Food is so important in our day to day routine. The amount of time we spend buying, preparing, cooking and eating food takes up quite a bit of our lives. I don't have to tell you what food is, or what it means to us. When we think of food, we think of love, of family and of life.
Food is loaded into our DNA through ancestry and memory. It nourishes not just our bodies, but our emotions, relationships and social atmospheres. Food is the epitome of being human; from seed, to grain, to feed, we relate to it like nothing else. They say the way to the heart is through the stomach, so let's talk about it through the ayurvedic lens.
According to ayurveda, food informs our cells what to do, it moves through all the layers of the body from plasma to reproductive tissues. Taking 5 days to move through each tissue in this order; plasma, blood, fat, muscle, bone, nervous system, and reproductive. That's 35 days from the time you eat something til the time it essentially becomes a part of you. Your organs may digest food rather quickly but the rest of you takes some time.
There are rules around food in ayurveda, but none of them are hard and fast. They are all to be taken personally because in ayurveda, what is one person's poison is another person's medicine. But there are some “generally speaking” guidelines that we can discuss. For instance, how to eat for your dosha.
Each unique individual is born with a specific doshic make up. Most are predominantly one particular dosha; Vata, Pitta or Kapha. Each of these contain qualities (or gunas) that do not change.
All of these properties can be applied to food also. For instance, crackers are cold and dry, peppers are hot and penetrating, milk is cool and heavy.
The thing to remember in ayurveda is that like attracts like and opposites balance.
So by this rationale, if we are predominantly vata, we want to eat a vata pacifying diet, because we don't want to become extreme in one dosha, we want them to all be in as much balance as possible.
Don't know your dosha? Look back to this blog post and freshen up.
Are you a vata? Here’s a vata pacifying list of fruits, veggies and meat for you (and some general no-nos)! For a complete diet guideline list, please reach out to an ayurvedic practitioner. You’ll notice processed foods don't make the cut for any guidelines and the general recommendation is to eat as local, organic and as seasonally as possible. Times of day and year and also fasting protocols is a whole other blog post ;)
Vata: 50% whole grains, 20%protein, 20-30% veggies
Fruit: Sweet fruit, cooked apples, grapes, applesauce, apricots, avocados, bananas, berries, cherries, coconut, fresh dates, fresh figs, rhubarb, strawberries, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, lime, mango, melon, oranges, papaya, peaches, plums, pineapple, and tamarind.
Avoid: Dried fruit, raw apples, cranberries, dry dates, pears, persimmons, pomegranate, dry prunes, raisins, and watermelon.
Vegetables: Asparagus, beets, cooked cabbage, carrots, cucumber, daikon radish, fennel, garlic, green beans, green chilies, jerusalem artichokes, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, okra, black olives, parsley, parsnips, cooked peas, potatoes, pumpkin, rutabaga, spaghetti squash, spinach, sprouts, squash, taro root, turnip greens and zucchini.
Avoid: Frozen, raw or dried vegetables, artichoke, beet greens, bitter melon, broccoli, brussel sprouts, burdock root, celery, raw cabbage and raw cauliflower, fresh corn, dandelion greens, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mushrooms, green olives, raw onion, sweet/hot peppers, prickly pear, raw radish, tomatoes, turnips and wheatgrass.
Meat: Beef, buffalo, chicken, duck, eggs, fish, and dark turkey.
Avoid: Lamb, pork, rabbit, venison and white turkey
Are you a pitta? Here’s a pitta pacifying list of fruits, veggies and meat for you (and some general no-nos)!
Pitta: 50% whole grains, 20%protein, 20-30% veggies
Fruit: Sweet apples, apricots, applesauce, sweet berries, sweet cherries, avocado, coconut, dates, figs, limes, red/purple grapes, oranges, mangos, melons, sweet plums, pears, papaya, pomegranate, prunes, raisins, watermelon.
Avoid: Sour apples, bananas, sour berries, sour cherries, cranberries, grapefruit, green grapes, lemons, kiwi, peaches, persimmons, sour plums, rhubarb, strawberries, and tamarind.
Vegetables: Artichoke, asparagus, cooked beets, bitter melon, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cilantro, cucumber, dandelion greens, fennel, green beans, jerusalem artichokes, kale, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, black olives, cooked onion, parsley, parsnips, peas, sweet peppers, potatoes, pumpkin, cooked radish, sprouts, squash, taro root, watercress, wheatgrass and zucchini.
Avoid: Raw beets and beet greens, burdock root, fresh corn, daikon radish, eggplant, garlic, green chilies, horseradish, kohlrabi, mustard greens, green olives, raw onion, hot peppers, prickly pear, raw radish, spinach, tomatoes and turnips
Meat: Buffalo, white chicken, egg whites, freshwater fish, rabbit, shrimp and white turkey.
Avoid: Beef, dark chicken, duck, egg yolks, sea food, lamb, pork and dark turkey.
Are you a kapha? Here’s a kapha pacifying list of fruits, veggies and meat for you (and some general no-nos)!
Kapha: 30-40% whole grains, 20% protein, 40-50% veggies
Fruits: Apples, applesauce, apricots, berries, cherries, cranberries, dried figs, grapes, lemons, limes, peaches, pears, persimmons, pomegranates, prunes, raisins, strawberries.
Avoid: Avocado, bananas, coconut, dates,fresh figs, grapefruit, kiwi, mango, melons, oranges, papaya, pineapple, plums, rhubarb, tamarind, watermelon.
Vegetables: Artichoke, asparagus, beet greens, beets, bitter melon, broccoli, brussel sprouts, burdock root, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cilantro, corn, daikon radish, dandelion greens, eggplant, fennel, garlic, green beans, green chilies, horseradish, jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, peas, peppers, potatoes prickly pear, radishes, rutabagas, spinach, sprouts, cooked tomatoes, turnips, watercress, and wheatgrass.
Avoid: cucumber, black and green olives, parsnips, pumpkin, taro root, fresh tomatoes, and zucchini.
Meat: White chicken, eggs, freshwater fish, rabbit, shrimp, white turkey, and venison.
Avoid: Beef, buffalo, dark chicken and turkey, duck, sea fish, lamb, pork, salmon, sardines, and tuna.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this crash course in how to eat for your dosha. Please keep in mind that you do not have to live by a list and the most important thing is to listen to your body.
In good health,
Amanda