Less of a traditional diet and more of a set of eating guidelines, an Ayurvedic diet is designed to balance the different types of energy in your body. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, read on for the key principles of Ayurvedic eating and get ready to experience its healing benefits.
While the Ayurvedic diet is nothing new (in fact, it’s been around for thousands of years!), this personalized approach to eating — which is all about helping your body find equilibrium — is more buzzy than ever. Rooted in an Indian healing system, it focuses on holistic health and wellness, recognizing that everyone has unique needs. While there’s a lot of information to unpack surrounding this centuries-old practice, we’ve broken down the health benefits of an Ayurvedic diet, Ayurvedic foods to try, and a few guidelines to help you get started.
What Is Ayurveda?
Originating in India more than 3,000 years ago, Ayurveda is a traditional healing system that focuses both on preventive and curative health. In fact, the word “Ayurveda” is a composition of two Sanskrit words: “ayu” meaning life and “veda” meaning science. “This makes it a science on healthy, long living,” says Dr. Vaishali Shukla, an Ayurveda doctor and founder of Vedamrit, a consulting service that uses Ayurvedic principles to treat various health concerns. “It promotes conscious living and following a daily routine per the movement of the sun, which we know as circadian rhythm,” Dr. Shukla tells DailyOM.
According to Divya Alter, a certified nutritional consultant and educator, you can think of Ayurveda as the user’s manual for your body and mind. “If the body was a car, Ayurveda would be the manual explaining how the car works, how to maintain it in good condition, what to do or not to do with it, and how to fix it if there’s a problem,” Alter, the author of Joy of Balance: An Ayurvedic Guide to Cooking With Healing Ingredients, tells DailyOM. “It helps us understand and maintain our unique reference point for balance and health by offering personalized guidelines on what’s favorable or unfavorable in terms of diet, daily routine, and living environment.”
The best part about Ayurveda? There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all. According to Ayurvedic philosophy, we are all unique in our own ways, so the system celebrates individuality and treats each person as a complex being.
Interested in learning more? Check out Sacred Self-Care and Ayurvedic Nutrition
What Is the Ayurvedic Diet?
Ayurveda has always focused on food and nutrition, long subscribing to the idea that diet is a means of creating health and vitality. According to Shukla, Dravyaguna, one of the branches of Ayurveda, even deals with the properties of every kitchen ingredient, from grains and legumes to fruits and vegetables.
The Ayurvedic diet is a personalized way of eating based on the principles of Ayurveda. Because Ayurveda doesn’t subscribe to a blanket approach for all, that means every natural food can be good or bad for someone, depending on their unique needs. “Some of the principles helping us determine your Ayurvedic food today is to make it suitable for your geographical location, body type, digestive capacity, state of health, food compatibility, and more,” says Alter. “A diet will be Ayurvedic for you if it’s suitable for your optimal health at the time.”
What Are the Health Benefits of Following an Ayurvedic Diet?
While the health benefits vary according to each individual, an Ayurvedic diet is often seen as a healing way of eating. “It views food not just as a means to relieve hunger, but to provide deep nourishment and satisfaction to both body and mind,” says Alter. “An Ayurvedic diet helps the healthy maintain good health and the sick heal.”
A 2016 study published in Frontiers in Public Health explored the parallels in Ayurveda and biomedicine, drawing attention to how Ayurvedic methodologies may help provide contemporary healthcare solutions. For example, a clinical trial published in Frontiers in Medicine in 2021 showed that patients with irritable bowel syndrome seemed to benefit significantly from Ayurvedic nutritional therapy — perhaps more so than conventional therapy.
The Ayurvedic system, which considers food as medicine, also relies on spices and herbs. “There are more than 5,000 herbs used for different healing purposes,” shares Shukla. A 2020 research paper explored how many of them have beneficial effects on the microbiome. Triphala, a traditional herbal formulation consisting of fruits native to the Indian subcontinent, has been shown to help improve elimination, stimulate appetite, and reduce hyperacidity and constipation. Turmeric, another Ayurvedic preparation, has also been found to positively affect digestion and the microbiome in a review published in the Molecular Nutrition & Food Research journal.
According to Alter, an Ayurvedic diet incorporates fresh and wholesome ingredients, lightly fermented foods, mindful eating, digestive aids, and more, helping to restore and maintain good gut flora. One of its main principles emphasizes gut health — known as agni, or digestive and metabolic energy. “Our gut bacteria suffers when we consistently eat ultraprocessed, artificial, hard-to-digest foods and antibiotics,” she says. “Once that’s restored, many other systems in our body will resume their optimal performance.”
What Are Doshas and How Do They Impact Your Ayurvedic Diet?
