AYURVEDA DIET

Nine Guidelines

In another article “The Ayurveda Lifestyle” we explained three energy types. Although the Ayurveda philosophy covers your entire life, basing it upon the elements, I consider the key to this lifestyle to be your Ayurveda diet, the food you consume and when you eat.  It does not matter whether your body constitution, or energy, is dominantly movement (VATA), processing (PITTA) or storage, (KAPHA), all these guidelines apply. While we must have all these energies, the quantity of each one determines whether you are cold or hot, dry or moist. These guidelines help balance your body’s energy, bringing it into harmony. 

1.     Food needs to be hot (usually cooked)

2.     Food needs to be tasty and easy to digest.

3.     Eat your foods in the proper amounts, not too much or too little.

4.     Eat food on an empty stomach, after your last meal has been digested, not before.

5.     Foods need to work together and not contradict one another in their actions.

6.     Eat your foods in pleasant surroundings.

7.     Eating should not be rushed, nor should it be drawn out.

8.     Focus on your food while eating.

9.     Only eat food which nourishes your constitution and suits your mental and emotional temperament.

While they may seem illogical or inappropriate today, even in our busy world, they are correct and important. Perhaps these concepts originated generations ago when there was a need to protect the population from harmful bacteria. Today, with refrigeration, this is not as urgent. However, through this process, citizens discovered that heating foods aids and stimulates digestion. Residents needed to kill bacteria and as a result, they got improved digestion. Also, cooking tends to moisten and lighten foods.

The Ayurveda research discovered that some foods are inherently heating and thus can be eaten raw. Also, some physical constitutions do not need the "hot" foods.

Over time, the physicians discovered the Ayurveda diet guidelines listed above apply to ALL body types and assist us in keeping healthy. The principles of the Ayurveda diet are not complex and we can use them in our traditional daily life.  For these reasons, I wrote Ayurveda Demystified. Order my book or go to one of our website www.folkherbwisdom.com or www.livingwholistically.com