BEST AYURVEDIC DIET AND NUTRITION GUIDE

Table of Contents

• AYURVEDIC DIET & WONDERFUL BENEFITS
  • BENEFITS
• DOSHAS AND IT’S ROLE
• How to identify your Normal Dosha Predominance(Body Type):
• ASSESSMENT OF YOU BODY TYPE
• GENERAL DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALL BODY TYPES
• DIETARY PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR BODY TYPE
• VATA BODY TYPE
• PITTA BODY TYPE
• KAPHA BODY TYPE
• DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR BODY TYPE
  • ARE YOU VATA PERSON? READ HOW TO PLAN YOUR DIET SCHEDULE!
    • Additional tips
  • ARE YOU PITTA PERSON? READ HOW TO PLAN YOUR DIET SCHEDULE!
    • Additional tips
  • ARE YOU KAPHA PERSON? READ HOW TO PLAN YOUR DIET SCHEDULE!
    • Additional tips
• MIXED DOSHA PREDOMINANCE: VATA-PITTA, PITTA-KAPHA, VATA-KAPHA AND VATA-PITTA-KAPHA PERSONS
  • VATA-PITTA PERSONS
  • PITTA-KAPHA PERSONS
  • VATA-KAPHA PERSONS
  • VATA-PITTA-KAPHA PERSONS
• SIMPLE DIET SCHEDULE AS EXAMPLE FOR VATA DOMINANT PERSONS
  • • MORNING ROUTINE
    • LUNCH & DINNER ROUTINE
    • SNACKING OPTIONS
• SIMPLE DIET SCHEDULE AS EXAMPLE FOR PITTA PERSONS
  • • MORNING ROUTINE
    • LUNCH & DINNER ROUTINE
    • SNACKING OPTIONS
• SIMPLE DIET SCHEDULE AS EXAMPLE FOR KAPHA PERSONS
  • • MORNING ROUTINE
    • LUNCH & DINNER ROUTINE
    • SNACKING OPTIONS

Ayurveda is a holistic science which is based on concepts like Panchamahabhutha(5 basic elements- Space, Air, Fire, Water, Earth/Land), Tridosha(Vata, Pitta, Kapha), Triguna(Sattva, Rajas, Tamas)- 3 mindsets, Shadrithu(6 seasons), Shat rasa(6 tastes), 7 Body types(Vata-pitta-kapha, vata-pitta, pitta-kapha, vata-kapha, vata, pitta, kapha) hence the subject which is standard and does not change through time.

Ayurveda though old, always says, “swasthasya swaasthya rakshanam, aturasya vikara prasamanam” which means to protect a healthy one and to cure a diseased one.

AYURVEDIC DIET & WONDERFUL BENEFITS

Ayurvedic diet is not any simple medicinal diet that works for specific diseases but is a way of life everyone need to incorporate in their lives which not only help to protect health and prevent diseases but also excellently help heal person from diseases.

Ayurvedic diet works on the principle of balancing doshas (vital energies- vata, pitta, kapha) in the body. It corrects even minimal doshic imbalances by incorporating foods that have qualities opposite to imbalanced doshas in our body and our unique body type, help us to live a quality life and disease free active lifestyle.

This diet not only corrects life style changes but also provide enough strength to face seasonal changes by eliminating timely wastes from body and help faster healing and relieving symptoms of diseases.

DOSHAS AND IT’S ROLE

Vata, Pitta, Kapha are the three doshas in the body. They are basic units for survival and maintainence of body. They constantly change depending upon eating habits, lifestyle, mental health and seasonal changes. It is unique to each inividual and depends on body strength and inheritence. The combination of doshas in two and three add up four more body types i.e., Vata-Pitta, Pitta-Kapha, Vata-Kapha, Vata-Pitta-Kapha.

Most of the people, ~60-70% are predominantly combined of two doshas. Single dosha predominant persons are rare ~5-10%. Equal predominance of three doshas is considered best prakruthi and occurs when your body is maintained with healthy lifestyle and eating habits since beginning.

