What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda dates back over 5000 years as being the oldest Indian health care system. It was widely practiced then, and is today as well. Ayurveda translated is the “science of life”. "Ayur" in Sanskrit means "life", and "Veda" means "science". It is a perfect science of health and longevity system of medicine that utilizes various therapies including diet, yoga, and herbal preparations, to restore harmony and balance within the body. This holistic science is the knowledge of complete balance of the Body, Mind and Spirit, including the emotions and psychology, on all levels.

It includes in its consideration, longevity, rejuvenation and self-realization therapies through diet, exercise, yoga, massage, herbs, aromas, mantras, tantras, and meditation. According to Ayurvedic tradition, health is the balance of the five elements: air (vayu), earth (prithvi), fire (agni), space (akasha), and water (apu). Illness is an excess or deficiency of any particular element. Ayurveda treats illness at its source, rather than at the level of symptoms, and helps an individual to take responsibility for their own health and well-being.

By selecting foods appropriate for your personal constitution or body type, you can maintain or restore your proper dosha balance.

Regardless of your dominant dosha, Ayurvedic nutrition principles encourage the consumption of fresh, unprocessed foods. Ayurvedic principles also govern and stress the timing of meals. In the Ayurvedic view, one of the doshas is dominate at all times during the day, a theory called the Master Cycles of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha Doshas.

In the first cycle, Kapha predominates from 6 am to 10 am, Pitta predominates from 10 am to 2 pm, and Vata predominates from 2 pm to 6 pm. In the second cycle, Kapha predominates from 6 pm to 10 pm, Pitta predominates from 10 pm to 2 am, and Vata predominates from 2 am to 6 am.

Because the Pitta dosha is responsible for digestion and metabolism, the ideal time for a large meal is during the period from 10 am to 2 pm when Pitta is dominant. As a result, all people, regardless of their dominant dosha, should take their largest meal sometime around 12 noon.

In addition to the Doshas, Ayurvedic nutrition is comprised of six different tastes and six major qualities. The tastes and qualities with attributes similar to those of a dosha increase that dosha, while tastes and qualities dissimilar to the characteristics of a dosha decrease that dosha. The six tastes and the six major food qualities, and their effect on the different doshas, are listed below:

The Six Tastes

• Sweet: The sweet taste is found in table sugar, honey, rice, pasta, milk, cream, butter, wheat and bread. The sweet taste increases Kapha, but decreases Pitta and Vata.
• Sour: The sour taste is found in lemons, limes, vinegar, yogurt, cheese, and plums. The sour taste increases Kapha and Pitta, but decreases Vata.
• Salty: The salty taste is found in any food to which salt has been added. The salty taste increases Kapha and Pitta, but decreases Vata.
• Bitter: The bitter taste is found in spinach, romaine lettuce, endive, chicory, chard, kale, and tonic water. The bitter taste decreases both Kapha and Pitta, but increases Vata.
• Pungent: The pungent taste is found in chili peppers, cayenne, ginger, and other hot-tasting spices. The pungent taste decreases Kapha, but increases Pitta and Vata.
• Astringent: The astringent taste is found in beans, lentils, cabbage, apples and pears. The astringent taste decreases Kapha and Pitta, but increases Vata.

Since each taste has a balancing ability, it is recommended that you include all of these six tastes at each main meal you eat. For example, some of each taste minimizes cravings and others balance the appetite and digestion.

The Six Major Food Qualities

• Heavy: Heavy foods include bread, pasta, cheese, and yogurt. The heavy quality decreases Vata and Pitta, but increases Kapha.
• Light: Light foods include millet, buckwheat, rye, barley, corn, spinach, lettuce, pears and apples. The light quality decreases Kapha, but increases Vata and Pitta.
• Oily: Oily foods include dairy products, meat, fatty foods, and cooking oils. The oily quality decreases Vata and Pitta, but increases Kapha.
• Dry: Dry foods include beans, potatoes, barley, and corn. The dry quality decreases Kapha, but increases Vata and Pitta.
• Hot: The hot quality describes hot beverages and warm, cooked foods. The hot quality decreases Vata and Kapha, but increases Pitta.
• Cold: The cold quality describes cold beverages and raw foods. The cold quality decreases Pitta, but increases Kapha and Vata.

Again, it is suggested that a balanced main meal should contain some foods of each physical type. For example, to keep Vata dosha in balance, you will want to choose more heavy, unctuous or liquid, and hot foods, and fewer dry, light or cold foods. To help balance Pitta, focus more on cold, dry and heavy foods, and to balance Kapha, try more of light, dry and hot foods.

Another guiding principle of Ayurveda is to choose foods based on the classification of the effect they have on the non-physical aspects of the physiology, which includes the mind, heart, senses and spirit.

Sattvic foods have an uplifting yet stabilizing influence, Rajasic foods stimulate and can aggravate some aspects of the mind, heart or senses, and Tamasic foods breed lethargy and are considered a deterrent to spiritual growth. For example, the benefit of including some sattvic foods at every meal helps promote mental clarity, emotional serenity and sensual balance and aids in the coordinated functioning of the body, mind, heart, senses and spirit. Almonds, rice, honey, fresh sweet fruits, mung beans and easy-to-digest, fresh seasonal vegetables and leafy greens are examples of sattvic foods. To get the full sattwa from sattvic foods, prepare and eat them whole and fresh.

According to Ayurveda, each meal should be a feast for all of your senses. When your plate reflects an appealing variety of colors, textures, flavors and aromas, your digestive juices start freely flowing in anticipation and your body, mind and heart are all fulfilled by the eating experience.

Thus, you should eat a wide variety of foods for balanced nutrition including whole grains, lentils, vegetables, fruits, dairy, nuts, healthy oils or ghee (clarified butter), spices and pure water all have their roles in the balancing process.

If you find yourself eating the same dishes several times a week, or you gravitate towards the same produce or foods every time you shop, resolve now to start making your meals an adventure. Every week, try at least a few new foods or fix familiar foods in new ways, so that your taste buds and your digestion are constantly exposed to some new stimuli in addition to the familiar.

Lastly, you will want to incorporate spices and herbs in your diet. They are concentrated forms of Nature’s healing intelligence. See Currysutra’s spice page for all the medicinal wonders of Indian spices.

Spices are particularly well-regarded in Ayurveda for their ability to enhance digestion, absorption and assimilation, help cleanse ama (toxins) from the body (elimination), and their yogavahi property – their ability to transport the healing and nutritive value of other components of the diet to the cells, tissues and organs. Currysutra offers a class on building your spice pantry as well as educating you on the health benefits of each spice. Spices can heal you naturally…why would you want to pill pop for a simple headache or stomach ache that can be eliminated with the use of herbs and spices?

In summary, according to Ayurveda, every individual has unique needs for balance. Since diet is one of the most important Ayurvedic tools for achieving balance, Ayurvedic healers generally design individualized diets for people they see, based on various factors such as age and gender, the doshic tendencies that need to be balanced at a given time, the strength of the body tissues and the digestive fires, and the level of ama (toxins) in the body. Interesting to note, the place where a person lives and the season are also factors that affect dietary dos and don'ts.

Note: This information is educational, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you have a medical concern, please consult your physician.