What is the Ayurvedic Diet? Benefits, Downsides, and More

Broadly speaking, an Ayurvedic diet emphasizes balance and moderation, featuring a wide variety of foods. The diet is not restrictive like most fad diets, but the underlying theme is one of balance and harmony with a focus on natural or whole foods. If you dig deeper, you will find that an Ayurvedic diet is also highly personalized as the underlying concept of Doshas also permeates Ayurvedic food science. While the broad dietary recommendations will offer benefits too, it is best to make appropriate Ayurvedic food choices based on your unique Dosha type or Prakriti  

Ayurvedic Diet Basics

Vata Diet

A Vata Dosha diet should include foods that counter the cooling, drying, light, and active influence of Vata. Therefore, it is advisable to have foods with heating energy, oily and stabilizing effects. As per Ayurvedic food classifications, this means eating foods with sweet, sour, and salty tastes for a Vata diet. In a Vata diet, foods should also be consumed hot or warm to counter the cooling effect of your Dosha and you need to maintain a good intake of water and water-rich foods. Oily and heavy foods are also recommended, but in moderation. 

Pitta Diet

A Pitta Dosha diet should mainly include foods that have a pacifying effect on your dominant Dosha, countering its qualities of heat, light, intensity, and mobility. Pitta pacifying foods should therefore exert a cooling, drying, and heavy or grounding influence. As per Ayurvedic food classifications, this means that you should focus on foods with sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes. While you need to eat heavy and oily foods with a grounding influence, such foods can cause digestive distress and should therefore be consumed in moderation. For a Pitta pacifying diet, it is also best to avoid consuming foods and beverages at a high temperature, as this can aggravate your dominant Dosha. 

Kapha Diet

As should be fairly obvious, a Kapha Dosha diet needs are focused on foods that will counter the effects of your dominant Dosha. As Kapha is characterized by qualities of cold, heaviness, sluggishness, and dullness, Kapha pacifying diet foods should have qualities of heat, light, and drying effects. This means that based on Ayurvedic classifications of food a Kapha diet should be dominated by foods that have sour, pungent, and bitter tastes. Since heating energy is so essential for a Kapha diet, it is advisable to consume meals warm or extremely hot. Because of the heavy and dulling effect of Kapha Dosha, it is also best to lower your intake of fatty and oily foods. However, fats should not be eliminated completely as some amount of healthy fat and oil is essential in a balanced diet. 

While these are the three basic diets for the three Dosha types, there are also individuals with Dosha combination Prakriti, such as Vata Pitta or Vata Kapha, and so on. This makes it important to find out your precise Dosha balance so that you can find a personalized Ayurvedic diet plan, whether you need a Vata Pitta diet, a Pitta Kapha diet, a Vata Kapha diet, or a Tridoshic diet. Moreover, the recommendations provided here are broad guidelines and it is advisable to get more detailed information on specific foods and combinations for your Dosha type from an Ayurvedic physician. 

Benefits of Ayurvedic Diet

Ayurvedic diet is based on the principles of Ayurvedic medicine and focuses on balancing the Doshas in the body. Unlike modern diets, the Ayurvedic diet gives personalised recommendations of foods that must be eaten as well as what must be avoided, based on your body type. Here are some of the amazing benefits of an Ayurvedic diet. 

• It promotes complete nutrition as it features a variety of whole foods such as fruits, veggies, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, while processed food intake is eliminated. Studies suggest that such whole food diets, with reduced processed food intake, can lower the risk of various lifestyle diseases (2).
• As Ayurvedic diets include whole foods with good fiber content and are customized to support the digestive function of each Dosha type, such diets lower the risk of gastrointestinal disorders and changes in the gut microbiome that can affect other facets of health. 
• Research shows that an Ayurvedic diet can be particularly helpful at promoting weight loss in Pitta and Kapha Dosha types who are more vulnerable to weight gain and obesity.
• Because of balanced nutrition and improved gut health with an Ayurvedic diet, immune function is also improved, reducing the risk of frequent infections and illness. 
• As elimination of processed foods and a focus on whole foods is emphasized in Ayurvedic diets, there is a reduction in systemic or chronic inflammation and reduced toxicity in the body, providing relief from inflammatory conditions like arthritis. 

It would be impossible to list all of the benefits of an Ayurvedic diet here or to even explore all of the intricacies of Dosha specific diets. To truly reap all of the Ayurvedic benefits, you should seek a personalized diet plan that is based on your unique balance of Doshas. 

This article is reviewed by Dr. Sunanda Ranade