This purple rain juice made with purple cabbage is a beautiful fusion of taste and nutrients. Purple cabbage juice can help re-balance gut bacteria. Consuming high amounts of processed foods leads to an imbalance in gut bacteria. Bacteroidetes bacteria break down and help digest everything you eat; thus, you don’t put on weight. A high amount of firmicutes bacteria makes breaking down the food difficult, and you gain weight even by eating less. Thus, firmicutes lead to obesity, while Bacteroides make you leaner.
The imbalance in gut bacteria happens due to overly processed foods like refined sugar, corn syrup, white flour, alcohol, chemically enhanced meat proteins, etc. When there is an imbalance in the gut bacteria population, it will physically, mentally, and emotionally affect you. Thus the first step towards changing your life is changing your diet and lifestyle.
A sentient diet containing no onion, garlic, mushroom, egg, or meat is prepared according to Ayurvedic and Yogic principles. It is excellent for the body, mind, and soul.
Some of the many benefits of a sentient diet are as follows:
- It provides balanced nutrition
- It is generally good for people experiencing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- It is low in FODMAPs given that it contains no onion, no garlic, and mushroom, three highly offensive FODMAPs. FODMAPs are short-chain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. FODMAP restriction has improved symptom control in people with IBS and other functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID), Celiac diseaase etc.
Fermented vegetables are a big part of the sentient diet. In fermentation, vegetables and/or fruits are salted and allowed to ferment with the help of Lactic acid bacteria. They are a natural probiotic and help to maintain gut balance.
Fermented foods are found in every culture. The Chinese make preserves, Indians make pickles, the Japanese make Tsukemono, Koreans make kimchi, while Germans are famous for Saucekrauts. All these foods, rich in probiotics, are eaten all around the world.
While bottled and industrially processed pickles might be a modern invention, the culture of food preservation is not new to humans. In ancient times, people who traveled long distances had to carry food that could last for a long time. There was no Walmart or other jumbo supermarkets, and as fermented food was made at home in the past and not processed industrially, they were a good way of preserving food and your health.
Coming back to purple cabbages, almost everyone has eaten a cabbage, baked, steamed, fried, or in salads in some form or the other. Because cabbage is such a routine vegetable, its nutritional and health benefits are often undermined. But cruciferous vegetables like cabbage can relieve coeliac problems, IBS symptoms, and various other gastrointestinal conditions caused by over-consumption of processed foods. One popular variety of cabbage is purple cabbage; it can either be eaten raw, in salads, steamed, braised, sauteed, or made into a sauce. Add this bright purple cabbage to your diet for a healthy gut.
With more evidence suggesting how health is chiefly impacted by what we eat, modern medicine is beginning to acknowledge the importance and wisdom of ancient medicine and culture. In olden times, farmers were believed to be happy people, cheerful, healthy, and generous. The main reason why farmers were happy and lived up to the ripe ages of 95 and 110 was that they grew the food they ate themselves. But this was a time before industries like Monsanto and Bayer polluted natural farming methods with pesticides and fertilizers.
These harmful chemicals destroy bugs and insects and, in the long term, kill us, i.e., the consumers. But the fertilizer and pesticide industry today is a multi-billion dollar industry. Hopefully, one day, these economic giants will also be transformed and turn towards loving humans and nature instead of pieces of paper which gives them a short-term sense of power and security.
Coming back to our happy farmers, the ancient belief was true. Good food meant a happy gut, happy organs, a happy body, and a happy mind. Whoa! Does this mean that ‘gut feeling’ is not just a saying and that your gut can actually affect how you feel? YES! M. vaccae, a bacteria found in the gut, promotes the secretion of serotonin, which is the happiness hormone.
As kids, when we rolled around in the mud and ran wildly in the fields and forests, we experienced a state of elation and happiness that, as adults, even medication or drugs cannot provide. During those times, we were close to nature, which is why farmers who spend their entire day working on the land and soil remain happy. When we are in close contact with the earth, bacteria from the earth inevitably enter our system through our hands, fingernails, and breathing.
Microbiome Vaccae is one such bacteria present in the soil and helps in serotonin secretion in humans. Serotonin, known as “Amrta” in Sanskrit or divine nectar, is believed to be the elixir of life by ancient yogis. The brain naturally produces serotonin at certain times when the mind and body are happy. On certain days, like the new moon and full moon days, there is a higher secretion of this hormone, and hence you feel close to good and closer to god.
Like Purple Rain Gut Balancer, Little metaphorical stories are also good for your health. They help with dopamine release, so here’s a little story to end this post.
Once, an old master was walking through a town when a man walked out of a liquor shop fully drunk and began wobbling along the same path as the master. He came close to him and saw that the master’s eyes were red as well, and the drunkard man thought the master must somehow be drunk too. So he, too, walked along with the master for some time, thinking that he was in the good company of a fellow drunkard. The master noticed the drunkard and smiled at him but did not say anything and kept walking.
As they approached the outskirts of the town, it was getting late, and the sun was setting, so the master decided to rest under the shade of a tree. He found a quiet spot and sat down in meditation. The drunkard observed the master just sitting simply and doing nothing. He sat down, at a little distance away from the master. Slowly he fell asleep.
The next morning he woke up sober and looked around to see that the master was still in meditation. The previous night’s events came back to his mind, and he again started observing the master. A little while later, the master, who had been in meditation all night, opened his eyes, looked at the man, and smiled. The man who was now sober saw that they were still red.
The man became curious, and thinking that the master was still drunk, he leaned in close and asked, “Where do you buy your wine?” The master smiled, called him near, and whispered, “I make my own.” Thus, happiness or serotonin induced by external influences will fade away soon, but the happiness that comes from within, from eating foods good for the body and mind, stays forever.
Purple Rain Gut Balance
Nutritional Benefits: Purple cabbage is rich in vitamins A, B6, C, and K, fiber, riboflavin, thiamine, and potassium with trace amounts of copper, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium. Purple cabbage is rich in potent plant compounds that protect your cells by fighting off free radicals that cause oxidative stress. In addition, it is a great gut health enhancer thanks to the fiber and probiotic properties of purple cabbage.
Ingredients
- 4 apples
- 2 cucumbers
- 1/4 red bell pepper
- 4 sticks of celery
- 1 lemon with skin
- 1/2 red cabbage
- 1 thumb size ginger
- 1 cup of green grapes
- 4 medium-dark kale
Instructions
Using a Juicer
Wash, peel and cut all veggies and fruits into little pieces. Put them through the juicer and extract the juice
Using a Blender
Cut everything into small pieces, add them to a blender in portions and blend into a smooth liquid. Pass the liquid through a cheesecloth and squeeze to extract the juice. Transfer the juice to a serving glass and serve.
Nutrition
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128 Calories
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32.8g Carbohydrates
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0.5g Fat
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6.3g Fiber
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2.4g Protein
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0.1g Saturated fat
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22mg Sodium
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22.1g Sugar
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