10 Rules for an Ayurvedic Diet
Ayurveda has been used for centuries as the primary method to improve the health of the mind and body. For hundreds of years before the time that Hippocrates directed, “Let food be thy medicine,” Ayurveda defined principles for giving that advice as practical. The choice of food, meal timing, and awareness at mealtimes boost the Ojas (vitality) and ama (toxicity). The 10 guidelines below will provide a framework to tap into the understanding of Ayurveda and make use of it to promote vitality, health, and energy through food.
Choose the right foods for your Dosha Type.
Ayurveda affirms that every individual has a different body-mind constitution known as the dosha. Doshic imbalance is called the Vikriti due to a mix of two elements that are elevated in the body’s physiology. By eating foods that reduce the heightened elements, harmony can be restored to the body. These Ayurvedic principles apply to choosing and cooking foods to support the three doshas.
- The Vata dosha (air and space elements) is dry, calm, and light by nature. Foods that counteract these attributes can help to achieve equilibrium. Individuals who have excess vata energy can restore balance by eating food items with a warm flavor (in terms of temperatures and spices) as well as tonics (such as stews and soups) packed with nutritious oils (like Ghee, olive oil or avocados, organic cream and more) and the ability to ground (think rich and healthy comfort food items).
- A person’s Pitta dosha (fire and water elements) is a hot oil, light, and sharp aspects. So, it is best to eat cool things (especially in terms of internal cooling, such as peppermint, cucumbers, and parsley) and Astringent (beans, legumes), pomegranate, and green tea) solid, and light will help to lessen the discomfort of Pitta.
- It is believed that Kapha dosha (earth and water elements) manifests as heavy and cool and oily and silky. Soft foods, warm, dry (like popcorn and beans), as well as harsh (think “roughage” like vegetables) will bring Kapha restored to balance within a matter of minutes.
Eliminate Snacks
Based on Ayurvedic principles, three stages of digestion have to be finished after eating. Within the first hour following eating, Kapha’s energy is dominant. The body might feel heavy, complete, and sedative. Between two and four hours following eating, Pitta’s elements regulate digestion. During this period, the amount of hydrochloric acid rises, the internal temperature increases, and the food is converted into food for the body. Between four and five hours following eating, the Vata energy levels increase. At this point, space and lightness come back, and appetite rises.
The inability to digest food by eating more food causes insufficient digestion. As time passes, insufficiency of digestion leads to the build-up of ama or toxic substances, which can manifest as a range of moderate to mild symptoms. To prevent this, Ayurveda suggests three meals per day without snacking between meals to ensure proper digestion and keep your stomach at ease.
Eat Until Satisfied, Not Full
Imagine your stomach being an instrument for gas with numbers ranging from one to 10. The gauge that you see is one number is empty, while ten is a bit full. It is recommended to eat food until you reach number two and stop at seven. If you eat before two increases the risk of disrupting your digestion process. When you go past a seven, you can divert the body’s energy away from vital physiological functions.
In addition to the apparent effect that weight loss brings, overeating can increase the production of free radicals in our bodies and accelerate aging. Putting down the fork once you’re content but not overstuffed makes it possible to avoid overeating. Your body gets the nutrition it needs daily, without the additional burden of digesting and sometimes taking in excess calories.
Consume Fresh, Whole Foods, and Whole Foods
Prana is not food; however, your life force nourishes the body on a fundamental level and is the source of health, vitality, and energy. The diverse elements in food, like the mineral, vitamin, and phytonutrient content, are simply reflections of the energetic or the pranic impression.
By the Ayurveda diet, the most effective method of increasing the Ojas, the source of the life force within the body and the body, is to increase prana. Foods that are rich in prana originate directly from the earth. Their prana is derived from mixing sunlight and water and earth energies. As soon as the food is picked and eaten, its prana decreases slowly. Thus, eating foods that are fresh and as clean as they can be will boost prana more quickly than eating the same food later in the harvesting process. Local communities support farmers’ markets, and agriculture is an excellent source for finding fresh food items with high vitality.