Identification of our body type helps to choose a diet and lifestyle suitable and homologous to our body constituent dosha. Mild disturbance in doshas either increase, decrease or misplacement from local site lead to disturbance in health and can lead to diseases in future.

How to identify your Normal Dosha Predominance(Body Type):

Choose the characters which define you from the following:

VATA BODY TYPE	PITTA BODY TYPE	KAPHA BODY TYPE
You’re Lean/ very thin, you have difficulty in gaining weight.	You have moderate body i.e., not too thin or obese, you gain/ lose weight easily.	You’re mildly obese and has tendency to gain weight slowly and lose weight with little difficulty.
You are more wakeful i.e., you sleep less, you are physically active all day.	You sweat greatly, your body has strong odor.	You are predominant of good traits like respecting elders and friends.
You are talkative, speak more, more explanative and extroverts in expression but you are not courageous.	You defeat others in Talk and Courageous.	You speak well selected words, often speak less. You are Courageous, intelligent but to some extent
You have very unstable mind, you constantly search for solutions, overthink past and future, mostly stressed.	You are intelligent and clever among others, brilliant in your works.	You have pleasant mind and you are strong, slow in understanding but memorize for a long time.
You hate cold things, always in search of warm & hot foods. You are pleased with warm and nourishing foods.	You hate cold things, you always search for foods that are cooling, sweet and pacifying to your body.	You like sweets the most and you often try different kinds of foods, not restricting yourselves to specific routine food.
You have dry body, especially dry feet and palms. You have rough hair, nails and moustache.	You have slightly coppery red palms, soles, lips, eyes, nails, tongue.	You have slightly whitish greasy skin complexion, whitish eyes with reddish ends, curly thick black hair.
You walk fast, grind teeth, move your legs often, wander places too much and you vision is not steady.	You have wrinkled skin, may have slightly grey hairs and baldness.	Your voice is pleasant, husky and attractive voice. Your voice described similarly as it is like thunder and lion’s roar.
You have very prominent, bulgy veins and well seen joints.	You have flabby(loose) organs, slightly yellowish in colour.	You have well demarcated organs and beautifully structured and you are born beautiful.
You eat a little quantity of food, many times.	You have great eating capacity and like to more amount of food.	You eat in moderation and not very easily tempted to foods even if you like them the most.
You often suffer with problems such as cracking sounds in joints, frequent headaches, constipation & weak immunity.	You often suffer with problems such as ulceration in mouth, nose bleeds and other heat issues in the body.	You sleep more, you have difficulty waking up early mornings and gain weight slowly and also lose weight slowly.
You can’t withstand hardships i.e., you are not easily adapted to new situations and suffer adjusting.	You are short tempered, i.e., you have anger issues, you get irritated quickly and relieved quickly.	You can withstand hardships and not sensuous i.e., you can adapt to new situations and adjust anywhere to any situations.
You are ungrateful and unsteady in friendship. You have less friends and poor collection of wealth.	You are like conquerors and possess leadership qualities, you do not easily give up easily and are not soft towards one’s who cheated on you and it’s more like a tit for tat reaction, but you are compassionate to ones who are obedient towards you.	You have good friends and you are good at collecting wealth, you are grateful to one’s who help you and you show gratitude towards them for a long time but you also do not forget your enmity for long time.

ASSESSMENT OF YOU BODY TYPE

Identify your traits from above and if you have 60-70% traits from only in vata/ pitta/ kapha; You are that dosha predominant. Vata individuals usually have weaker genetics but not necessarily. Kapha individuals are genetically strong, but single predominant doshic individuals are often rare and constitute minimum population.

If you have two doshas that form major percentage i.e., may be upto 60-70%, you are vata-pitta, pitta-kapha or vata-kapha body type individual.

If you have all traits in equal proportion around 30% each, you might be tridoshic predominant individual, you are considered having best body type.

Remember, each body type is unique and we have unchangeable doshic constitution(prakritha) which is attained at the time of conception of sperm and ovum and there is also a changeable doshic constitution(vaikritha) through diet and lifestyle.

