, spinach and green capsicum, and drink green tea.
Throat chakra – blue: If you’re finding it hard to be truthful with yourself or others, or want to express yourself more easily and openly, cleanse your throat chakra by drinking lots of herbal teas and eating blue foods (like blueberries).
Brow chakra – purple/indigo: If you’re lacking clarity and want to feel more connected to your vision and intuition, eat purple foods such as blueberries, grapes, blackberries, blackcurrants, eggplant, prunes and raisins – and drink red wine!
Crown chakra – clear/white: If you’re feeling unsupported and wanting to tune in to your higher self, eat lighter meals and drink more clean, pure water and herbal teas. You may also wish to fast or leave a longer time period between dinner and breakfast (eat breakfast a little later in the day), or eat very light soups or salads for dinner for a few nights.
Learn the benefits of a multi-coloured menu in the January 2017 edition of nourish magazine.