Include All Six Tastings in Each Meal
Ayurveda is a system of recognition that recognizes six different tastes that each transmits a specific mixture of energy and information to the body’s physiology. Incorporating each of the six tastes in every meal, the body is provided with an energetically diverse and bio-diverse. This sensory system provides the body’s cells with specific information for each category of taste. All in all, six flavours offer the body the following information from cells:
- Sweet, strengthening, grounding, and nourishment
- Sour Purifying, cleansing, and cleansing
- Salty: Balancing, regulating
- Bitter: Mineralizing, detoxifying
- Astringent: Anti-inflammatory, cooling
- Pungent: Warming, stimulating
Make sure to incorporate a tiny amount of each flavour into each meal. It could be the addition of a pinch of salt, an ounce of lemon, or even a small piece of pepper. But so long as the flavour is present, the work of the puzzle will be completed.
Reducing Ice Cold Foods and Beverages
The inner fire, also known as Agni, is the power to digest the body’s energetic and physical parts. Agni can be like a burning campfire. In its optimal state, it’s bright, hot and capable of digesting food and thoughts, feelings, and even experiences. To ignite the internal fire, it is essential to avoid dimming the Agni’s intensity by drinking ice-cold foods and drinks. In addition, the Agni is the most critical dosha that could be depleted when a constant flow of drinks or food that is cold is consumed. Vata and Kapha doshas, particularly, should favor warm teas and hot foods teas, whereas Pitta doshas can enjoy chilled (but non-frozen) drinks and foods. So digestive strength will be vital.
Avoid distractions while eating.
What’s the most recent time you have been reading a book, sat down to watch TV, checked email, or answered calls during your meal? If you’re like many people, “Quite a several.” According to the Ayurveda, lifestyle suggests eating can be a time to reconnect with the intrinsic energy and knowledge of the food you eat. Look at the shades, taste the flavors, and pay attention to the sun, soil, and the earth, which have joined forces to produce the bundles of energy that food provides.
If eating in a state of deep awareness is not yet familiar to you, start by eating just one meal per day in silence, and focus on all sensations for only a couple of minutes at the moment.
Stop eating for three hours before the time you go to bed.
While asleep in the night, the body recovers, heal and restores itself while the mind sifts through the day’s thoughts, feelings, emotions, and memories. If the body’s energy is focused on food digestion, which causes physical healing, mental digestion processes slow down. Ayurveda medicine suggests that the day’s final meal should be relatively light and eaten 3 hours before bed to prevent this imbalance. So your system’s prana is free to perform its repair and rest at the deepest levels while you are in the sleep phase.
The most popular herbal teas to drink between meals
Tea isn’t just an enjoyable drink to taste, but it’s also a potent healer that aids in restoring vitality, health, and happiness. To avoid dissolving the Agni drinks, all beverages, including teas, should only be consumed during food (no more excellent than 1 cup). But, in between meals, teas can be enjoyed in large quantities and serve as herbal treatments. The consumption of tea between meals fills the body with “liquid medicine,” reduces cravings for snacks, and aids in detoxification. It also increases the digestion fire.
Vata doshas can find grounding and tranquillity in spicy, warm teas such as cinnamon ginger and cloves. Pittas can drink their tea hot or cold and will be able to find excellent herbs like coriander, peppermint, and rose to balance. Kaphas can increase metabolism, energy, and positivity with black pepper, liquorice, and cardamom.
Eat the largest meal of the day at Lunchtime.
Agni has been the strongest when sunlight is at its highest. In consuming the most substantial food of the day around noon, your body is equipped to utilize its powerful internal fire to break down and absorb nutrients at a lower energy output than in other periods. Lunch is ideal for incorporating heavier or difficult-to-digest food items. It is also the appropriate time to spend money on food (think the refreshing drink of your choice or a sweet dessert). When you eat the most substantial lunchtime meal, your body is full of energy throughout the afternoon, aiding in easing what is known as the “afternoon low energy.”