GENERAL DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALL BODY TYPES

According to Ayurveda, there are some dietary rules that are to be followed by everyone for healthy maintenance of body, they help doshas to be in moderation and help improve immunity and strength and prevent us from diseases. They are:

• Eating warm foods which are instantly prepared, to avoid body using excess energy all the time to bring food to body temperature and to ensure all components from food is entering our gut to obtain maximum benefits and not stressing our body.
• Eating foods added with good fats to facilitate easy digestion and avoiding dryness in the body.
• Eating foods in limited quantity to avoid over-eating which can cause poor digestion, improper absorption of nutrients which may cause aggravation of kapha and may lead to diabetes, obesity, thyroid, hormonal disturbances, PCOS etc., in future.
• Eating meal after digestion of previous meal which help proper management of digestive fire and prevent indigestion, acidity or other digestive issues.
• Eating foods which are not contradictory to each other i.e., eating something which has hot potency and cold potency at same time like fish with curd, biryani with cold drinks, fats with cold water etc., It may lead to food poisoning and may cause digestive issues, skin problems, gradual accumulation of fats in body. If you want to know more about contradictory foods visit www.globeayush.com
• Eating food at the place that is comfortable and liked by us and eating food in utensils we like provide calmness to mind and allow us to understand and satisfy needs our body ask for.
• Eating food peacefully neither too fast in hurry nor too slow in disinterest help proper functioning of leptin and ghrelin enzymes.
• Eating food with full of heart and enjoying every part of your meal helps maximum absorption of nutrients and vitamins.
• Eating foods that are habitual and homologous to one’s body type and not causing harm like food allergies etc., it means eat foods that are suitable to your body not getting influenced by influencers or celebrities but change the constitution of foods according to your body type.

Ayurveda says, always eat food in a proportion that one-fourth part is filled with solid food like rice and curries, fill two-fourths with liquid foods like rasam, sambar, buttermilk etc., and leave remaining one-fourth free to help easy digestion and avoid diseases.

According to BhagavadGita, foods more hydrating, pleasant, lustrous and prepared within 3 hours of eating, not so spicy, not very bitter, salty or sour, not very hot, not very dry foods, not fried, foods causing burning sensation and acidity, not tasteless, not foul smelling, not incompatible and not rotten.

DIETARY PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR BODY TYPE

These Ayurvedic dietary principles stand on basic principles are standard and do not change often with scientific advancements because a lot of scholars have built this based on several group discussions and lot of study. So it is important to understand these topics before incorporating them into your lifestyle.

VATA BODY TYPE

Please note, vata, pitta and kapha are doshas which are predominantly present in vata, pitta, kapha body types. For example, a Vata body type person has all the three doshas in body but vata is predominantly present than other two doshas. Balancing all the three doshas in prakritha state(normal state) is main concept in Ayurveda.

Vata dosha made up of elements Air&Space, possesses qualities such as:

For vata body type person these traits are comparatively more that pitta and kapha predominant persons, so, they need to avoid foods which possess these qualities as they may lead to excess vata which may lead to unbalanced vata and you may experience following symptoms:

So, the general dietary principles of vata imbalanced person include:

1. Foods that are strengthening like meat soups, vegetable soups, milk, and milk products
2. Nourishing like Ragi malt, Tapioca recipes, rice items, vegetables, millet recipes
3. Easy to digest like idly, green gram
4. Warm and added with good fats like food cooked with ghee, sesame oil, groundnut oil, coconut oil
5. Heavy foods like black gram, curd, milk puddings, milk sweets etc.,

PITTA BODY TYPE

Pitta dosha made up of magical combination of Fire & Water, possesses qualities such as:

For pitta body type person these traits are comparatively more that vata and kapha predominant persons, so, they need to avoid foods which possess these qualities as they may lead to excess pitta which may lead to unbalanced pitta and you may experience following symptoms:

So, the general dietary principles of pitta include:

