Ayurvedic Food Patterns For Healthy Body
According to Ayurvedic concepts, food is responsible for different aspects of an individual including physical, temperamental, and mental states. To stay healthy, maintaining a stable healthy diet routinely is essential. The Ayurvedic diet is an eating pattern that’s been around for thousands of years. It’s based on determining your dominant dosha and eating specific foods to promote balance between all three doshas. It also sets guidelines for when, how, and what you should eat based on your dosha or body type.
The Ayurvedic diet emphasizes eating whole foods, which can improve your overall health and boost weight loss. The diet also encourages mindful eating, a practice that may promote a healthy relationship with food.
For a healthy person, it is advised in Ayurveda not to fill the stomach full, while taking food. The stomach should be divided into three portions and one portion should be filled with food, the second by water, and the third should be kept vacant for movement of Doshas. The right quantity of food is decided upon by the nature of food substances such as heaviness or lightness and digestive power of the person. Food items like flour products, milk products, sugar cane products, pulses like Urad, meat, etc. are heavy whereas rice, wheat, pulses like green gram, etc. are light and easy to digest.
What Can You Eat
Below are some of the foods you should eat based on your specific dosha.
Food For Vata Dosha
- Protein
small amounts of poultry and seafood.
- Dairy
milk, butter, yogurt, cheese, ghee.
- Fruits
fully ripe, sweet, and heavy fruits, such as bananas, blueberries, strawberries, grapefruit, mangoes, peaches, and plums.
- Vegetables
cooked vegetables, including beets, sweet potatoes, onions, radishes, turnips, carrots, and green beans.
- Legumes
chickpeas, lentils, mung beans.
- Grains
cooked oats, cooked rice.
- Nuts and seeds
any, including almonds, walnuts, pistachios, chia seeds, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds.
- Herbs and spices
cardamom, ginger, cumin, basil, cloves, oregano, thyme.
Foods For Pitta Dosha
- Protein
poultry in small amounts, egg whites, tofu.
- Dairy
milk, ghee, butter.
- Fruits
sweet, fully ripe fruits like oranges, pears, pineapples, bananas, melons, and mangoes.
- Vegetables
sweet and bitter veggies, including cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, zucchini, leafy greens, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and Brussels sprouts.
- Legumes
chickpeas, lentils, mung beans, lima beans, black beans, kidney beans.
- Grains
barley, oats, basmati rice, wheat.
- Nuts and seeds
small amounts of pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut.
- Herbs and spices
small amounts of black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, cilantro, turmeric.
Food For Kapha
- Protein
poultry in small amounts, seafood, egg whites.
- Dairy
skim milk, goat milk, soy milk.
- Fruits
apples, blueberries, pears, pomegranates, cherries, and dried fruit like raisins, figs, and prunes.
- Vegetables
asparagus, leafy greens, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, radishes, okra.
- Legumes
any, including black beans, chickpeas, lentils, and navy beans.
- Grains
oats, rye, buckwheat, barley, corn, millet.
- Nuts and seeds
small amounts of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds.
- Herbs and spices
any, including cumin, black pepper, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, basil, oregano, and thyme.
Conclusion
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