Ayurveda means "knowledge of life" and is a welfare system that originated in India 4000 years ago. Ayurvedic philosophy focuses on human health in terms of long-term prevention. The ayurvedic diet is a complete health system, i.e. eating according to the mind-body type. This mind-body type is known as a "dosha", which will take into account your temperament, metabolism, energy levels and other aspects of your body and mind. After determining your mind-body type, you can structure your ayurvedic diet according to your dosha and also adopt ayurvedic eating habits that will help you stay committed to that diet.
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Part 1 of 3: Determining the Mind-Body Type
Step 1. Know that there are three main types of mind-body
There are three main doshas in ayurveda: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. You can review each of the three traits to determine your dosha type or take a quiz about dosha types available on the internet: https://doshaquiz.chopra.com/. If you are addicted to food or have an eating disorder, there may be an underlying vata imbalance as part of your mind-body type.
Although some people may use ayurveda as a weight loss tactic, this diet is not designed as a weight loss program. Actually ayurveda focuses on ensuring that you have a balance between mind and body through diet and eating habits in order to have a healthier lifestyle and way of thinking
Step 2. Recognize the qualities of the mind-body vata type
If your main dosha is vata, you are very focused on movement and change and have an energetic and creative mind. You need balance and stability in your life and low levels of stress to feel energized and excited about life. But you are also prone to anxiety and insomnia.
Vata types tend to have irregular breathing patterns, especially when feeling stressed or working too hard. You may also indulge in cravings for comfort foods such as chocolate, bread and toast, or pasta, instead of sticking to a consistent, healthy eating schedule. You may be prone to skipping meals. You may have extreme eating habits that include frequent snacking and eating to relieve stress or not eating at all. Your diet is often stress-centered and you may use eating as a way to deal with feelings of restlessness and imbalance
Step 3. Understand the nature of the pitta mind-body type
Dhosa pitta tends to have a high interest in food, experience and knowledge. Pitta types love a challenge and use their intelligence to learn new things. When you feel out of balance or stressed, you are more likely to experience heat-related problems in your body such as heartburn, ulcers, hypertension, and inflammatory problems. This heat can also manifest in your personality as you may easily feel frustrated, irritated, and angry.
Pitta types love regularity and certainty in eating habits and patterns, namely by eating structured meals three times a day at the same time every day. You focus on stability and control in many aspects of your life, including eating, and may feel irritated or upset if your eating schedule is a mess or you eat later than usual. Pitta types tend to overeat as a way of expressing anger. They literally swallow anger by eating too much at every meal. You may also view overeating as a way to deal with stressful situations or bigger problems in the world
Step 4. Recognize the qualities of the mind-body kapha type
This mind-body type usually has a natural advantage in physical strength and endurance. You may be naturally athletic with a calm personality and the ability to use critical thinking and absorb information quickly. However, you may be prone to weight gain, fluid retention and allergies if you feel out of balance. You may also show an aversion to change and have an overall stubborn attitude. Kapha types tend to hold on to experiences, relationships and possessions even though they have long been useless or are no longer needed.
Kapha types are usually naturally very fond of eating and can become addicted to food. If you feel out of balance, you can eat continuously, before and after your main meal. You may use food to hide intense emotions and as a way to avoid confrontation with other people or with your own feelings and emotions
Part 2 of 3: Eating According to Mind-Body Type
Step 1. Learn about the variety containing the six flavors
The ayurvedic diet focuses on making food out of six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy, and astringent. The goal is to include all six flavors in each meal so that there are each major food group in the dish and you're consuming enough nutrients. Foods that contain each of these flavors include:
- Sweet: This includes a variety of foods such as whole grains, milk, meat, chicken, fish, honey, sugar and molasses.
- Acids: These include various foods such as cheese, yogurt, alcohol, vinegar, various pickles, tomatoes, prunes, berries, and citrus fruits.
- Salty: This includes a variety of foods such as seaweed, marinated meat and fish, soy sauce, and any food with added salt.
- Bitter: This includes a variety of foods such as leafy greens (leaf vegetables, celery, broccoli, sprouts, spinach, kale), endives, chicory, beets, and tonic water.
- Spicy: This includes a variety of foods such as onions, garlic, chilies, peppers, cayenne pepper, black pepper, cloves, ginger, mustard, and salsa sauce.
- Sepat: This includes a variety of foods such as dried beans, lentils, green apples, cauliflower, figs, pomegranates, and tea.
- These six flavors are arranged in the order you have to digest them with each meal. Start with sweet foods and work your way up to spicy foods.
Step 2. If you have a mind-body vata type, eat warm, oily and heavy foods
Vata types should eat more sweet, salty and sour foods and limit the consumption of spicy, bitter and sour foods. As a vata, you have a light, dry and cold nature so you have to balance it with warm, oily and heavy foods. If you are trying to lose weight, you can minimize foods that are high in sugar or fat and eat more natural whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
- Eat more natural grains such as barley, corn, millet, buckwheat, and rye. You should also eat rice, oats, and oats every day.
- Eat sweet fruits like bananas, avocados, mangoes, plums, berries, melons, papayas, peaches, cherries and nectarines. Make it easier for your body to digest these fruits by boiling or sautéing them. Avoid dried or unripe fruits, also avoid apples, cranberries, pears, and pomegranates.
- Eat more vegetables cooked in olive or ghee, such as asparagus, beets, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and carrots. You can use spices like cardamom, cumin, ginger, salt, cloves, mustard seeds, cinnamon, basil, cilantro, fennel, oregano, thyme, and black pepper. However, avoid vegetables and bitter herbs such as coriander, parsley, turmeric and fenugreek.