• Eating more of solid food like Rice, wheat, tubers etc carbohydrate rich food
• Foods that pacify heat like cool water(obviously not refrigerated), coconut water, sugarcane juice, jaggery, sugar, nannari etc.,
• Heavy food items black grams, curd etc.,
• Eating foods that are not added with more of unnecessary oils like juicy curries, steam cooked foods and avoiding deep fried veggies, baked foods

KAPHA BODY TYPE

Kapha dosha is made up of elements Earth & Water, possesses qualities like:

For Kapha body type person these traits are comparatively more that vata and pitta predominant persons, so, they need to avoid foods which possess these qualities as they may lead to excess kapha which may lead to unbalanced kapha and you may experience following symptoms:

So, , the general dietary principles of kapha include:

• Eating foods that are light to digest and easily keeps you full for long time like corn soup,
• Eating warm foods i.e., freshly cooked
• Eating small quantities of solid food by including more liquid diet in meala like eating rice, millets, wheat etc in minimal quantity added with more curries, rasam,, sambar buttermilk etc.,
• Eating foods that are added with less fats and sugar as your body already has enough fats
• Eating foods that are depleting in nature during snacking like plain popcorn, parched rice etc., low calorie foods to satisfy hunger.

DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR BODY TYPE

ARE YOU VATA PERSON? READ HOW TO PLAN YOUR DIET SCHEDULE!

MUST AVOID FOODS: Over indulgence in Cool drinks, cool water, Ice creams, refrigerated foods, Deep fried items, eating more carbohydrates at a time like more quantity of rice, potatoes etc tubers, more of wheat, grain floors etc., as these foods are more heavy as easily suppress your hunger and less nourishing which make you deplete further.

It is good for vata person to Include semisolid foods like different meat and pulses soups, fruits, smoothies in your diet upto 40%, liquids like milk, buttermilk, sugarcane juice, milkshakes etc., upto 30%, include solids like rice, wheat, millets, upma etc upto 30%. This helps you to increase appetite, gain weight, stay energetic and calmer than usual.

EATING FOOD AT REGULAR TIMES EVEN IN SMALL QUANTITIES As pure vata person is lean, has less eating capacity, more prone to fevers, pains, headaches and you can’t withstand your hunger, it is very important for you to concentrate on timely eating and it is ok to eat in less quantities but not eating at regular intervals disturbs your vata furthermore making you lose weight by disturbing absorption of food in gut even you eat enough food

EATING FOOD THAT ARE made deliciously with sweet, sour and salts added with more good fats that are instantly nourishing and strengthening.

Additional tips

• Add buttermilk to your diet after meals
• Drink milk at bed time and after waking up
• During snacking, Eat groundnuts with jaggery, cashews, almonds, pista, anjeer, coconuts, soyabean, wheat breads & rusk with milk etc., that are nourishing and easily digestible.

ARE YOU PITTA PERSON? READ HOW TO PLAN YOUR DIET SCHEDULE!

MUST AVOID FOODS: Over eating Foods especially with more spice, salty, sour and oily like Biryanis, deep fried and cooked manchurian, noodles etc., street foods as you are already built with more heat eating these foods might cause excess heat in body and cause burning sensation, sweating etc heat disturbances.

It is good for pitta person to Include food which is more of solids upto 50% as you have more eating capacity, you can eat more carbohydrates like rice, wheat, millets, salads, meat etc.,, Include semisolid diet upto 30% like complex fruits, ragi malt, tapioca pearls, barley, black gram recipes, soups etc., Include liquid diet upto 20% like buttermilk, milk, coconut water, sugarcane juice etc.,

EATING FOOD IN A BIT LARGER QUANTITIES IS NOT A PROBLEM FOR YOU AS YOU HAVE MORE EATING CAPACITY COMPARED TO OTHERS As pitta predominant person, you are a foodie and have more hunger and also more digestive capacity. But this is usually taken as advantage and overeating heating foods may cause acidity, heartburn, ulceration in mouth & anus, burning urination, rashes on skin etc.,

EAT FOODS THAT ARE made of sweet, bitter, astringent and added with moderate amounts of good fats that help balance heat in body and avoid heat complications.

