This is basically an article about how earthenware pottery and the understanding of grounding can change your life forever!
Contents:
- Benefits of Unglazed Earthenware Pottery
- Benefits of drinking Water from Earthen Vessels
- How “Grounding” your vessels can actually reduce inflammation in your body
- How Storing Food in Earthenware Crocks in Root Cellars Significantly increases it’s longevity
- Conclusion
Benefits of UNGLAZED Earthenware Pots, and Dinnerware
While earthenware pots might look rustic and lovely, they have untold health benefits that our ancestors took part of wholly on a daily basis.
And when I say “Earthenware,” I actually mean UNGLAZED earthenware. Glazes stop the food from interacting directly with the earthenware which is where all the benefits are.
A direct quote from the mouth of a well known Dietician:
“The food cooked in earthen pots are high in iron, calcium, magnesium and sulfur which plays an important role for the well being of a human body. Cooking in earthen pots is a slow process and involves the use of a minimum amount of oil thereby helping in retaining food’s natural oil and moisture. Beyond being good just for food, unglazed earthen pots hold lots of promise for the environment. Hence, it is highly recommended to use earthen pots while cooking as it has multiple benefits in keeping the body healthy and fit”, says Rinki Kumari, Chief Dietician, Fortis Hospital Bangalore.
Maintains the nutritive value
Due to slow cooking, clay pots allow moisture and heat to circulate through the food, thus retaining the nutritional level. In metal, this tends to get lost. When cooking meats especially, the thermal inertia helps the muscle proteins denature and collagen break down completely, hence keeping it tender for a longer duration.
Neutralise the pH level
As clay pots are alkaline in nature, it interacts with the acidity in the food, hence neutralizing the pH balance and making it healthier.
This can be most visibly tasted in foods with high acidity such as:
- Coffee (which takes on a neutral and almost sweet taste when made in unglazed earthenware pots).
- Tomato Sauce (which similar to coffee takes on a rich, full and slightly sweet taste when cooked in earthenware pots).
Cut down oil consumption
As they are heat-resistant and the dish cooks slowly, you can cut down on extra oil, such as vegetables. Earthen pots retain the oil and give moisture to food so you don’t add unnecessary fat to make your food tastier.
Adds more nutrients
It is said that clay pots add many important nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium and sulfur to food, which are extremely beneficial to our body.
Scientist actually say one of the main causes of aging is lack of micronutrients, which cause cell damage. There can be lots of reasons for lack of micronutrients in our diets, but isn’t it nice to know that your unglazed earthenware pots have your back as you’re cooking in them, to infuse many micronutrients back into your food.
Add an earthy flavour
The aroma that your food will have after being cooked in an earthen pot is unbeatable.
Drink Water from Earthenware Jugs or Pots
Simply drinking water from earthenware pots also adds amazing benefits to the mineralization of your water. The information below will also show you how grounding your water pot or jug actually has powerful anti-inflammatory benefits, and how it’s free to do.
Some Non-Food Health Inspiration for You! (Grounding)
The term “Grounding, or Earthing,” has become more common in the last decades as the discovery that just putting our bare feet on earth or grass or stone has immense benefits especially for those who have inflammatory conditions.
The below video gives jaw dropping scientific evidence of how powerful grounding is and how to do it for free. There is also a shorter 15 minute version that can be found on youtube.
How Sunflowers feel about earthing while in vases:
A study was done on earthing and found that flowers in vases last significantly longer if they are earthed (connected to the ground somehow). That earthing could be done by running a thin metal wire from the GROUND point of a socket, or by putting the flower in a earthenware vase and make sure you set the vase on something that is grounded for a couple hours a day (which could be leaving it outside on the grass or stone patio etc…
Storing Food in Clay Crocks in Root Cellars Preserves it’s Longevity.
When you understand how much healing power is in clay pots and earthing then you suddenly realize how powerful the way our ancestors way of storing food were. We used to store fermented vegetables in earthenware crocks that were in stored long term in root cellars, before refrigeration.
In northern Afghanistan, an ancient and surprising practice allows you to preserve the fruits of summer and early autumn for entire months, preserving their freshness until spring.
Called kangina, this technique allows the grapes to be kept fresh until Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which is celebrated on the spring equinox. After all those months, the grapes are still perfect.
The practice is based on mud, a mud rich in clay that is molded into shapes that resemble a bowl: two of these shapes, after being filled with clusters, are joined together and sealed into a sphere, which is placed in the sun. until the mud is completely dry.
A pair of these rustic bowls holds about 1 pound of ripe fruit: after being sealed, the clay balls are placed away from sunlight, in cool cellars, or even buried underground.
The so-called kangina has been in practice for generations and generations, and probably dates back to 2000 years ago. However, it has been relatively little documented and studied.
Conclusion
From pizza stones, to butter dishes, to vases for decoration, earthenware is extremely rich in goodness which lengthens life when we use them regularly, all in all this is only the beginning of benefits that can come from clay.
The uses for unbaked natural clay are vast as well. The use of clay is an important pillar on which cultures across the globe used to rest on, unfortunately with refrigeration and the use of metal cookware much of this richness has disappeared. It’s up to you to bring it back!