The Duchess of Sussex has described how she turned to an Ayurvedic doctor when pregnant with both Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Meghan, in her latest podcast of Confessions of a Female Founder, which was released on Archie's sixth birthday on Tuesday, also spoke of the benefits of "adaptogens" such as mushrooms but admitted some see the approach as a "little psychedelic and super woo-woo".
The former Suits actress, 43, discussed her belief in the ancient Indian holistic Ayurveda philosophy while chatting with Hannah Mendoza, founder of Clevr Blends.
© Getty ImagesAyurveda, which means the "knowledge of life" in Sanskrit, is a holistic approach to balancing the body, typically using natural herbs and massage.
Ayurveda practises
Meghan described how she turned to an Ayurvedic practitioner when pregnant with Archie and Lili and how it was about seeing "food as medicine".
"So there are these items and ingredients that have been part of our natural ecosystem and dietary system for a long time, whether acknowledged or not, that somehow you say mushrooms, and now people have a connotation attached to it," she said.
© Instagram / @meghan"But it's really just a food trend that I believe you were far ahead of in terms of saying, 'Hold on, these have properties that can in some way make you feel differently in a really safe way.'
"During my pregnancies, I had an Ayurvedic doctor and so much of it was about seeing food as medicine."
Harry told in his memoir how the couple listened to Sanskrit songs in the delivery room with Archie on the advice of an Ayurvedic doctor and whispered to their newborn that they loved him after the practitioner told them babies absorb everything said to them in the first minute of their life.
© Getty ImagesMeghan's father-in-law King Charles is known to be a firm supporter of homeopathy. In the book, Charles: The Alternative Prince, author Edward Ernst wrote that the King: "Takes a great interest in [alternative medicine]."
His mother, our late Queen, showed her appreciation for alternative medicine too, appointing a personal homeopathic physician, while the Queen Mother reportedly loved homeopathy as well.
What is homeopathy?
The NHS refers to homeopathy as: "A 'treatment' based on the use of highly diluted substances, which practitioners claim can cause the body to heal itself.
"Homeopathy is a complementary or alternative medicine," the NHS continues. "This means that homeopathy is different from treatments that are part of conventional Western medicine in important ways."
© ArchewellHomeopathy is not something the NHS supports, going so far as to decide in 2017 that it would no longer fund homeopathy, as the lack of any evidence for its effectiveness did not justify the cost.
Despite split opinions on homeopathy, the King remains a believer, investing in holistic health treatments too, by the side of his wife, Queen Camilla.
The difference between homeopathy and Ayurvedic medicine
Homoeopathy and Ayurveda are two prominent alternatives to modern medicine. Homeopathy, from Germany, uses highly diluted substances to trigger the body's healing. Ayurveda, from ancient India, is a holistic system focusing on balancing the body's energies through herbs, diet, and lifestyle.
Meanwhile, in an earlier episode of her podcast series, Meghan spoke to her hair colourist Kadi Lee, co-founder of hair wellness brand Highbrow Hippie, which the Duchess invested in last year. Mendoza, who grew up in London but later set up home on the west coast of the US, described how she began making a friend – her now co-founder Roger Coppola – mushroom-based cappuccinos to help him during a time of grief.
Meghan acknowledged the fungus often had other "connotations". The Duke of Sussex famously admitted to taking magic mushrooms in California in 2016 in his autobiography, Spare.
The Duchess said: "I think a lot of people when they hear mushrooms, they go, 'OK, she's talking about being hippie-dippy, grounded in all these things.'
"If you aren't familiar with adaptogens, you can go to this place of, 'Oh, it's feeling a little psychedelic and super woo-woo.'"
Adaptogens are active ingredients in certain plants and mushrooms which are said to impact how the body deals with stress, anxiety and fatigue.
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