FOOD ACCORDING TO AYURVEDA -2

In the last article about Ayurveda I talked about what is Ayurveda, how taste is classified according to Ayurveda and how food can alter moods. If you haven’t read it yet go read it on my blog.

Now I will tell you about the different types of body according to Ayurveda and what viruddha ahara is. 

Prakriti – A Guide to Personalize Diets

An individual’s prakriti is another important determinant of the effect of food on the system. Prakriti of an individual is characterized by a set of physical, physiological, and psychological attributes. For example, based on taste preference, individuals can be grouped as vata (having affinity for sweet, sour, and salty tastes); pitta (with liking for sweet, bitter, and astringent taste), and kapha (for pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes). Whereas these tastes mitigate any negative effects of the inherited constitution, usage of tastes in the reverse order can cause imbalance in the body. For example, if a vata constitution person continuously consumes pungent, bitter, and astringent tasting materials, it could lead to rapid aging and degeneration of the body.

Incompatible Foods (Viruddha Ahara)

Yet another distinctive feature of Ayurveda is its understanding of incompatibilities of food materials and processing. There are 18 forms of incompatibilities according to Ayurveda. Incompatibilities are explained based on the potency of materials, processing, quantity/dose, process of intake, time/season; combining materials, such as sour fruits and milk or honey and ghee (clarified butter) in equal quantities; milk along with horse gram, jack fruit, or fish; or even heating honey. Whereas we may not have a contemporary scientific explanation for these, this can be explained in Ayurvedic terms as incompatibility in the nature of the materials.

According to Ayurveda, the one who eats healthy food will never need any medicine; and the one who eats unhealthy food will never benefit from any medicine. Therefore it is important to know the food!

According to Ayurveda, every edible substance on earth has 3 properties –

Dosha shamak (Pacifier of Dosha) it balances the dosha (physiological systems of the body). Herbs like turmeric, ginger, black pepper can be classified as Dosha shamak. Turmeric balances Kapha and Pitta, ginger and black pepper balances Vata and Kapha.

Dhatu pradushak (Contaminator of Dhatu) - It contaminates the vital tissue systems. Ayurveda believes that the diseases can occur only when there is a suitable environment for their incubation inside the body system. A contaminated dhatu is the ignorant king who unsuspectingly allows the Trojan horse of diseases inside the body. It is like the traitor of Sparta who gave away the strategic secrets and led to the defeat of his kingdom. Therefore, all diseases have roots inside the body and these roots are formed by the Dhatu pradushak food and lifestyle habits we practice.

Onion can be considered as an example of Dhatu pradushak, as it is Guru (heavy to digest). Anything that is heavy to digest is taxing for the digestive system to absorb. It has a hot temperament and helps to balance Vata. However, it is heavy, sweet in taste, and unctuous. Therefore, onion has a tendency to vitiate Kapha Dosha. Onion is also sharp in action and has bitter as its secondary taste. Therefore, it can vitiate pitta dosha by disturbing the physiological processes.

Swasthya hitkarak (Beneficial for Health) – It is the substance that is indisputably good for health. It is important to note that all Ayurvedic guidelines should be considered in a context. Sutra is the system that provides a comprehensive context for all rules. Ghee, Honey, rice, moong dal are some of the swasthya hitkarak foods that cause almost no harm to the body in the widest range of situations.

Swasthya hitkarak food items should be consumed every day.

Dosha shamak food items should be consumed according to requirement.

Dhatu pradushak food items should be consumed rarely or not at all.

If we follow these plain and simple rules of eating, we will never fall sick.This was a brief about viruddha ahara and different body types according to Ayurveda, there is one more part of this article which will be published shortly in that I will be talking about health benefits of grains and milk products.

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