Can an Ayurvedic Diet Plan Give You a Healthy Lifestyle?

Updated on January 2nd, 2020
ayurvedic diet

You might have come across several people who practice yoga and believe in ayurvedic medicines. But do you know that the parlance of Ayurveda is indeed not limited to just this? Ayurveda is a legacy which finds its origins dating back to 5,000 years. Have you heard of the Ayurvedic diet plan? If not, then read this article on the Ayurvedic diet plan and its benefits.

This article will allow you to explore all the ins and outs of Ayurvedic diet so that you can employ it in your life without any hurdle. Learning about the Ayurvedic diet plan will enrich you with a thorough understanding of the doshas as well. If you are someone who wants to stay healthy without putting in much labor, then the Ayurveda diet plan is just for you. It will turn out to be your favorite companion in giving you your desired health and satisfaction.

Ayurvedic Diet for Healthy Lifestyle

  1. Ayurvedic Diet at Glance
  2. 3 Doshas of Ayurveda
  3. Benefits Of Ayurvedic Diet
  4. Foods To Eat And Avoid
  5. Precautions to Follow

A Glimpse of an Ayurvedic Diet

An Ayurvedic diet plan indicates an eating plan that gives distinct outlines concerning when to eat, what to eat, and how to eat to keep your body in an excellent working condition. Ayurvedic treatments are free from any significant side-effects on your body. You can adopt them quickly and start living a happier and healthier life.

The Ayurvedic diet takes into account all the requirements of your body under consideration before framing out a diet plan. This holistic approach of the diet plan allows you to be the owner of a balanced, healthy, and nutritious body and soul.

It is crucial for you to understand the type of dosha you are or the type of body you have. It will help you create a better Ayurvedic diet plan for yourself.

Do you know about 3 Fundamental doshas of Ayurveda?

Doshas are the life forces that have an undeniable connection with the universe and your body’s constitution known as Prakriti.

Ayurveda boasts of three doshas- Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Each dosha has a direct relation to different body types, tendencies, personality, and nutritional factors. All the three doshas comprise of five basic elements namely ether (which refers to the upper regions of the space), air, fire, water, and earth.

Let’s understand the uniqueness of each dosha

  • Vata

vata doshas
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This dosha is full of strange features. The sharp contrasting elements make Vata different from other doshas. These life forces are creative, open-minded, analytical, and full of energy. However, in an ironic clash, they are fearful, over-stressed, and confused too. This energy plays a vital role in one’s life. They foster motion, mobility, breathing, and blood circulation. Vatas incline towards fear, sorrow, heart disease, neurological disease, etc.

  • Pitta

pitta dosha
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Pitta indicates smart, hard-working, ambitious, competitive features. They tend to show extreme aggression sometimes. This energy plays a crucial role in facilitating the metabolism of your body, fosters proper digestion, absorption of nutrients, along with maintenance of body temperature and energy usage. Pittas are immensely affected by hypertension, heart disease, infections, overexertion, and digestive issues.

  • Kapha

kapha dosha
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Kapha energy is the sweet baby of all the three doshas. They are grounded, over supportive, loving, and forgiving too. Although there are some demerits of Kapha also, including laziness, insecurity, envy, and sadness. Kapha plays a pivotal role in lubrication, nourishment, love, and care for others, leisure, reproduction, and strength of the immune system of the body. Health problems that hamper the balance of Kapha dosha include diabetes, obesity, fluid retention, respiratory issues, and cancer.

5 Benefits of the Incredible Ayurvedic Diet

1. Helps improve digestion

healthy benefits for digestion
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Ayurvedic diet is full of several wholesome foods that involve easy digestion. Moreover, these healthy foods are rich in nutrients as well. All these features of the Ayurvedic diet plan help to enrich you with a healthy gut by improving its functioning.

Ayurveda involves treating the problem by dealing with its cause. An Ayurvedic diet works tremendously well in catering to the transformation of how your body performs metabolic activities.