Those who practice Ayurveda believe there are three main types of doshas — or bioenergies that manage all the functions in the body — present in each of us. “The doshas constantly fluctuate with our activities, and a healthy person is able to alleviate them quickly with dietary and lifestyle choices,” explains Alter. “When the doshas become chronically imbalanced, due to poor food and lifestyle choices, we begin to feel unwell and could get sick.”
These are the three doshas:
- Vata dosha is the energy of air and space, governing movement, circulation, elimination, and more. Alter compares it to the compressor moving mechanism in a car. Shukla says, “When in balance, it helps with all kinds of movements ranging from respiration to circulation to physical activities. When out of balance, it can cause depletion, excessive dryness, insomnia, or anxiety.”
- Pitta dosha represents the elements of fire and a little water, maintaining all digestive and metabolic processes — in other words, says Alter, like the fuel in a car. Shukla explains, “When in balance, all the metabolic change ranging from conversion of food to energy and nutrition happens due to pitta. When out of balance, it can heat our bodies up in the form of acid reflux, heartburn, nausea, anger, irritability, and more.”
- Kapha dosha is a combination of water and earth elements, managing the structure, stability, and lubrication of the body — similar to the car’s physical structure. “When in balance, kapha regulates healthy body weight, good energy levels, clear thinking, and deep sleep,” says Shukla. “When out of balance, it can cause lethargy, brain fog, weight gain, poor digestion, skin conditions, or frequent colds and allergies.”
While everyone has all three doshas in their bodies, any one or two can be dominant, which defines your prakriti (body constitution). “The fastest way to balance your doshas is with food,” says Alter. “That’s why it’s important to consider your current dosha imbalance when you plan your meals.”
What Ayurvedic Foods Should You Eat Based on Your Dosha Type?
There’s a common misconception that you should eat only according to your body type or the unique combination of doshas you were born with. Alter advises eating according to the dosha(s) you need to balance on any given day. “Your current dosha imbalance is what you need to work on to bring yourself to your optimal health,” she says. “The golden rule is to choose foods that are of opposing qualities and avoid foods of the same qualities to how you’re feeling.”
For example, when your vata is high or imbalanced and you’re feeling cold, ungrounded, fatigued, and anxious, you should choose foods that are warm, moist, easy to digest, and calming. Alter suggests soup with bread or another grain, root vegetables, cultured ghee and olive oil, and calming tea.
Feeling overheated, irritable, or achy from inflammation? That might be an indication that your pitta is high. “Choose foods that are cooling, hydrating, and pacifying — like coconut, zucchini, leafy greens, cultured ghee, fresh salad, watermelon, rice, and more,” Alter says.
On the other hand, if your kapha is high and you’re experiencing sluggishness, low energy, a lack of appetite, or general apathy, you’ll want to add fiery, stimulating foods that are light to digest. “I recommend well-spiced dishes, ginger tea, leafy greens, and cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli,” Alter says.
While Ayurveda underscores an individualistic approach to eating, there are many foods that are tridoshic, or balancing for all three doshas. Alter suggests asparagus, zucchini, lentils, and carrots, while Shukla says ghee, red rice, mung beans, rock salt, barley, raw honey, and amla (Indian gooseberry) are thought of as good for everyone.
What Are the Other Ayurvedic Eating Rules?
While Alter prefers to think of them less as “rules” and more as friendly guidelines, there are a few basic principles to keep in mind while exploring an Ayurvedic diet.
- It’s best to eat while seated — in a peaceful environment and with a calm mind. “It’s not just what to eat, but how and how much you eat that can affect your well-being,” Alter says. “Eating in silence enhances digestion, but it’s not always possible. Being mindful and experiencing your meal with all your senses will help you be satisfied with the right amount of food.”
- Eat only when you’re hungry to ensure you digest food properly. “We all have different stomach capacities and thresholds for satiation,” Alter says. “The main principle is to not overeat, as overeating leads to indigestion and chronic gut issues.”
Try determining your meal portion with this guiding Ayurvedic concept: By the end of your meal, your stomach should be half full with solid food, a quarter full with liquid, and a quarter left empty. “That empty space will help your food to ‘churn’ and move on to the next stage of digestion,” she explains.
- Aim for a small breakfast, heavy lunch, and light dinner. “Per Ayurveda, our digestive system mimics the movement of the sun and following a diet routine per this movement helps with nourishment,” says Shukla. “Back in time when we were hunters and gatherers, there was no obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, or hypertension because we used to eat before sunset, since there was no light to cook after that.”
- Eat according to the seasons. “Ayurveda focuses on the incorporation of warm, cooked, spiced foods during colder seasons and juices, salads, or raw foods during warmer months,” says Shukla.
- Practice gratitude. “Expressing gratitude at the beginning and end of your meal is also important in supporting your healthy relationship with food,” says Alter.
