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The first and most important realisation about Ayurveda is that it is not just a form of diet but a way of looking at life and a way of living. It is a philosophy which includes aspects of dietary advice.

At the first glance it can appear confusing because the Ayurvedic approach to nutrition is so different from the western ‘one diet fits all’ approach.

It is certainly no ‘get-me-fixed’ approach; it needs the full cooperation and involvement of the client.

(And it does not mean to eat curries and Indian food for the rest of your life.)

About Ayurveda

Ayurveda is the 5000 year old Indian ’science of life’.

It is based on the assumption that a person is characterised by the combination of three ‘biological modes’ or doshas:

Vata or Kinetic Biological Mode (made from the elements air and ether);

Pitta or Transformational Biological Mode (made from fire and water); and

Kapha or Structive Biological Mode (made from earth and water).

Vata causes all the movements in the body; Pitta controls the digestion; and Kapha makes lubrication and structure.

Everyone gets born with these three Modes in a unique combination, called the Nature of someone or the Pakruti; no two people are exactly the same. Generally, one or two of these Modes are dominant. The diet and exterior influences (emotions, climate, seasons, exercise, stress, etc.) can bring this Pakruti out of balance. The actual status of the doshas is called Vikruti. The aim of the Ayurvedic practitioner is to rebalance the Vikruti, i.e. bring it back into the balance of the Pakruti, through diet, meditation, exercise, massage, and cleansing. The practitioner will try to ‘pacify’ the overexcited dosha(s).

This means, that two people with the same complaints will usually get two different treatments, according to their imbalance of Pakruti and Vikruti.

Vata, Pitta, and Kapha all have individual, fundamental qualities:

These qualities will be reflected in the character of people with one dominant dosha; they should also be recognizable in people with mixed doshas.

A Vata person might be slim, active, change his mind often, and have cold hands and feet. A Pitta person might be temperamental, critical. And a Kapha person might be heavy, slow, and persistent.

Foods are influencing the doshas. Foods have different tastes and different actions, according to Ayurveda.

The tastes are: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.

The actions are either heating or cooling.

Sweet, bitter and astringent are cooling;

Sour, salty and pungent are heating.

Then there is the ‘post-digestive’ effect, i.e. the effect of the food’s ‘taste’ on the tissue after assimilation.

Sweet and salty are sweet in ‘post-digestive’ effect;

Sour is sour;

Pungent, bitter and astringent are pungent.

Through eating more foods, that are going to counteract the over-excited dosha, and through eating less of the foods, that would increase the excited dosha, an Ayurvedic diet tries to bring the balance back.

A meal should actually always contain all six tastes, however, in different amounts.

At first, this seems a big task; however, with the information available on how to determine the ratio of the doshas (the pakruti and vikruti), and on the properties of all kinds of food (for instance from books), it will only take a short time to get used to applying the Ayurvedic diet.

Ayurveda also deals with toxins, called ama, in the body, deposited by bad digestion of foods, or by mental processes. These are dealt with through cleansing, often supported by massage.

A professional Ayurvedic doctor would often prescribe a full body cleanse at the beginning of a thorough treatment (called panchakarma, which will take about one week).

Following a daily routine is also advised by Ayurveda.

Conclusion

I think the Ayurvedic diet can really have positive effects on the client’s nutritional health. It obviously involves the dietician on a deeper level, in the way that the dietician needs to interpret the health status of the client in terms of the Ayurvedic philosophy. Also, the client needs to take more responsibility for his own health, i.e. the client would need to actively apply the Ayurvedic principles (in all areas of his life), and stop thinking about food as mere carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The inclusion of the mind as a cause of bodily functions (diseases, symptoms, disorders, body weight, and blood pressure) needs to be considered. To adopt meditation as an integral part of a diet program to improve overall health would be beneficial.

I agree that the terminology of Ayurveda with its many Indian words might be a barrier for the adoption into western nutritional advice.

There is no reason why the modern ’scientific’ approach to nutrients (calorie counting, fats, vitamins, minerals, etc) could not be combined with the ideas of Ayurveda.

An Ayurvedic diet is obviously no ‘quick-fix’ weight-loss program.

Summary

In my opinion, a diet following Ayurvedic principles is definitely nutritionally healthy. Because Ayurveda does not insist in the strict inclusion or omission of certain foods, but rather gives direction towards supportive food groups, eating the ‘wrong food’ once in a while is more easily acceptable, making it also psychologically healthy – not to mention the positive effects of meditation. There seems to be no incentive for ’self-punishment’ in the Ayurvedic approach.

As just mentioned, there are no ‘restrictions’ within a Ayurvedic diet, as long as the client follows the general advice given for his particular body type. The integration of the whole body and mind, with the cleansing massages of Ayurveda and regular mediation, makes an Ayurvedic diet more likely to succeed. Obviously, as with any other diet, the results depend on how consciously the client follows the advice, and how actively he gets involved.

Because adopting the ideas of Ayurveda means adopting a new lifestyle, following it in the long-term will surely have positive effects of a person’s health.

Again – the so called ‘restrictions’ of an Ayurvedic diet are no more restricting than the traditional advice to ‘eat no more than xxxx calories’ or ‘eat less fat, less sugar, and more fruit and vegetable’.

To get started, book an appointment with a trusted Ayurveda practitioner in your area.