Native to India and Sri Lanka, where it is known as "fever tea", this herb is anti-inflamatory, aids digestion and has a mild disphoretic (sweat inducing) effect which are all perfect for a summer tea blend.

It has delicious and mild flavor with refreshing and soothing properties, a wonderful addition to either chilled or hot tea blends. Lemongrass mixes especially well with cooling seeds like coriander or fennel or mints such as spearmint. It can be extremely thirst quenching on a hot summer day. Lemongrass is considered suitable for children.

As a mild digestive remedy it's combination of pungent and bitter flavors stimulates agni (digestive fire) without aggravating pitta. It regulates samana and apĀna vĀyu in the intestines to relieve gas, gramps and colic. It is reducing to all the doČas but may aggravate vĀta in excess.

Too hot to make kitcheri? Looking for some new seasonings to explore? Try a traditional Italian seasoned bean salad with a twist...sprouted mung beans instead of the classic kidney and navy beans.

The sprounted mung beans are very sattvic and made this dish accessible to those with a vata imbalance. The lavish amounts of fresh basil, oregano and black pepper are all designed to help support agni (digestive fire), so that it is easier for your body to digest the beans.

For an all out supper, serve with De Boles Eggless Ribbon style pasta made with Jerusalem artichoke flour. For a lighter meal, it is nice by itself with a few crackers and almond butter.

Along with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats, one of the most unfortunate and unnecessary ingredients added to modern processed foods is caffeine. Several online sources list nine product categories in which there is now at least one caffeinated version in the marketplace:

• Inhaler (delivers a dose of caffeine straight to the lungs)
• Potato Chips
• Bottled Water
• Beer
• Breath Mints
• Sunflower Seeds
• Oatmeal
• Cold Cereal
• Pantyhose (this one is particularly hard to believe, but caffeine-impregnated hose is indeed available on the internet)

Lacing such odd products with caffeine may seem comical, but the fact is that caffeine is a strong stimulant and an addictive drug that can cause or worsen headaches, anxiety, insomnia, cardiac arrhythmia (palpitations), high blood pressure, gastrointestinal and urinary disorders, prostate trouble and PMS.

Ayurveda recommends steering clear of caffeine in all forms except for those with a strong kapha imbalance that prevents them from getting out of bed till 10am without it. Even then, if you are sensitive to the effects of caffeine, you may choose to use decaffeinated versions.

And it's probably wise to avoid medicated clothing in general.