- Avoid eating nuts because they can hurt the stomach of the vata type. If you must eat beans, eat chickpeas, green beans, pink lentils, and soybeans (such as tofu). If you're not vegetarian, you can eat organic chicken or turkey, seafood, and eggs and reduce your intake of red meat.
Step 3. If you have a pitta mind-body type, eat heavy, cold and dry foods
Pitta types should focus on sweet, bitter and astringent tastes and avoid spicy, salty or sour tastes. Heat can have a negative effect on the pitta type so you should eat heavy, cold and dry foods and fluids. While it's OK to eat most sugary foods, avoid molasses and honey.
- You can consume milk such as butter or butter, milk, ice cream, and ghee but should avoid dairy products such as yogurt, sour cream, and cheese. When cooking, you should use coconut oil, olive oil or sunflower oil as well as soy sauce. However, avoid almond, corn and sesame oils.
- Try to increase your consumption of wheat, rice, barley, and oats, and reduce your consumption of brown rice, corn, rye and barley.
- You can also eat sweet fruits like grapes, avocados, mangoes, cherries, coconuts, pineapples, apples, oranges and figs. Avoid acidic fruits like grapefruit, cranberries, lemons, and persimmons. Pitta types should eat more cold vegetables like asparagus, potatoes, leafy greens, pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, zucchini, lettuce, okra, and chickpeas. Avoid spicy and hot vegetables such as red chilies, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and radishes.
- When cooking with herbs, opt for cooling and soothing spices such as coriander, cilantro, cardamom, saffron, and fennel. Occasionally use hot spices such as ginger, cumin, black pepper, cloves, salt, and mustard seeds. Avoid spicy spices such as red chili and cayenne pepper. You can chew fennel root after meals to help cool stomach acid.
Step 4. If your mind-body type is kapha, eat dry, light and hot foods
Eat foods that have a bitter, spicy or astringent taste and avoid foods that have a sweet, sour or salty taste.
- Consume very small amounts of dairy products and drink only low-fat milk or yogurt. You should only use honey as a sweetener and avoid other sources of sugar, as kaphas are prone to problems like sinus congestion, allergies, colds and weight gain. You should drink two to three cups of ginger tea a day to aid digestion and overall health.
- You can eat any type of legume as protein in your diet, but limit your consumption of kidney beans, soybeans and soy-based foods such as tofu. Choose natural grains such as corn, barley, sorghum, and rye, but reduce consumption of oats, rice and wheat.
- Eat lighter fruits such as pears, apples, apricots, pomegranates, and cranberries. Cut back on heavier fruits like bananas, melons, dates, figs, avocados, coconuts and oranges. Don't eat dried fruit.
- Kapha types can eat a lot of vegetables in various types except sweet and juicy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes. When cooking use extra virgin coconut oil, almond oil, sunflower oil, mustard oil and ghee and use a variety of spicy seasonings such as pepper, ginger, cayenne pepper and mustard seeds.
Part 3 of 3: Practice Ayurvedic Eating Habits
Step 1. Do mindfulness breathing meditation when you crave unhealthy food
As part of an ayurvedic diet, you can use mindfulness meditation to distract yourself from cravings for unhealthy food that comes from emotional influences or to prevent overeating (food binge). Do meditation whenever you feel the urge to arise.
- Sit in a quiet place with each arm at your side and close your eyes. Inhale deeply, focusing on your breathing as it flows out of your lungs through your nose. Inhale and exhale mindfully.
- Let your attention follow your breathing as the air moves from your lungs and out of your nose. Keep your eyes closed and keep your attention focused on the breath, banishing all thoughts from outside. Do this step for five to ten minutes.
Step 2. Eat according to your appetite, not your emotions
Your body will send messages to the brain to indicate when the body is hungry and needs food. Focusing on your body's natural need to eat, rather than emotional cravings, will ensure that you're eating enough each day. Eat only when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied. However, when you feel very hungry, eat until you are comfortably full but not full or too full. This will make it easier for the digestive system to process food and not be overwhelmed by food.
Let your stomach, and not your emotions, dictate how much and when you eat each day. Try to do this for two weeks straight, eating when you feel hungry, which can mean eating at unusual times or not eating for a period of time until you feel hungry. Then, eat only until you feel full enough. This step will allow you to better understand the natural eating cycle and avoid overeating or overeating
Step 3. Drink a cup of warm milk or hot water with honey to reduce your cravings for sugar
Suppressing cravings for sweets while on an ayurvedic diet can be difficult. One way to curb cravings for sugar is to drink a cup of warm milk or hot water topped with honey and a little lemon.
If you're constantly craving sweets, try drinking warm milk in the morning every day to avoid consuming unhealthy processed sugars. You can also drink hot water with lemon and honey once a day to prevent cravings for sugar
Step 4. Eat more fresh food and avoid packaged foods
In the ayurvedic diet, fresh food is associated with energy, vitality and health, while packaged food is associated with imbalance, fatigue and stalemate. Avoid packaged, canned, or frozen foods to ensure that you only eat foods that will benefit your overall health. Go shopping every other day at the market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
You should also cut down on leftovers and microwave-heated foods as these are not considered fresh and full of energy
Step 5. Eat a larger lunch and a smaller dinner
The ayurvedic diet encourages changes to eating smaller portions at night to improve the overall well-being of the body and also to aid in weight loss. Your digestive system is most alert during the day at lunch time, so try to change your meal portions so that you eat a larger lunch and a smaller dinner. It also improves sleep because your body doesn't have to process large amounts of food at night and gives you more energy during the day.