Additional tips

• Sugarcane juice, barley, coconut water, coconut oil are cooling in nature and most beneficial to you.
• Buttermilk is your medicine.
• Milk is also cooling and help to red rid if acidity and burning sensation.
• vegetables like bitter gourd, ridge gourd, cucumber, snake gourd, bottle gourd help you a lot.
• Sugar syrups and milk sweets calming for your body.

ARE YOU KAPHA PERSON? READ HOW TO PLAN YOUR DIET SCHEDULE!

MUST AVOID FOODS: Over indulgence in Cold drinks, Cool water, Ice creams, Pastries, refrigerated foods and packaged foods, eating more quantity of food at a time.

Lower intake of milk and milk products, sweets, salts and sour foods, sugarcane juice, fruit juices, complex carbohydrates.

It is good for kapha person to Include food more of depleting liquid diet upto 40%(to avoid over-eating) like green tea, barley, ragi malt, tapioca pearls, manage your carbohydrates to your activity level i.e., that day you are active it is ok to eat moderate carbohydrates. You are often less active as it is natural quality if kapha, it is good to accept it and restrict your carbohydrate intake to minimum to avoid slower accumulation of fat which is natural tendency of your body. Take semisolids upto 30% like corn soups, upma, single fruits etc., Include solid intake upto 30% like rice, curries, wheat, millets.

EATING FOODS IN LARGER QUANTITIES CAN LEAD TO OVER-WEIGHT IN YOU UNLIKE IN PITTA PERSONS AS YOUR BODY & MIND ARE CALMER COMPARED TO OTHER BODY TYPES As you are kapha predominant, you are naturally less active and rather do studying, chilling at one place, do not feel to move out and enjoy being alone which does not require more caloric intake.

REMEMBER YOU CAN EAT ANYTHING BUT EATING IN MODERATION WORKS ON SPECIAL PACE FOR KAPHA INDIVIDUALS, INCLUDE MORE FOODS THAT ARE A BIT SPICY, BITTER AND ASTRINGENT ADDED WITH LESS OF FATS AND CARBOHYDRATES As this helps you not to become over weight, lazy, inactive and helps you be productive and efficient for longer time.

Additional tips

• Milk & milk products being very nourishing may slowly harm you, try to minimise their quantity in your diet.
• Barley, ragi malt, lemon juice in the morning, green tea, lemon tea, warm water are most beneficial to you.
• Buttermilk can help you in easy digestion.
• Moderate exercise along with diet is necessary & most beneficial for you.

MIXED DOSHA PREDOMINANCE: VATA-PITTA, PITTA-KAPHA, VATA-KAPHA AND VATA-PITTA-KAPHA PERSONS

If you are a Two dosha predominance like vata-pitta, pitta-kapha, vata-kapha, here is something you should know. Two dosha constitution does not mean you only have two doshas in body but mean you have two major doshas which predominantly express their qualities and dominate over third one. Even in those two doshas, one dosha will be more predominant. So, take time and carefully assess your body type.

VATA-PITTA PERSONS

Vata-Pitta persons have either vata or pitta in more constitution and kapha in minimal level. Due to both vata and pitta qualities, you posses mixed traits of vata predominant and pitta predominant persons. Refer from above table and identify your first predominant dosha, the second predominant dosha and minimal dosha. Also note symptoms if they are natural to your body type or pathological symptom. If you identify symptoms of mild imbalance in your natural dosha, the first thing to change is your diet and bringing your dosha to balance.

PITTA-KAPHA PERSONS

Pitta-Kapha persons have either vata or pitta in more constitution and kapha in minimal level. Due to both pitta and kapha qualities, you posses mixed traits of pitta predominant and kapha predominant persons. Refer from above table and identify your first predominant dosha, the second predominant dosha and minimal dosha. Also note symptoms if they are natural to your body type or pathological symptom. If you identify symptoms of mild imbalance in your natural dosha, the first thing to change is your diet and bringing your dosha to balance.

