Ayurveda literally means “the science of life,” and it represents the oldest complex medical system about healthy lifestyle principles.
The basic principle of the Ancient Indian system of natural medicine – Ayurvedic medicine is to prevent and treat illness—rather than respond to indicators of disease—by maintaining balance in and harmony between your body, mind and environment
Ayurveda maintains that each person has a unique mind-body constitution, known as a dosha. One’s current doshic imbalance, is a combination of two elements that are heightened. By eating foods that decrease the heightened elements, harmony can be restored.
- The Vata dosha (air and space) is by nature cool, dry, light, and rough. Persons with excess Vata energy will restore balance through foods that are warm (temperature and spice), hydrating, full of healthy fats.
- The Pitta dosha (fire and water) tends toward hot, oily, light, and sharp qualities. Therefore, eating foods that are cool, astringent (beans, legumes and green tea), substantial, and mild will minimize the aggravation of the Pitta.
- The Kapha dosha (earth and water) is heavy, cool, oily, and smooth qualities. Eating foods that are light, warm, dry (like beans and popcorn) and rough (think “roughage” such as vegetables) will have Kapha back in balance in no time.
Discover your dosha type here. – QUIZ!
Ayurveda recommends three meals each day, with no snacks in between to maintain digestion and keep your stomach stress-free. All whole, fresh foods. Including all 6 tastes as follows:
- Sweet: Grounding, strengthening, nourishing
- Sour: Cleansing, purifying
- Salty: Balancing, regulating
- Bitter: Detoxifying, mineralizing
- Astringent: Anti-inflammatory, cooling
- Pungent: Warming, stimulating
Try to include a small amount of each taste into every meal. It may be only a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon, or a slice of pepper but as long as the taste is present, the energetic puzzle will be complete. Mealtime is an opportunity to connect with the inherent energy of the food you consume. See the colours, taste the flavors, and bring awareness to the sunshine, soil, and earth that have collaborated to create the foods.
Imagine that your stomach is a clock with numbers one to ten. One is completely empty and ten is overly full. You want to eat when you get to a two and stop when you get to a seven. Try to stop eating 3 hours before bedtime, with your largest meal of the day being at lunchtime.
There is so much that goes into Ayurvedic Medicine and so much to read but I hope you enjoyed reading about some of the fundamental principles. Throughout April all of our meal plans are with a 10% discount so now if the perfect time to try our Ayurvedic meal plan 🙂
