Most people think of wind when they think of pulses, and sometimes rightly so. There are quite a few pulses which increase vata, which essentially equates to increasing wind.
There are two main factors which can reduce this effect. One is acclimatisation: if we gradually increase the amount of pulses in our diets, starting with a small amount, taking care to have plenty
of fluids, our gut gets used to them and digests them better. The second is to follow a few simple tips in how we cook our pulses.
To reduce the wind-making propensity of the vata-increasing pulses (most apart from mung beans, red lentils and urad dal), follow these tips:
Always soak pulses according to the instructions on the packet. Soaking not only starts the rehydration process but also helps remove the components which can make them difficult to digest. If the soaking time is long, change the water once or twice. Do not use the soaking water to cook the pulses. Use a 3:1 water: pulse ratio. Generally lentils and most split pulses don’t require soaking whereas other whole pulses do. If you want to be very thorough and/or you suffer from lots of wind with pulses, pour hot or boiling water over the pulses, drain and repeat, three times in an hour and then leave to soak. If you haven’t remembered to soak the pulses, bring them to the boil for 2 minutes, leave for 1 hour to soak (if you have time, you can even skip this step), tip out the water, re boil again with fresh water.
Cook the pulses thoroughly, as undercooked pulses are more difficult to digest.
Always eat pulses with plenty of culinary herbs and spices to help digest them (especially hing – asafoetida, ajwain and fennel . Others such as cumin, coriander, fresh ginger etc also help). Make sure there is plenty of healthy oil in the recipe or added afterwards as this also mitigates the vata (saturated oils such as ghee or coconut oil or unsaturated ones such as virgin sesame or olive).
Add a piece of kelp to the boiling pulses and then throw away afterwards. The kelp helps absorb the components which cause a lot of the gas.
Do not add salt until the end of cooking pulses. Salt will prevent the inside of the pulses from becoming tender as it toughens the skins. Acid ingredients such as tomatoes or vinegar (neither of which come highly recommended in Ayurveda!) also have the same effect. Other seasonings such as garlic, onion, ginger, herbs and spices may be added to the cooking water right from the beginning.
Skim off the white scum that floats on the surface with a slotted spoon.
: boil vigorously for ten minutes at the beginning of cooking to destroy toxins.
If using canned pulses, drain and rinse thoroughly in cold water before using.
Ayurveda recommends avoiding certain food combinations to enable our digestion to work at its best and to avoid creating toxins in the digestive system. Don’t combine pulses in the same meal with eggs, milk, yoghurt, cheese, meat or fish. If you want to have dairy with your pulses to increase protein consumption, eat them at different meals in the day.
To get the full requirement of protein in any 24 – 48 hour period, you will need to have grains (especially whole grains) or nuts and seeds as well as the pulses within that period. To understand more about proteins, read here.