You can avail the several benefits of the Ayurvedic diet plan by consuming it in multiple ways. These methods include eating food in a raw state, dried form, or including foods in grilled, smoked, pickled, or steamed forms. These cooking methods help to convert nutrients of your food in a digestible form.

An Ayurvedic diet fosters you to get over the problems of hemorrhoids, constipation, and diarrhea and also helps to keep a check on the foods that your body might not be able to digest readily.

2. Supports weight loss and healthy weight maintenance

As per the reports of a study conducted on 200 participants, each with different doshas revealed that every person’s dosha helps to reduce weight. It also helps to maintain a healthy and appropriate weight depending on your health and body.

In this study, most of the participants belonged to the Kapha and Pitta doshas. On the passage of three months, researchers found that the Pitta group saw a maximum reduction in their weight. Also, the other people belonging to different doshas experienced stability in their weight.

The main conclusions from the study indicated that the Ayurvedic diet plan could foster a reduction in the weight and also solve the issue of obesity along with keeping a check on the hormonal balance of your body.

3. Boosts the intake of organic and seasonal foods in your diet

ayurvedic diet plan
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All 3 doshas have different peaking seasons. It is vital for you to control them during that period. Kapha peaks during the late winter season and in early spring, vata triggers during summer and pitta loses its balance during the start of winter and fall.

According to the principles of Ayurveda, the article describes guidelines on how to follow an effective Ayurvedic diet (1) depending upon the season:

  • Winter: During winter your body needs more warmth. The Ayurvedic diet suggests you slurp on soups, stews, etc. The intake of raw vegetables, raw honey, ghee, warm spices, grains, smoothies, etc. is highly appreciable during winters.
  • Spring: During this time of the year, Ayurveda wants you to eat more of astringent, bitter, and pungent foods. You should limit the intake of fruits and meat and should increase the number of leafy vegetables, and warming spices.
  • Summer: Summers are full of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Ayurvedic diet plan requests you to have more of them during summers. Fresh juices prepared at home, home-made yogurt, coconut products, and smoothies will help you beat the heat of the scorching summers.
  • Fall: To keep your doshas intact at this time of the year, eat foods rich in sweetness and bitterness both. Keep a balance between cold and hot foods and also light and heavy foods. Increase your intake of soups, pomegranates, fruits, and warming spices during fall.

4. Pampers you by tackling your mood swings

Ayurveda understands the link between the human psychological state of mind and food. An Ayurvedic diet plan keeps a proper check on your body both mentally and physically. This property helps to beat the mood swings which are common in humans.

It fosters mood stabilization and energy by altering the diet as per your body needs. If you suffer from anxiety, insomnia, or nervousness, then Ayurvedic diet plan includes grounding foods like healthy fats and complex carbs in your diet.

If you are experiencing high levels of lust and anger, then the diet plan includes light foods. Moreover, the Ayurvedic diet plays with different tastes to reduce the adverse effects on your body.

5. Boosts your immunity and fights fatigue

One of the best features of the Ayurvedic diet plan includes its impressive ability to fight fatigue and low immunity. These factors make your body prone to several illnesses. Foods such as garlic, cooked vegetables, cardamom, and ginger, etc. increase your energy levels and immunity levels. Ayurvedic herbs also play a crucial role in enhancing your health by coping up with stress.

[Read: Benefits of Kodo Millet]

Foods to Eat and Avoid Concerning each Dosha

No person in this universe resembles only one type of dosha. However, we all are more inclined towards one dosha and resemble more strongly with the traits of a particular dosha. When you are facing through a phase of great stress or high emotional sickness, then the doshas energy loses its balance. Eating foods that suit your dosha can help restore this balance in no time. By balancing your doshas, you can lead a happy and more satisfied life.

Vata goodness foods

If you resemble Vata dosha, then you need to follow a routine that is healthy along with a good sleeping pattern. These foods are full of nutrients and make your senses and organs work correctly.

1. Fruity goodness

Include fruits like watermelon, plums, apple, berries, figs, pears, pomegranates, mangos, etc. But keep a check on citrus or sour fruits as it can trigger vatas.