VATA-KAPHA PERSONS

Vata-Kapha persons have either vata or kapha in more constitution and kapha in minimal level. Due to both vata and kapha qualities, you posses mixed traits of vata and kapha predominant persons. Refer from above table and identify your first predominant dosha, the second predominant dosha and minimal dosha. Also note symptoms if they are natural to your body type or pathological symptoms. If you identify symptoms of mild imbalance in your natural dosha, the first thing to change is your diet and bringing your dosha to balance.

VATA-PITTA-KAPHA PERSONS

Three dosha predominant body type is a good type and you might already have good habits and diet schedule. Follow your own schedule, listen and identify what your body says through skin, eyes,bowels, urine, hair and nails.

SIMPLE DIET SCHEDULE AS EXAMPLE FOR VATA DOMINANT PERSONS

MORNING ROUTINE

If you have habit of drinking tea, coffee, alcohol it is not so good for your body so, limit it to 1 small cup a day probably 1 or 2 hrs after meals to avoid excess drying.

If you have habit of drinking alcohol or you smoke often with your friends, you might not have capacity to tolerate as your body already has dryness. so, limit drinking 1-3 times a month basing on your capacity and smoke once or twice a month. Remember, your body is built different from others.

LUNCH & DINNER ROUTINE

Do not starve or do not over-eat; eat something timely so that it will not disturb your digestive fire.

Your mind and your activity plays equal role along with your diet in vata persons, so, yo need to keep an eye on your mental health and over physical strain otherwise all your dietary results may become useless.

SNACKING OPTIONS

SIMPLE DIET SCHEDULE AS EXAMPLE FOR PITTA PERSONS

MORNING ROUTINE

If you have habit of drinking tea, coffee, alcohol it is not so good for your body so, limit it to 1 small cup a day probably 1 or 2 hrs after meals to avoid excess drying.

If you have habit of drinking alcohol or you smoke often with your friends, you might have capacity to tolerate it without much difficulty which often make us addicted to it. So, concentrate on amounts of drinking and do not let your temptation disturb your health, take it basing on your capacity and smoke once or twice a month as it further increases heat in body and cause damage to senses in face.

LUNCH & DINNER ROUTINE

A 20-30 min exercise would act as a catalyst for your diet especially in kapha individuals.

Fasting for one day in a month would be helpful for you. But it should not affect your strength and day to day activities, do not do it for weight loss all of a sudden, do fasts for lesser time initially and note that after fast regimen plays a key role, break the fast with nourishing soup recipes, mild sweets, milk, less solid foods.

SNACKING OPTIONS

SIMPLE DIET SCHEDULE AS EXAMPLE FOR KAPHA PERSONS

MORNING ROUTINE

If you have habit of drinking tea, coffee it is not so harmful for your body unless vata or pitta is imbalanced, so, plan according to your body needs and ensure you are not addicted. It is good to have it 1 or 2 hrs after meals to avoid excess drying.

If you have habit of drinking alcohol or you smoke often with your friends, you can tolerate it which often make us addicted to it and can make you obese easily. So, concentrate on amounts of drinking and do not let your temptation disturb your health, take it basing on your capacity and smoke once or twice a month as it further increases heat in body and cause damage to senses in face.

LUNCH & DINNER ROUTINE

SNACKING OPTIONS

Disclaimer – EVERYTHING EXPLAINED HERE MAY NOT BE SUITABLE TO EVERYONE ALL THE TIME RESPECTING TO YOUR DOSHA UNDERSTANDING, YOUR GENETICS, ADAPTABILITY, YOUR BIRTH PLACE, LIVING LOCALITY, SEASONAL CHANGES, METHOD OF PREPARATION OF FOODS, MENTAL CONSTITUTIONS, LIFESTYLE etc.,

FOR PERSONALISED ADVICES, TO KNOW YOUR BODY NATURE, FOR MORE PERFECT PERSONALISED DIET PLANS VISIT AYURVEDIC DOCTOR NEAR YOU OR YOU CAN REACH US @globeayush.com

If you have any queries regarding this article reach us @globeayush-com