The Master Cleanse Site

Thara Kodandaramachandra is an Ayurvedic specialist at the Chopra Center.

“In Ayurveda, eating awareness is very important. Americans act like everyday is Thanksgiving,” says Thara Kodandaramachandra, an Ayurvedic specialist who provides lifestyle advice at the Chopra Center’s NYC outpost at the Dream Hotel. Point taken. We’re chronic overeaters. But what to do after the real Thanksgiving when you wake up thinking “I can’t believe I ate that third slice of pie”? Fast? Just drink fruit juices for the day? Or give up entirely and dig into leftovers?

None of the above.

Sip tea with mint leaves

Kodandaramachandra shared some 5,000-year-old wisdom with Well+Good on how to reignite your agni, the biological fire that governs the metabolism. (We’re hoping it also quells our bonfire of indigestion.) “After a big feast, your diet should be warm, light, and filled with liquid. Eat like a baby—think warm, easy to digest purees. Don’t eat any meat or cold raw veggies, which are too taxing on an already overtaxed digestive system,” explains Kodandaramachandra.

She also recommends sipping on herbals teas—ginger, mint, or chamomile—throughout the day. And pick up some Triphala at Whole Foods or your local vitamin shop; take two after breakfast and two after dinner. Triphala is an Indian herb that’s used as an Ayurvedic colon and liver cleanser.

UPON WAKING UP: Drink warm water with juice from a fresh cut lemon. The lemon’s cleansing effect helps rid the body of the impurities of yesterday’s feast and it, um, initiates a bowel movement.

Feast on boiled vegetables the day after Thanksgiving

BREAKFAST: Small serving of oatmeal.

LUNCH: Broth-like soups with soothing cumin, coriander, ginger or turmeric to aid digestion.

DINNER: Boiled vegetables. Sprinkling spices (cumin, etc) on the vegetable helps to enhance agni.

THE NEXT DAY: Resume normal eating—with awareness.

In other words, don’t eat your way through all your leftovers on Saturday.

Do you drink teas, eat light, or have a made-it-myself Master Cleanse recipe for recalibrating after a big holiday meal? Tell us, here!