Magic in Your Kitchen

Magic in Your Kitchen
By Pyramid of Enlightenment

Pyramid of Enlightenment

Why have chocolates been associated with love and romance for so many years? Why is garlic said to ward off evil spirits? And who started that thing about throwing salt over your left shoulder to ward off bad luck?

The kitchen is the hub of the household, whether you’ve got a large family or are a single person rarely at home – at some point, it’s a congregation place, a comfort place, and a storage place, that provides a sense of continuity in your day-to-day life. It has always been this way, from the time that people sat around a campfire cooking the communal meal to the modern counterpart of Thanksgiving dinner, where the turkey’s put in to roast first thing in the morning, and the household matriarch coordinates the family comings and goings with a dishtowel in one hand and a ladle in the other.

The ingredients of the food you eat create, to a large extent, your state of mind for the following few hours. When you pick a specific food or ingredient to add to your meals, you are intentionally creating a chemical reaction in your body that will subtly influence your behavior.

If you plan to be active, eat stimulating herbs and foods such as garlic, ginger, ginseng, cinnamon, pepper, chili, curry or cumin. These will add heat to your system in a natural, gradual way, through the digestion, rather than quickly, as caffeine does. In contrast, red pepper seems to act as a tonic for a sore temper.

If you want to relax, add honey to chamomile tea at the end of a long day, or eat pasta, which is full of calming minerals (avoid combining the pasta with too much fat or oil, as this defeats the assimilation of the relaxing properties of the food). Finally, the time-honored remedy of a glass of warm milk at bedtime works because the natural sleep aid, tryptophan, is found in milk (also in turkey and avocados). The warmth is just to loosen up your insides, like a warm bath does for tired muscles.

To convey romantic intentions, chocolate works because it contains a chemical that approximates the body’s endorphins. Garlic wards off evil spirits because it’s probably the most healthful plant on the planet. And that salt thing doesn’t have anything to do with eating but it if encourages you to watch your back, your luck will surely improve.