2. Vegetables

vegitable diet
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You can keep vata under control if you include beets, cucumbers, sweet potatoes and vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, celery, zucchini, and potatoes in small quantities after clubbing them with Vata-reducing spices. But keep a check on cabbage and sprouts intake as it may aggravate the vata energy.

3. Dairy Products

All dairy products help to balance Vata energy. You can drink milk or eat cheese and butter. Be sure to drink boiled milk always. Also, drink milk when it is lukewarm. Avoid drinking milk with a full meal platter.

4. Grains

There are a few grains like rice and wheat that are beneficial for you but apart from them avoid consuming barley, corn, millet, rye, oats, etc.

5. Spices to eat

Spices play a significant role in balancing your vata. Include spices like cardamom, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and black pepper in small quantities.

Pitta goodness foods

A person resembling Pitta dosha is a hard worker. To work hard, you need a lot of energy. Hence, Pitta dosha people should not skip their meals in any way. Also, they should avoid overeating as well.

1. Fruits

Fruits
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Fruits such as berries, dates, apples, cherries, figs, coconut, pineapple, grapes are very beneficial. But avoid eating sour cherries, sour apples, sour berries, bananas, grapefruit, kiwi, lemons, green mangos, etc.

2. Vegetables

Make sure to include potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green leafy vegetables in your diet. On the other hand avoid beet greens, corn, eggplant, garlic, horseradish, onions, peppers, and olives.

3. Grains

Try to include some portion of grains like white rice, barley, brown rice, wheat bran, oat granola, cooked oats in your daily diet. But avoid corn, millets, rye, muesli, etc.

4. Dairy

Eat unsalted butter, cottage cheese, cheese, goat’s milk, cow’s milk, ice cream, and yogurt without fruit if you belong to this category. It is recommended to avoid salted butter, buttermilk, hard cheese, frozen yogurt, sour cream, and packed yogurt especially with fruits.

Kapha goodness foods

Kapha energy requires a lot of good sleep. Also, these people need slow digestion. Kapha dosha people should indulge in a regular exercising routine.

1. Fruits

People who belong to this category should eat fruits like apples, pears, apricots, cherries, red, purple, and black grapes, dry figs. But refrain yourself from eating oranges, bananas, pineapples, figs (fresh) and dates.

2. Vegetables

It is recommended to include bell peppers, beet greens, asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, beets, etc. in your diet. Whereas avocado, cucumber, olives, pumpkin, parsnips, sweet potatoes, raw tomatoes might not be the right choice for you.

3. Grains

For people with Kapha dosha, eating barley, buckwheat, corn, couscous, amaranth, and cereal works in favor but cooked oats, brown rice, white rice, pancakes, pasta, and yeasted bread might be harmful hence it’s better to avoid eating them.

4. Dairy

Taking goat’s milk, diluted yogurt, ghee, goat’s cheese, fresh and diluted yogurt is beneficial. While avoiding dairy products like butter, cheese, cow’s milk, ice cream, purchased yogurt, and sour cream can be a good idea.

Precautions to Follow

  • Be sure that you eat when you are hungry
  • Eat in a place that is calm and comfortable for eating
  • Be cautious about the quantity of food you are eating
  • Always try to eat warm meals
  • Indulge in good quality foods
  • Avoid eating your food in haste
  • Eat at regular intervals of time
  • Use all your five sense when eating

After reading this article, you must be sad for not knowing about the benefits of an Ayurvedic diet before. But you don’t have to feel sorry about it. ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’- you did your part by reading this article and now all that is left is to employ these foods in your daily life to get back your healthy body. In this competitive world, we do not get time to pamper ourselves. By adopting an Ayurvedic diet plan, you will gift your body a reason to smile. You will feel more satisfied and healthy by indulging in an ayurvedic diet plan.

Where other health regimes require the involvement of hefty amounts, an Ayurvedic diet will flood you with impressive goodness in almost no investment. It just needs your patience and faith in Ayurveda.

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