ayurveda
NUTRITION
DESCRIPTION
In Ayurveda, the foundation for good health is maintaining balance in the body and mind and living in tune with one’s unique mind-body constitution. Learn how to eat for your unique dosha constitution. Learn how best to prepare foods for optimal digestion, your ideal food selection, when to eat, and even how to incorporate spices and warming beverages to support your physical and mental health.
Nutrition for Your Dosha Type.
One of the first ways Ayurveda will seek to restore essential balance is through our gut. The foods we eat impact our health and vitality. The buildup of toxins, called Ama, comes from poor-quality foods or those we cannot properly digest, creating an imbalanced disease state. We can restore balance with proper consumption of foods that complement our unique mind-body constitution or dosha. The three dosha constitutions are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
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Follow a Vata-pacifying diet with these flavor profiles; increase sweet, sour, salty and decrease bitter, pungent, astringent. In general, choose a diet that emphasizes warm, soupy, and easy to digest foods. The Vata gut prefers cooked vegetables to raw
Favor warm beverages
Food should be warm, freshly prepared
Cook with liberal amounts of sesame oil. Ghee, butter, olive oil and coconut oil are also good
Avoid alcohol, caffeinated beverages
Avoid raw or gas-forming vegetables
Bonus tip: Have some boiled milk with cardamom, cinnamon, or turmeric before bed.
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Take time out to eat a healthy lunch with attention on your food
Favor cool, but not ice-cold, beverages
Food should be freshly prepared
Favor ghee in the cooking along with cooling spices like fennel, coriander, cardamom and turmeric. Coconut oil and olive oil are also good
Avoid chili peppers, vinegar, alcohol, tobacco, caffeinated beverages and chocolate
Increase sweet, bitter, and astringent and decrease sour, salty, and pungent
Pitta people should avoid the “hot/ spicy” foods and should concentrate on the “cooler” tastes. Pitta types should especially limit or avoid consumption of eggs, alcohol, and salt
Bonus tip: Before bed, have some milk heated with a little ghee, saffron, cardamom and sugar, once cooled to a moderate temperature
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A light, warm diet is also important with a predominance of these flavor profiles: bitter (greens), astringent (beans) and pungent tastes. Decrease sweet, salty, and sour
Kapha individuals should not eat fatty, fried or greasy foods and should avoid dairy products.
Vegetables are wonderful for Kapha types who should reduce the heaviness of the meals they eat, use moderation